NL winter checklist for landlords and tenants

Winter is hard on a home here. This is one list for both sides of the lease: what to do if you rent, and what to do if you own the place. Go through it in October or November, before the first cold snap. Free to print and share.

If you rent

Keep the heat on. Even when you are away. Don’t let your place drop below 15°C, and don’t block heating vents with furniture or curtains.
Help the pipes on cold nights. Open the cupboard doors under sinks on outside walls. In a cold snap (−15°C or colder), let the taps drip a little.
Tap gives a trickle or nothing? It may be frozen. Leave the tap open a little and report it. Never use an open flame, and no hair dryer on plastic pipe.
Clear the baseboard heaters. About a foot of space: no curtains, bedding, couch or cords. A burnt-dust smell for the first hour is normal. Longer than that, or a scorch mark on the wall: switch it off and report it.
Oil furnace or heat pump? Oil smell or black soot near the furnace: don’t run it, and report it today. Heat pump: light frost that clears is normal. Ice that stays, or screeching: report it, and don’t chip at the ice.
Test the smoke and CO alarms. Press the test button on each one and check the date on the back. Never take the battery out. If one chirps or won’t test, report it.
Dryer taking two cycles? The vent is likely blocked, and blocked dryer vents start house fires. Hold off using it and report it. Outside, the vent flap should open and be free of lint and ice.
Keep the damp down. Run the bathroom fan during every shower and 20 minutes after. Use the range hood when you cook. Wipe window condensation on cold mornings. Keep furniture a hand’s width off outside walls.
See black spots? Take a photo before you clean, then report it. Don’t paint over mould. Bigger than a dinner plate, or it keeps coming back: report it and leave it alone.
Drafts, snow and ice. Report cold air at a window or door early. Clear your own entrance if your lease says it is yours. Report ice on shared steps, walkways or parking. Don’t pile snow against the building.
Report repairs in writing. Say what, where and when it started, and add a photo. Keep a copy with the date on it. No update after a few days? Follow up in writing too.
Don’t hold back rent to get a repair done. In NL, a tenant who withholds rent to force repairs is in arrears. If repairs are not made, you can apply to the Director of Residential Tenancies for an order (Section 42).

If you own the place

Get the furnace serviced. Before it runs every day: filter changed, a service date on the tag, and the thermostat working. Have the chimney or vent, cap and flashing looked at too.
Look over the oil tank. Rust, weeping stains or wet spots, drips at the filter or lines, steady legs, a gauge that reads, and nothing stored against it. Any oil smell or stain: get it looked at before winter.
Check every heater. Each baseboard heats and its thermostat works: a cold room with plumbing is where pipes freeze. Heat pump: filter clean, outdoor unit clear of snow and ice.
Get the pipes ready. Shut off and drain the outside taps from inside. Insulate pipes in unheated spots, and check any heat tape works.
Smoke and CO alarms. Test every one, on every floor and near bedrooms, with a CO alarm near the furnace. Replace batteries, and replace any alarm past its date: smoke at 10 years, CO often at 7.
Clear the dryer vent. Lint out of the hose and the run to the outside wall, and a flap that opens freely.
Stop the drafts. Weather stripping and door sweeps on outside doors, caulking around windows, storm windows on and seated. Long icicles at the roof edge mean heat is getting into the attic: look at the insulation.
Fans that move air. Bathroom fan and range hood both pull. Hold a piece of toilet paper to the fan grille: it should stick.
Snow and ice on exits. Make it clear in writing who clears what. Keep shared steps, walkways and exits clear, and gutters and downspouts free so melt runs away from the house.
Treat no heat as an emergency. You must keep the place in a good state of repair and fit for habitation (Section 10, Statutory Condition 1). In a Newfoundland winter a home without heat can stop being livable fast, so act the same day. Give your tenant a number that works after hours.
Give notice before you go in. For a furnace service or a repair, get your tenant’s consent or give at least 24 hours’ written notice stating the time, and go in at a reasonable time. There are exceptions, such as an emergency (Section 10, Statutory Condition 5).
Answer repairs in writing. Keep the date each request came in, when you booked it and when it was fixed. That record helps you both.

Call someone now

CO alarm sounding, or headaches, nausea or drowsiness that clear up outside: everyone out, pets too. Call 911 from outside. Don’t go back in to open windows.
Gas smell: don’t touch switches or plugs, and don’t light anything. Get everyone out and call 911 from outside.
Fire, smoke, or a hot or scorched outlet: get out, close doors behind you, and call 911 from outside.
Strong oil smell with a headache or nausea: get out and call 911.
No heat: check the thermostat and the breaker, then call your landlord right away. Can’t reach them and it is getting very cold? Go somewhere warm.
Water pouring in, or a burst pipe: turn off the main water valve if you know where it is, keep clear of outlets and the panel, and call your landlord.
Power out on the whole street: Newfoundland Power’s outage line is 1-800-474-5711 (or call your own power company).

In the Newfoundland landlord guide

Where Dweller helps

With Dweller, a tenant reports a repair from their own portal and the landlord sees it, books it and marks it fixed, each step with its date. The same record, on both sides.

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