The yard, roof, and walkways need a different kind of attention than the inside of the house. Some of it is a one-time fall task; some of it repeats after every storm. The aim is to put things away before they freeze in place, keep water draining instead of pooling and icing, and keep the paths people actually use clear.
Pack down before the freeze
Anything left out gets buried, frozen to the ground, or damaged by repeated freeze-thaw.
- Drain and coil garden hoses and bring them inside; a hose left full can crack as the water in it freezes.
- Stack or cover patio furniture, or move it to a shed or garage so wind and ice load do not work on it all winter.
- Empty ceramic and terracotta planters. Soil holds water, and the freeze-thaw cycle is what cracks the pot.
- Drain and store anything with a small water reservoir, such as fountains or rain-barrel fittings.
Clear the gutters first
This is the step that gets skipped and causes the most trouble. Leaves and debris left in the gutters and downspouts block meltwater. When that water cannot drain it refreezes at the roof edge and builds an ice dam, which backs water up under the shingles. Clearing the gutters in late fall, while it is still safe to be on a ladder, is the cheapest prevention there is.
Natural Resources Canada's Keeping the Heat In covers ice dams directly, and the underlying cause is usually warm air leaking into the attic and melting snow that then refreezes at the cold eave. Good attic insulation and air sealing work with clear gutters to reduce them, which is why indoor and outdoor work are connected.
Managing roof snow load
Heavy, wet snow is far weightier than the light powder it looks like from the ground, and it accumulates over a long Canadian winter. The cautious approach is to clear snow from a roof from the ground with a roof rake rather than climbing onto an icy roof. If the load looks heavy or the roof shows signs of strain, that is a moment to call a professional rather than improvise at height.
Keep walkways and drains usable
Staging tools by the door you use most makes the recurring work realistic to keep up with.
- Keep a snow shovel and a bag of ice melt near the main entrance, not in the back of the shed.
- Clear snow before it gets packed down and turns to ice, which is much harder to remove.
- Keep storm drains and the bottom of downspouts free of ice so meltwater has somewhere to go during a thaw.
- Mark the edges of driveways and beds if a plow or heavy snowfall will hide them.