After a big snowfall: a checklist for an empty cottage

It snowed all night in Sutton, and nobody has been at the cottage for two weeks. You’re in Montréal wondering what it looks like up there: is the driveway open, is the heat running, is the roof coping? Here’s what to check, in order — from a distance first, then on site.

What to do right now

1. Check the power from home

Before you drive up, look at Hydro-Québec’s outage map for your area. Heavy snow brings branches down on the lines, especially along the wooded roads of the Townships. If your area is out, electric heat is off — and the cold inside matters as much as the snow outside.

If you have a connected thermostat or a temperature alert, check the last reading. But remember: when the power or the internet goes down, those devices go quiet. A “normal” reading from ten hours ago tells you nothing about right now.

2. Confirm the driveway was cleared

Call your snow-clearing contractor or a neighbour. An open driveway means access for you, for the propane truck and, if it ever comes to that, for the fire department. On the steep roads of Potton or Frelighsburg, an uncleared driveway after a big storm can stay impassable for a long time.

3. On site: arrive in daylight, and stay out from under the roof edge

Park well away from where the roof sheds. Snow and ice slide off without warning, especially from a metal roof. Use a door that isn’t under a loaded overhang, or clear your approach from the side.

4. Clear exhaust vents and air intakes

This is the most important step. Walk around the house and find every wall vent: direct-vent furnace or water heater, dryer, air exchanger. If they’re buried, clear them gently by hand or with a broom, without knocking the pipes.

A blocked vent can shut an appliance down or push combustion gases back into the house — and carbon monoxide has no colour and no smell. Only an alarm can detect it, and Québec.ca recommends having one on every floor and in the hallway near the bedrooms. If an alarm is sounding, or you smell fuel: get everyone out, leave the door open behind you, and call 911 from outside.

5. Look at the roof from the ground — don’t climb up

Walk around and look for very uneven snow, drifts on a lower roof, an ice dam along the eaves, large icicles over a door. Photograph each side. Never climb onto a snow-covered roof, and don’t send anyone up without the gear and the experience.

6. Inside: ceilings, doors, heat

• Check the top-floor ceilings, around the chimney and skylights: a new stain, a drip, a crack.
• Try the interior doors: a door that starts to rub or stick after a heavy snowfall is worth noting.
• Make sure the heat is running and the stove clock isn’t blinking (a sign of a recent outage).
• Listen: unusual creaking in the framing is a signal to take seriously.

7. Propane tanks, meter and deck

Snow sliding off the roof can land on the propane tank, its regulator or the electric meter. Gently clear what you can reach, without forcing anything. A heavily loaded deck, icy steps: note them and plan for clearing.

8. Document, then call the right people

Take photos of everything, with the time. Then:

• Signs of roof overload (conspicuous creaking, cracks on interior walls, sticking doors, a deforming ceiling): the RBQ says to evacuate the building and have the snow removed. Have it assessed by a building professional, and an RBQ-licensed contractor for repairs.
• A leak or damage: call your insurer or broker and write down the claim number.
• Immediate danger (gas smell, CO alarm, a downed line): 911 — that’s also the number Hydro-Québec says to call to report a wire on the ground.

Why it happens — especially at a Townships cottage

Snow isn’t just weight. It blocks things that need to breathe. A wall vent close to the ground or under an overhang disappears quickly under a snowfall, or under snow sliding off the roof. Plenty of cottages that were added onto over the years have vents set low, right where snow piles up.

Not all snow weighs the same. Wet snow, or snow followed by rain, is much heavier than powder. In the Eastern Townships, a mild spell or freezing rain after a big storm is common.

Wind moves snow around. It drops drifts on lower roofs, in valleys and on the sheltered side of the house. The roof can look light on one side and heavily loaded on the other.

On the mountain, everything takes longer. The snow-clearing crew has a long route, the propane truck waits for roads to open, and an outage on a wooded back road can last longer than in town.

Prevention: what you can do, and what belongs to a professional

What an owner can do:

• Find and label every wall vent before winter, and know which appliance each one belongs to.
• Have a clear snow-clearing agreement: when the contractor comes, and whether they also clear access to the propane tank.
• Keep a roof rake to pull snow off the roof edge from the ground, where it’s easy to reach.
• Have working carbon-monoxide alarms on every floor and near the bedrooms, and test them monthly.
• Leave a key and a list of useful numbers with someone you trust.

What belongs to a professional:

• Clearing snow off a roof: a company equipped and used to working at heights.
• Relocating a badly placed vent: an RBQ-licensed heating contractor.
• Repairing a leak, a roof or framing: a roofer or RBQ-licensed contractor.
• Assessing framing that shows signs of overload: a building professional.

In an empty house, how long before anyone notices?

Nobody sees a buried vent at an empty cottage. Nobody hears a furnace shut down, or a drip start falling from a ceiling. If the storm hits on a Tuesday and the next visit is three weeks away, that’s how long anything that changed goes unnoticed.

How often someone stops by — and whether someone stops by after each storm — sets the maximum length of any problem. Many insurance policies also set specific conditions when a home is unoccupied. Conditions vary from one insurer to the next: reread your policy or ask your broker.

What we look at on a visit

After a snowfall, we first check that the driveway is passable, then walk around to make sure the wall exhaust vents are clear. We look at the snow and ice along the roof edge from the ground, and at the propane tank, the meter and the deck. Inside, we confirm the power is on and look at the top-floor ceilings. Every finding is photographed and time-stamped in the report.

If something’s off, we call you the same day, with photos. If needed, we meet the RBQ-licensed contractor or roof snow-clearing company on site and document the work.