What the house needs in October, south of the equator
21 jobs, in five groups.
October is the month to get the house ready for the heat and for the storms, and both are close. Wash the air conditioner filters, clean the ceiling fans, check the fridge and freezer door seals with a sheet of paper, and get the insect screens up before the windows start living open. Run every irrigation zone and watch where the water actually lands, which is rarely where you think. Outside, finish the gutters, wash the windows inside and out, bring the garden furniture out and check the joints and the bolts before anybody sits on it. It is a hinge month, so the twice yearly list comes round again: mattress, wardrobe, hinges and locks, drains, extractor filters, water heater valve and tray. Highveld storms can bring hail from October to January, and a hailstorm finds every loose roof sheet and every blocked gutter. Surge protection on the television and the router is worth checking before the lightning starts.
Safety
- Test every smoke alarm
- Every month. See January for how.
Water and heating
- Check the water heater valve and its drip tray
- Twice a year. See April for how.
- Descale the kettle and the shower head
- Four times a year. See January for how.
- Wash the air conditioner filters
- Wash them in October or November, before the summer heat, and again in January if the unit runs every day. A clogged filter makes the machine work harder for the same cool air.
- Clear the gutters and the downpipes
- The timing depends on when your rain comes. In the Western Cape, clear them in April before the winter rains; in the summer rainfall regions, clear them in September or October before the thunderstorms. A blocked gutter sends water down the wall instead of into the drain.
Inside
- Turn or rotate the mattress
- Twice a year. See April for how.
- Wash and put away the winter bedding
- In October or November, once the nights have warmed, wash the winter duvets and blankets before they go away, then store them dry with the cupboard door left open a little.
- Clean the windows inside and out
- Twice a year: in March, before the short days of winter when every bit of light counts, and in October for the summer. A cloudy day is best, because glass in full sun dries before it can be wiped clear.
- Swap the wardrobe over
- Twice a year. See April for how.
- Fit the insect screens and check the mesh
- In October or November, before the windows stay open for summer. A hole the size of a fingertip is enough to let mosquitoes in all season.
- Wash the cooker extractor filters
- Three times a year. See February for how.
- Check the fridge and freezer door seals
- Before the heat of summer, close a sheet of paper in the door. If it slides out easily the seal has gone, and the fridge will work harder all summer.
- Clean and check the ceiling fans
- In October or November, before the fans run every day. Dust on the blades throws them out of balance, and a fan that wobbles usually has a loose fixing.
Outside
- Touch up the outside paintwork
- Pick a settled spell of dry weather in early summer. In the Western Cape that is most of the summer; in the summer rainfall regions, go before the afternoon storms usually set in, and give the paint time to cure.
- Oil the gate hinges and the locks
- Twice a year. See April for how.
- Wash the patio down
- In September or October, when the weather settles and the outdoor season begins. Let it dry for a day, and look at the joints between the pavers while the surface is clean.
- Bring the garden furniture out and look at it
- Bring it out in September or October and check the joints and bolts before anyone sits down. Oil the timber in the first dry spell, before the summer sun gets fierce.
- Look at the window frames and sills
- In March and again in October, press a screwdriver gently into the bottom corners of wooden frames and sills. Soft timber there is where rot begins, and dealing with it early is cheap.
- Look at the pointing and the render
- In September or October, after the winter rain in the Western Cape and before the summer storms elsewhere. A crack in the pointing or the render lets water into the wall, and it appears inside as damp much later.
- Lift the drain covers and look
- Twice a year. See April for how.
The garden edge
- Check the irrigation timer and the sprinklers
- Before the dry months, run each zone and watch where the water lands. In the Western Cape that means spring, ahead of the dry summer; where the summer brings the rain, check the timer again before the dry winter.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for October. The same list is tickable on the 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 for October, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.