The First Frost Checklist: What to Do Before the Cold Comes
I know it's July. But in upstate New York, frost doesn't ask permission—it just shows up one morning and your pipes are already sweating. The folks who wait until October to think about winter are the ones calling me at two in the morning with burst lines.
Walk the house like you're inspecting a new weld. Start at the foundation: check every gap where pipe meets wall, seal it with oakum and tar if you can get your hands on it. The foam cans work for a season; oakum lasts twenty years and costs less.
The crawl space is where most people lose the fight. Wrap every exposed pipe—newspaper and rags if you're short on proper insulation, but don't leave it that way long-term. I've wrapped three houses this month with fiberglass sleeve because it's worth the extra buck.
"The best time to winterize was last spring. The second-best time is before the first frost warning."
The short list:
- Drain and blow out all outdoor faucets
- Insulate pipes in crawl space, basement, and garage walls
- Check the sump pump—test it now while you can see what's happening
- Clean gutters before ice locks them shut
- Stock salt for walkways (rock salt, not the fancy kind)
← Read "Reading the Iron" — my essay on judging heat by eye and hand