Preparing Your Home For Winter

As quickly as the temperatures rise, it is already time to start dropping again. While everyone is excited for fall or winter, it is important to prepare your home for the cooler weather. If you are a season homeowner or a first time renter, it’s very important to take the right steps to prepare your home for the colder months. By preparing your home for the colder months, you will feel more confident, cozy, and warm inside your home. With the help of our Maintance Manager, Ben Dickson, we have complied a list of tips to help prepare your home.

  • If you live in a place with a wall AC, turn it off, unplug it, and put the cover on.
  • Dust off radiators.
  • Make sure your windows seal up to prevent letting in cold air. Keep the windows closed and locked during the winter.
  • If you have a ceiling fan, set the fan to circulate clockwise. This helps your apartment stay warm without turning up the temperature.
  • Test out your heat to ensure it is working properly. If it is not, put in a work order.
  • Swap out your summer bedding for winter bedding to keep you warm while you sleep.
  • If you are using a space heater, only two space heaters can run at a time in one unit. If more space heaters are running, this will cause a power outage.
  • Buy winter essentials before the first snowfall.
  • Keep a shovel inside in case the snow is blocking the doorways.
  • Bring out or purchase a shoe tray for your boots.
  • Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If they seem to be working incorrectly, put in a work order.
  • Do not turn off your heat if you are leaving for an extended period. Keep your heat set to 68 – 70 degrees to prevent pipes from freezing up and to maintain a warm unit.
  • If you have an outside area of your apartment or home, cover up your outdoor furniture or store it for the winter to prevent damage.
  • Keep furniture, curtains and blanket’s away from baseboard heaters as this will block your heat from keeping your apartment warm.

By taking these proactive steps, you’ll be on your own way to enjoining a cozy and invite home or apartment throughout the fall and winter months. Stay safe and warm in the upcoming months!

Helpful Link

Resident Portal

Emergency Maintenance

701-371-9915

Roers Top Winter Maintenance Tips for Renters

Now that we are into the new year and the cold weather is truly here to stay, having your hope prepared for the winter months can be put into focus. To help with that our property management team has put together a list of their top priorities when it comes to staying safe in the winter time.

“Check Your Heat” – General Manager

During those long summer months running the heat is the last thing you want running in your apartment, but not using it for long can cause problems. Before it gets too cold, turn on the heat and make sure everything is running smoothly and that there are no weird smells. If something is wrong, make sure to contact maintenance and get it fixed as soon as possible.

This is also a good time to cover your outside air conditioning units. Covering your unit will help keep cold air out of your apartment. Most apartments provide a cover for your air conditioning units, so it is important to check with management before covering it yourself.

“Check Your Garage Door Opener” – Maintenance Technician

If you are lucky enough to have a garage stall you want to make sure you can get into it. Check your opener and make sure your door moves without any issues. If your door gets stuck or your opener is not working, contact maintenance so they can get it fixed for you.

Be sure to check within your garage is that your personal items are moved out of the way. Moving things around before it gets too cold will make it easier for you to find room for your vehicle.

“Move Your Outdoor Furniture Inside” – Property Ambassador

For those who have a balcony it is important to cover all your furniture or even bring it in for the winter season. Properly storing your belongs for the winter will maintain their quality and help them make it to next season.

While preparing your outdoor for winter it is also a good idea to do some work inside. During the winter you will spend most of your days curled up at home, so might as well make it a clean place to be. Bust out the cleaning supplies and get to work, vacuum carpets, dust those hard-to-reach places, and organize your home. These small acts will change your area and make it feel more like home.

“Make Sure Your Windows Are Closed” – Maintenance Technician

It is important to check your windows before it gets too cold. When checking your windows, look and make sure they are fully sealed and do not have a noticeable draft coming through them. Another thing you can do to prepare your windows for winter is to plastic seal your windows. Wrapping your windows helps with keeping the cold out. If you notice any issues with your windows or having problems fully closing the windows let management know.

For more winter maintenance tips check out this ARTICLE.

