subject: Essential Home Tools for Autumn and Winter [print this page] Essential Home Tools for Autumn and Winter
The winter may be just starting to warm up, but the truth is that it's never too early to think of preparing your home for the coming colder months, and what's more these steps don't have to be difficult or expensive to do. Autumn and Winter can be a difficult time for homeowners because of the added problems that cold weather, ice and snow bring to the home. So don't add to any stress you may already have by neglecting to do certain jobs around the house when you had the chance, but with so many things to do where do you start? The answer is by getting to know some of the best tools for each job.
The Snow Shovel
The UK and other parts of the world experienced record snowfall during the past two winters, and when it comes to shovelling snow, a normal space or shovel just isn't up to the job for clearing paths, pavements and roads of the white stuff. A very different shape to an ordinary shovel, a snow shovel is designed to help you both push and lift snow, something which you would struggle to do with an ordinary shovel.
Grit and Rock Salt
The problem that many councils faced last year was a lack of salt or grit with which to clear the roads for cars. However, many pedestrians were left behind in the rush to clear the roads, resulting in a lot of slips and falls on the ice. To combat this, get your own supply of grit which you can keep in your home and use to clear the pavements on your street. You could even get together with some neighbours and buy in bulk so that it's not always you that does the work. Remember to put grit down in the evening as there won't be do many people around at that time and it gives the grit the chance to start working overnight before you and your neighbours leave your homes in the morning.
The Leaf Blower
More for the Autumn season, a leaf blower does what the name suggests and blows leaves that have fallen from trees into neat little piles and then vacuums them up for easy disposal, thus putting an end of the time-old tradition of raking leaves into a pile and then manually placing them into a bin, or other receptacle.
The Pressure Washer
Pressure washing in winter? It may sound a little strange, given the general temperature outside, but if you think frost and ice are difficult to get off cars and machinery then imagine how tough frozen on mud, dirt and oil will be to remove. A pressure washer will let you give your car or other machinery a quick clean before the winter nights draw in, and if you forget to clean your car before it freezes over, then a
pressure washer will come in very handy for removing all that frozen rubbish from your car.
