Getting a New Brunswick cottage ready for winter, where do I start?

Start with the building envelope — stopping heat loss and water infiltration before freeze-up is your highest priority. A New Brunswick winter will expose every weakness in a cottage, and the freeze-thaw cycles we see from November through April are relentless on structures that aren't properly prepared.

Weatherproofing and water management come first. Walk the entire perimeter and clear debris from around the foundation — snow and ice sitting against the sill plate accelerates rot. Clean your eavestroughs before the leaves finish falling (usually late October in most of NB), and make sure downspouts discharge at least 1.5 metres away from the foundation. Water that pools near the foundation in November will be ice-jacking your footings by January. Check the roof for any lifted shingles or flashing gaps around chimneys and vents — a small leak in October becomes a major interior damage situation when snowmelt starts infiltrating in March.

Plumbing winterization is non-negotiable if the cottage won't be heated. Drain all water lines completely — gravity alone won't get everything, so use compressed air to blow out the lines if you can. Don't forget the water heater, toilet tanks and traps, the pressure tank if you're on a well, and any outdoor hose bibs. Pour RV-grade antifreeze (the non-toxic propylene glycol type) into sink traps, toilet bowls, and floor drains. A frozen trap that cracks is a $300-$800 plumbing repair in spring — and in rural NB, getting a licensed plumber out to a cottage in March can mean a long wait.

If you're heating the cottage through winter — increasingly common as NB cottage owners convert camps to four-season use — make sure your heating system has been serviced. Oil furnaces and propane systems should have annual tune-ups by a licensed technician before the cold sets in. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, get the chimney swept (creosote buildup is a genuine fire risk after a season of use). Cold-climate heat pumps work well in NB cottages down to -25°C, but they need a backup heat source for the coldest stretches inland.

One thing many NB cottage owners overlook: radon. New Brunswick has some of the highest radon concentrations in Canada — roughly 1 in 4 homes exceed Health Canada's guideline of 200 Bq/m³, and rural properties on wells face even higher risk. If you've never tested, pick up a long-term test kit ($30-$50 at hardware stores) and let it run over the winter months. It's the best time to test since the cottage is closed up.

A few other quick items worth checking before you lock up: confirm smoke and CO detectors have fresh batteries (or remove them if the cottage will be unheated and unoccupied — cold kills batteries fast), disconnect and store any propane tanks safely away from the structure, and secure any outbuildings against wind. Northern NB — Edmundston, Campbellton, the Acadian Peninsula — regularly sees 300-350+ cm of snowfall, so make sure your roof structure can handle the load and arrange for snow removal if needed.

If your cottage is on a private well and septic system, the septic doesn't typically need winterization unless the tank itself is at risk of freezing (rare in NB with a properly installed system below frost depth), but it's worth confirming your tank was pumped within the last 3-4 years.

For any work that goes beyond basic prep — plumbing modifications, adding insulation, converting to four-season use — browse licensed contractors in the New Brunswick Construction Network directory to find tradespeople familiar with rural NB cottage work in your area.