Looking for a new apartment? Check out all our listings HERE.

Tips & Tricks for Surviving a North Dakota Winter (College Edition)

As many of you know and have experienced, winter in North Dakota can get insanely cold. If you are new to North Dakota, you are in for a special surprise… maybe even a snowy, windy, negative 50’s surprise. Below are some tips and tricks on how to stay warm and of course, survive in a North Dakota winter.

1. The Right Clothing

Winter is no joke. Make sure you have a thick coat, a pair of gloves, a hat, scarf, face mask, snow boots, and snow pants. Walking to class may get pretty brisk if you don’t have enough warm clothing. You might find yourself going skiing one weekend or maybe even building a snowman with friends.  If you do not have one of these items, head over to a store that provides winter clothing.

2. Have an Emergency Bag

Everyone should have an emergency bag in their vehicle. Some items to keep in the bag are a blanket, water, flashlight, extra hat and gloves, money, hand warmers, shovel and chocolate. We should always be prepared!

3. Have Sand or Cat Litter in Your Vehicle

Wait? Cat Litter? Yes, you will need it. It can be used to help prevent your vehicle from sliding around on the ice (students with cars, we know exactly what could happen with icy roads). Putting even weight in the front and back of your vehicle will help with the traction. Both sand and cat litter can also be handy. All you must do is put either sand or litter in front or behind your tires and this will hopefully help you get unstuck.

4. Allow Extra Driving Time

We all know that saying we will be able to make it in 10 minutes does not really happen. When it comes to winter, we need to be more cautious with driving. Sometimes it can be so windy that snow blows over the roads causing ice to be covered. We need to drive slowly and be aware. When you are coming to stop, there is no need to slam on the breaks. Simply, press your foot slowly down on the breaks. If you are in 4-wheel drive, slamming your foot down on the breaks can actually harm your tires and the breaks itself.  Try to allow extra time to get to class though!

5. Extra Socks

Wear two pairs of socks instead of one. Sometimes winter boots just do not do the trick. You will be surprised at how warm your feet are when you get back from walking all around campus.

6. Full Tank Always

Winter can be the season where we are constantly filling our gas tank. The reason for this is because we tend to keep our vehicle running longer to keep the heat going throughout the vehicle. Some vehicles also have the option to pre-start with our keys from a dorm room or apartment.  If your gas mileage says you have 20 miles until empty, don’t wait until the next day to fill it up, do it at that moment. Try not to go below a quarter of a tank.

7. Keep Charged Up

Whenever you plan on traveling anywhere make sure your phone battery is charged up. In the unfortunate event where you may run out of gas, your car battery dies or get in a fender bender, you will need to have your phone to be able to communicate with people about what is going on or call for emergency personnel.

8. Communicate Your Travel Plans

College students, this is very important! Whenever you plan on heading home on the weekend do not forget to let your family know when you are leaving and whenever you make a stop at a gas station, check-in with them. You should also let your roommate(s) know so they are aware of what is going on and so they can also keep track of you. Be sure to stay up-to-date on the weather and road conditions by having apps on your cell phone such as weather.com or or the ND DOT site.

9. Ice on Windshield? We Can Fix That Instantly!

Sometimes we run a little behind when heading to class so we will go ahead and scrape a little spot on our windshield for us to see through while driving and call it good. We should know this is not safe but we are trying to save time! Here is a quick trick to help clear your windshield instantly. Go to your local store, grab a spray bottle and fill it with three parts vinegar (or rubbing alcohol) and one part water. This will clear it up within 20 seconds. Its a fast and inexpensive trick!

10. Jumper Cables

Don’t forget to have jumper cables in your car! Sometimes it gets too cold outside to the point where our cars do not even start. Make sure to have a friend handy, you just might need to have them help you.

Now that winter is here, be safe and enjoy the North Dakota winter!

Another helpful tip – Roers Property Management has apartments and townhomes close to campus. If you don’t want to have to deal with road conditions in the winter, contact us to find out more about living close to NDSU.