Blue Ridge Cabins – Top 5 Cold Weather Checks
With winter creeping in, and with this weeks’ time change, it reminds us all to start preparing our mountain cabins for winter. Blue Ridge (and all of the North Georgia area) residents are somewhat vulnerable to cold weather because much of our builder’s construction techniques are brought from Atlanta and Florida, yet we experience the occasional week or two with the temps in the teens and twenties. Our friends to the north bury the pipes a little deeper, buy larger and more robust heating units, and insulate doors and windows with more care.
But all is not lost! Here’s a quick list of 5 things to keep your home warm, cozy and dry all winter long.
1. Install Insulation – Not necessarily the fiberglass stuff that’s between the walls and above the ceiling (although that’s a great place to start if you’re lacking in those departments!). We’re referring to the strips that’s sticky tape on one side and foam on the other- available at all hardware stores. Wait until a breezy evening, then install around any windows and doors where you feel a draft.
2. Remove all water hoses and store them for the winter – this may seem obvious, but the main culprit for outside water breaks is simply a lack of tidiness. Which also leads us to #3.
3. Insulate ALL outside water taps – (or “spikits”, depending on your vernacular). Several of my friends lost hours and days last year for not properly insulating their outside water taps. Again, your hardware store sells a styrofoam cover specifically for this job. That, along with heat tape, will greatly reduce your chances of a bust in this pipe. Do not forget to check the exposure of the pipe inside/under the house as well. Exposed pipes should be covered with insulation or heat tape.
4. Sweep your fireplace – Ask any fireman you know and they’ll tell you to have your chimney swept of the creosote that builds up regularly, and the beginning of winter weather is a great time to have this relatively inexpensive task performed. For between $90-$130, a professional chimney sweeper will take care of your chimney with minimal hassle. I’ve not personally used a chimney sweeping log, so I can’t comment on their effectiveness, but I prefer to use a pro when dealing with a potential fire hazard. You could call this 4(a), but since the clocks were set back, and while we’re on the fire safety soapbox, don’t forget your smoke detector batteries!
5. Emergency water, radio, etc – Although there are several other things that could make this list, your emergency supplies need to be a priority. As much planning and preparing as we can manage, sometimes the weather in the North Georgia Mountains take a turn for the worse. I suggest that an all-weather, hand-crank radio/flashlight combo should be on your checklist, as well as cereal, ready-to-eat style food, candles, batteries, one gallon of water per person per day for a week, a deck of cards, books, etc. I know of several families who were without power for a couple of days last year. The cold wasn’t really their problem, it was the cabin fever!
There’s the list – from Talking Rock to Young Harris, Mineral Bluff to Cherry Log, and all points in between, make certain that you’re prepared for one of our beautiful cool, crisp winters!
If you missed the festival, you still have time to enjoy the fall festivities. Several offshoots from the Apple Festival are still in full gear- Hillcrest Orchards has their Apple Pickin’ Jubilee, and Several Corn Mazes and Haunted Hay Rides have popped up along Hwy 52 between Ellijay and Dawsonville. The trees that lose their leaves first are just now turning colors, so the next few weekends should make for some spectacular colors. And to top if off, there’s a horror movie showing this week at the Drive-in in Blue Ridge… October can’t get much better!
