Seasonal Hints & Vacation Hints

SEASONAL HINTS for the NPHOA Newsletter
(by Carl Wilson, updated April 16, 2009)

FALL: 1. Disconnect your hose from the outside house faucet so that the faucet drains. Drain your hose so that water in the hose does not freeze and rupture your hose.
2. Slope the dirt so that water drains away from your basement walls. If moisture or water seeps down your basement walls, the wet soil will compact and significant settling can occur, moisture will build up water pressure and crack your foundation walls. A bag of topsoil at Home Depot costs only $1.39.
3. If you notice that fall leaves are packed on your grass, please rake up the leaves so your grass does not die. We plan to have the contractor bag the leaves (with mowers) at least once, but they may miss some or be late.
4. Spray around your house perimeter for ants, bugs, etc. They like to come in the house when the cold weather arrives.

WINTER: 1. Change furnace filters at least once every 3 months.
2. If possible, before the snow plows get to you, sweep or scrape the snow away from your garage door and the divide between driveways so that the snow plows do not damage your landscaping, etc.
3. If you notice that a neighbor may have forgotten to close his/her garage door, give them a call and ask if they have forgotten.
4. Have someone check your gutters for leaves and debris. Leaves can cause snow and ice to back up and damage your shingles. If the leaves wash down your drain, the drain tube might plug up.
5. HELP! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! If you just want someone to come and help you get up, phone the Riley County Ambulance Service at 539-3535. This number is non-emergency, and tell them what you need. They will send a couple of guys over to get you up and there is no charge. If you call 911, you will probably get 3 responders: an ambulance, a fire truck and the police.
6. Garage door won’t close. Carl has some lithium-based grease to put on the overhead screw. Your garage door is probably about 10 years old now, and the grease gets dried up and sticky enough that the sensor thinks the door has hit an object (say your car, or a person), and reverses itself back up. Call Carl on his cell phone (341-3013 – a local call). You might be able to get the door down by pulling on the door while signaling it to close with the remote. But call Carl (preferably on his cell phone – 341-3013) and he can easily apply some grease, and maybe save you a $50 service call.


SPRING: 1. Turning on your A/C. If the outside fan on your A/C unit just buzzes and doesn’t start up, get a screwdriver (or something long & thin) and give it a push. Maybe rotate the fan blade 2 or 3 turns. The fan should start up fine during the rest of the cooling season. The bearings are self-lubricating when running, but sometimes “freeze up” during long periods (winter) of not being used.
2. If your A/C does not seem to be cooling well, it might need some more freon. Check the air temperature coming from one of your registers. It should read approximately 60F.
3. Spray (kill) all your grass within one foot of your patio fences, house, etc. so that the mowers and weed-whips do not damage your property. Also spray for bindweed etc. within 5 feet of your house.
4. Fireplace Pilot Light. I always turn off the pilot light in my fireplace during the summer. This saves about $2.75/month on gas plus the extra cooling needed (feel the heat on the glass face). This could also apply to the pilot light in your furnace if it stays on all summer (some are auto-ignition).

SUMMER: 1. The landscaping in the small slot between the driveways is the joint responsibility of the 2 Homeowners.
2. House painting. Remember that your house needs to be painted at least once every 7 years, whether it looks like it is needed or not. If you leave it until it shows (starting to peel, etc.), then you will need it scraped, primer coated and painted. Please let the Association know (for our records) when you have painted (include a note with your dues payment).
3. Going on vacation? Please let a board member know if you will be gone on vacation and leave a key with a neighbor or board member. If you will be gone over a month, you might save some money by having some services shut off (water meter –no charge to turn off or on; Cox TV – the turn-on charge is usually a lot less than one month’s service, you might turn off your hot water heater (or some have a vacation setting. Set your thermostat appropriately: say put the A/C on 85F or 90F in summer; your heater on about 55F in winter.
4. Fireplace? I always turn off the pilot light in my fireplace during the summer. It reduces A/C costs.