you can’t always be sure you’ll be able to handle an emergency quickly while your cottage is closed for the winter.
But it’s the property manager’s job to stay on top of it, leaving you worry-free clear through to spring.
By Jake Goselin, Owner, Bespoke Property Management
Property Management During the Fall Shutdown
There’s a pivotal point in August when the warm nights shift to cool. Everyone starts to realize that we’re closer to the beginning of fall than to mid-summer. Daytime temperatures no longer close in at 30 degrees and nighttime temperatures fall below ten. Muskoka’s season change is gradual but noticeable. You see campfire blankets come out of the box and you pull on a sweater when boating. Finally, a drop in the water temperature keeps everyone but the children out of the lake.
That’s the point when we need to start talking about the inevitable return to school. But also, we start discussing the seemingly mundane task of preparing our properties for winter. For some people, the task of closing the property may seem daunting. For others, like our team at Bespoke Property Management, it’s routine. Although the task list for each of our properties may be long, when properly executed, it’s satisfying to watch it come together.
The Professionals Behind Property Management
Property management starts by ensuring your relationships with the various service personnel are up to date and in order. This includes people who help care for your property providing different services. These might encompass: snow removal, HVAC and spa technicians, plumbers, marinas, irrigation experts, and electricians. Each of these trades plays a critical role in preparing your property for winter.
Electrician
They will service the generator to ensure that when needed, it will fire up and remain on for the duration of a power outage. Anything from a mouse nest to a fallen tree could impact your generator. That’s why it’s crucial to service it semi-annually and inspect it often.
Arborist
Scheduling a summer or fall walk-through of your property will ensure any diseased or dying trees are removed. Preventing their fall due to a heavy snowfall or storm, can avoid significant damage.
Plumber
Ensuring all exterior plumbing, like outdoor showers and outbuildings, are fully winterized is crucial. The plumber’s expertise means peace of mind when the temperatures drop.
HVAC Technician
A full service of your HVAC system will ensure it will function properly as temperatures fall below minus 20. There is more than just temperature at stake. If the HVAC system doesn’t work properly, it can lead to a drop in humidity. This could cause the wood to dry out and crack. Or worse, it could lead to freezing and broken pipes that cause flooding.
Property Manager: Taking Care of Your Investment
How to Protect Your Boathouse
I always recommend going through your boathouse as well, once the cottage is left vacant for long periods of time in the fall. Removing all fabric or paper items – towels, cushions, toilet paper, PFDs, etc., boxing them up securely and storing them in the cottage. Since the boathouse is more open than the cottage, mice are prone to wandering in and out, and we don’t want to invite them in with nice cozy nesting materials (or potential homes)!
Also, since there is no humidity control in a boathouse over winter, materials like these are prone to damage from mould, as condensation builds and drops throughout the season from temperature changes, rain and bubbler use.
Remove All Liquids
While you, or your property manager, are removing fabric items from your boathouse, I’d recommend you remove all liquids as well. Check for alcoholic beverages, pop, cleaning chemicals, and water, including the contents of fridges. Fridges are designed to cool, not heat, so when the temperatures drop below zero outside the fridge, everything inside does as well. As a rule of thumb, this is the point where we also remove anything that has water running through it, like specialty coffee makers, wine dispensers, etc.
Preparations for Outdoor Maintenance
An obvious, but very necessary part of your fall shutdown is putting away outdoor furniture and cleaning and shutting down outdoor kitchens and barbecues. Now, is also the time to make any necessary preparations for the installation of dock bubblers, thaw-lines, or Bubbler Buddys around your dock and shoreline, if you use them.
You can always find controversy surrounding the use of bubblers around any winter dinner party or event. We bubble every property, unless specifically directed not to by the owner. Bubblers are staged in the fall, simply because it’s more pleasant to do so than waiting until the cold weather.
We always display an Open Water sign where a bubbler is in operation. Along with the MLA-recommended blue light. Each bubbler has a timer, which makes it an important part of a weekly property inspection. The timer and height of the bubbler change a few times each winter as the temperature and water level drop.
Property Management in Muskoka
There’s still an old-school way of thinking when it comes to property management in Muskoka. That is why our team is doing our best to change that. For years, property managers have always been seen as the “jack-of-all-trades[men]” who could do all those needed winter chores themselves. From changing water filters to winterizing boats and cutting trees. At many points in my career, I’ve wished I knew how to do those things. However, as my father always said: “I don’t need to know how to do everything myself, I just have to know whom to call.” And, he might have added: to be on a solid basis with them, so they will respond rapidly when necessary.
Actually, it is important that property managers stay in their lane; skilled trades are licensed and insured for a reason, and their experience far exceeds ours. I wouldn’t walk into a surgical room because I have Standard First Aid training and begin assisting with an operation. By the same token, neither would I start fiddling with HVAC or plumbing equipment: the risk and liability is too great.
Utilizing a professional property manager like Bespoke Property Management ensures everything is prepared and maintained for what is probably your most valuable asset after your principal residence.
Our job is to take the worry out of caring for your Muskoka property right through the off-season. We give you the peace of mind to enjoy your winter wherever and however you choose: right through to next spring and beyond.
