Preparing for Winter V

Living_proof

mardatha wrote: »

Well if kittie does have the inside info then she sure isn't going to share it on here, not any more!

Exactamundo!

Doveling

Is Kittie having a break while she moves house?
Hope she's back soon, great poster

I have cancelled my regular chimney sweep. He pushed his luck saying it would be £120.00 for two chimneys :eek:
Need to find a new one within the next month, I like to get it done before any cold snaps.

Laura_Elsewhere

Golly, we used to pay £150 for one chimney!

In fact my parents still do. That's the normal kind of rate, I had thought!

VintageHistorian

Sadly Kittie has decided to leave the MSE forums after being reported and temp banned. Although I'm not sure the circumstances of why she was reported, she has faced malicious reports from people in the past when people have disagreed with her posts.

This thread was created as Volume V as Volume IV originally descended in to a bit of a row over winter weather forecasting and the accuracy of such.

With regards to the Express' forecasting - even a broken clock is right twice a day. The Express does has a tendency to opt for the "coldest winter ever" headlines very early on. Winter weather, snow in particular in the south east, can be very difficult to predict. It can generally only be nailed on when it's around 24 hours away, but even then it can change quite rapidly.

That being the case, one of the people I know on another forum, who does a bit of amateur meteorology as a hobby, has said that it could be a cold winter. Note that the word is "cold", not necessarily "cold and wet", which would lead to snow. But it's very, very difficult to predict with any accuracy, especially when we're still only in August!

At the end of the day we're a diverse group who live across the British isles. For some of us cold will almost certainly include snow due to "home" being places like Scotland and the north west. For those of us in the south and south east cold is more likely to be frosty mornings and freezing nights, but less snow unless we get a Beast from the East. Therefore for some on this thread it's appropriate to be worrying about being cut off for days or even weeks, and preparations are made towards that end. I think some arguments on this thread in the past have come from those who've seen such preparations as excessive, purely because it's not a situation they face in their location.

All we can really do is make our own preparations as we see fit, and share our tips and tricks with others who might find them useful

maryb

I had to find a new sweep this year and he was much cheaper than my old sweep. Still fully accredited member of his trade association so I get the certificate which is important for insurance purposes. But I thought £55 in London suburbs not too bad

jamanda

I had two chimneys swept a fortnight ago (in the East Midlands) and was charged £57 for both.

betterlife

erin_transport wrote: »

The 2nd bunker I got is now full to the brim. Advice noted, thanks, and a separate wooden plinth added under it. Additional winter prep underway by adding a box of firefighters to the weekly shopping. Already have logs in the store but may need to be rotated to keep dampness out of them.

Oww, where can I get a box of firefighters from please, I`m sure I could make use of some this winter to keep me warm :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

mardatha

Any supermarket will have firelighters. Our sweep comes twices a year and charges £20, we all think that's extortionate and moan at him! lol

Doveling

If anyone manages to get BOGOF on the firefighters, I'll take one off your hands :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

(Sad about K.)

maryb

Fire fighters is a gender neutral term these days;)