Prepping Your Austin Home for Texas Weather

If you've lived in Texas for any amount of time, you already know the weather is bananas. We can go from 90 degrees and sunny to 50 degrees with sleet seemingly overnight. If you've lived here for years, consider this your annual reminder. If you're new to Austin, there are a few things you should know heading into fall and winter. Most of this stuff is cheap and easy to prepare for now. The problem is everyone waits until the weather forecast tells us something bad is coming, and then the entire city runs to the store at the same time.

First, go buy your outdoor spigot covers now. They're inexpensive, you can throw them in the garage, and you won't have to think about them again until the first freeze warning. I've made the mistake of waiting more times than I'd like to admit. Suddenly Home Depot and Lowe's are sold out, Amazon can't get them here before the freeze, and I'm outside duct taping towels around my faucets. It works in a pinch, but planning ahead is a lot easier. While you're at it, make sure you know where your home's main water shutoff is and how to operate it. That's something every Texas homeowner should know before they actually need it.

Hail is the other fun part of living here. If your cars live in the driveway, keep a couple of thick moving blankets in the garage. It's not a perfect solution, but if a hailstorm is headed your way, covering the vehicle with thick blankets can give you some additional protection. Secure them so they don't blow away, and don't go outside trying to set everything up once the storm has already started. We've all seen cars driving around Austin after a major hailstorm that look like they were used as props in a shootout movie. A little preparation can potentially save you from dealing with a car covered in dents.

Finally, turn your furnace on before you actually need it. The first time you turn on the heat after seven or eight months, you may notice a temporary dusty or burning smell as accumulated dust burns off. Let the system run for a few minutes and make sure you're actually getting warm air from the vents. Check your filter while you're at it. If something isn't working correctly, I'd much rather find out while it's 70 degrees outside than during the first cold front when half of Austin is calling an HVAC company. That's really the theme with Texas weather. You can't control what we're going to get, but spending an hour preparing for it now can save you a lot of aggravation when Texas inevitably decides to remind us that it does whatever it wants.