[brk330]

There's probably quite a few people still doing the oil undercoat combined with a drive on a dirt road trick. I remember reading a guy who swore by melted vaseline mixed with chainsaw oil. In sorta the same vein is mustie1 on youtube who used melted toilet wax rings to save the rusty patina on his VW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wC-FM286ok

[zendwa]

And now a question about snow removal. In general (I know things vary by region), do homeowners own snow blowers? Rely on neighborhood kids with shovels? Plow services?
I've lived where I had to own a plow truck -- F250 with Boss plow blade -- and although that was a lot of fun, I hope I never need to do that again.
And my old(er) bones are really, really tired of shoveling.

[Riley.]

We own a snow blower. Cheaper over time than hiring someone to come plow. But we only have a fairly short driveway to plow.
There are no neighborhood kids with shovels in my neck of the woods.

[vter]

Re: snow removal. It'll depend on how long your driveway is. Ours is long so we hire someone to do it. We pay a flat rate for the season and he comes whenever there is 4ish or more inches of snow. He'll sand it too for an extra fee. We've only had to do that once when we had a particularly bad ice storm and couldn't get out of the driveway without having it done!

[tkln]

We have a very long driveway and pay per plow, also like vter only when there is more than 3-4" of snow. Sanding extra.

[CatwomanofV]

At our last house, we shoveled ourselves. We did buy a snowblower but it couldn't handle the snow sometimes so we still ended up shoveling. Since moving, our drive way is longer so we hire someone with a plow.


Cat

[VT'ah]

You will wish you had a house in the north for the summer and the south for the winter. If you move away from VT you will deeply miss her everyday, until you realize how horrible the winters are.

[zendwa]

And another winter question: What is the most common (and most cost-effective) method of winter heat in most of rural Vermont? Over the course of my life in mountain climates, I've heated with everything from electric to wood to gas (hot-water radiators were definitely my favorite in old Victorian houses). I know we'll probably be stuck with what's already installed in a particular house, but what is most frequent?

[squarpeg]

I think wood would be the cheapest. A lot of folks use wood as the major heat source, but I can't speak to the most popular method. I see quite a lot of people using pellet stoves these days also. In my neighborhood the newer systems seem to be mostly propane. Friends that have older homes often have oil. I think it is a mix. If I were to build a new home I would probably go with baseboard hot water with propane. My son had one recently installed in his home, very efficient. You can buy propane through a co-op at significant savings. Add a woodstove as backup or supplement in really cold weather. That is a good combo.

[skeddy]

Vermont is a beautiful state. However the winters are too long and gray for me and the month of April can crush your soul. Vermont is second in percentage of people with second homes. The winter season has plenty to do with that. My other challenge with Vermont is the air pollution. Approximately 25% of Vermonters heat with wood and the combustion creates so much carbon dioxide into the air it can become hard to breath in more densely populated areas. I'm sure the wood is stacked within 10 feet of the front doors already in many areas.