What the house needs in May, south of the equator
18 jobs, in five groups.
May is the beginning of the cold season across most of the country, and the jobs are the ones that keep water and cold where they belong. Lag the outside taps and any exposed pipe, drain the hose and bring it in, and turn the outside tap off at the isolating valve. Feel round the doors and windows for draughts on a windy day with the back of your hand, because draught strip is the cheapest heating improvement there is. Clean and store the garden furniture properly rather than leaving cushions in a damp box until spring. Indoors the heating season list starts: air the house for a few minutes a day even in the cold, and watch the cold corners for the first spotting of mould. Clean and oil the garden tools.
Safety
- Test every smoke alarm
- Press the button on each one until it sounds. It takes two minutes and it is the single most useful thing on this list.
- Clear the lint from the dryer and its vent
- Every few weeks in the months you use it most. Lint is what turns a dryer fault into a fire, and the vent matters as much as the filter.
- Have the chimney swept before the first fire
- Book it before everyone else does, which means late summer. A sweep will also tell you whether the cowl and the flashing are sound.
Water and heating
- Bleed the radiators
- Cold at the top and warm at the bottom means air. Bleed them before the heating season rather than in the first cold week.
- Lag the outside taps and any exposed pipe
- Anywhere a pipe runs through an unheated space. Foam lagging costs very little against the price of a burst.
- Find the stopcock and turn it
- Turn it off and on again so you know it still moves and where it is. In an emergency that knowledge is worth a great deal.
- Drain the hose and bring it in
- Water left in a hose over a hard frost splits it, and a split hose is not obvious until the first hot day of the next year.
Inside
- Watch the cold corners for condensation
- Behind wardrobes, in window reveals, on the north or south facing wall. Black spotting is mould and it starts as water on the glass.
- Air the house for a few minutes a day
- Even in the cold. Ten minutes of open windows costs very little heat and takes out the moisture four people breathe out overnight.
- Feel round the doors and windows for draughts
- Do it on a windy day with the back of your hand. Draught strip is the cheapest heating improvement there is.
Outside
- Check the tyres, the screenwash and the antifreeze
- Before the cold weather rather than in it. Tread and pressures take five minutes on a forecourt.
- Clean and put the garden furniture away
- Dry, clean and under cover. Cushions left in a damp box in October are mouldy cushions in April.
The garden edge
- Clean, sharpen and oil the garden tools
- In the quiet months. A sharp spade is half the work of a blunt one and rust starts in the week they go away dirty.
- Last cut, then clean and store the mower
- Run the fuel out or add a stabiliser, clean the deck properly and store it dry. Old petrol left in over winter is the commonest reason it will not start.
- Clean the feeders and keep them filled
- Through the hard months, when it matters most. Clean them properly each time, because a dirty feeder spreads disease among the birds it feeds.
- Get the grit or the salt in
- Before you need it, because the shops sell out on the first icy morning. A bucket by the door is enough for most paths.
- Rake the leaves off the lawn and the paths
- Grass under leaves goes yellow within a fortnight. Put them in a bag with a few holes and you have leaf mould in a year.
- Turn off and drain the outside tap
- At the isolating valve inside, then open the tap outside to let the water out. It is the single commonest winter burst.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for May. The same list is tickable onthe house through the year, where the ticks are kept on your own device and cleared at the start of each year. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The garden half of the month is on the almanac page forMay, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.