By Frank May

In Arizona, most people think winterizing your home means taking off your sunscreens and planting the winter grass (though that is part of it). Even though our winter weather is just about the best in the world, there are some winters where we get a night or two, and sometimes even three that drop below freezing.

Winterizing a home can be a daunting task if you live in Minnesota, North Dakota, or Colorado. Here in the Valley of the Sun, we do winterize our homes – however, we do things a little differently.

1. Pipes
Wrap Your Pipes: The areas you need to worry about are any exposed water lines from the ground to the house. These provide water to your landscaping and pool (or maybe a water feature). Most hardware stores carry pre-formed insulation just for this purpose, but you can get away with a bath towel and some duct tape in a pinch.

2. Plants
Protect Your Plants: I love the Styrofoam hats on the cacti when it gets cold. I recently found out that you shouldn’t use anything to cover the cacti that are non-breathable (i.e, plastic). I am sure you have seen those sheets and towels covering trees and plants overnight. This works, just remember your HOA may not react too kindly if you leave those sheets out for more than one night.

3. Pools
A pool is a significant investment. It is worth taking some time before it cools down (and the nights when it gets to freezing temperatures) to keep your pool in as good of shape as possible. Make sure you test your chemical levels, clean the pool thoroughly, and be ready to run your pump at night when the temperature is going to drop below freezing, so the pipes don’t freeze.

4. Pictures
Most importantly – don’t forget to post pictures of the beautiful weather to all of your friends and family on Facebook, rubbing it in that they don’t live here. Making them all jealous of our winter weather is a good thing!

Now with all of this in mind, you can plan your golfing, hiking, and anything else you love about our Arizona winters.

Frank May grew up in the valley, graduating from Northwest Christian School and NAU. He is a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty and has been helping both buyers and sellers for 18 years.