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May 2-4 is the unofficial start of patio season in Canada, and we all know how it usually goes: the BBQ cover gets yanked off, the cushions are hauled out of storage, and we just cross our fingers. But after five (or even eight?!) months of dormancy, your outdoor space is far from ready. To get ahead of the holiday and make it actually relaxation-ready, here are the four wake-up jobs to tackle before the long weekend, along with the smart tools that make each one quick and efficient.
Your BBQ has been sitting under a cover all winter, hosting spiders, rotting wood chips and last fall’s greasy blobs. Two tools will save you a lot of grief before you fire it up.
First, this DEWALT shop vac on suction mode. Pop the grates off, scrape any heavy residue with a putty knife (or the metal edge of a BBQ cleaning tool, which I’ll get to in a moment), then use the crevice nozzle to vacuum out cooled ash and debris from the cook box. One important rule: shop vacs handle cooled, loose debris only, never wet grease, which clogs the filter and ruins your vac.
Second, the BBQ Daddy from Scrub Daddy. Heat the grill to about 300°F, dip the scrub head into a bowl of cold water, then apply it to the hot grates. The FlexTexture core firms up in cold water and steams when it hits the heat. The steam does the work, and it’s a fun thing to watch too – it’s one of the most impressive before-and-after cleaning jobs you’ll tackle! The biggest selling point: no wire bristles, which the CDC has been flagging as an emergency-room risk for years. Wipe the interior down with a degreaser, rinse well, and you’re ready to grill.
Wake Up the Patio Furniture (and the Cushions)
The trick most people don’t know: most modern shop vacs have a built-in blower port. Switch the hose over and use it to blast leaves, pollen, cobwebs, debris and dust out of furniture joints, umbrella ribs, and deck corners. Try sixty seconds per piece. It’s faster than wiping and seriously satisfying.
Then, grab this product for the rest of the patio: 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner. It’s 100% Canadian-owned and Canadian-made (perfect for May 2-4!), and it works on both the frames AND the cushions. Spray it on, wait 30 seconds to 10 minutes (you’ll see it start to work within seconds, you’ll know when to rinse), then hose it off. In many cases, you won’t need to scrub at all; in other cases, you’ll have better results if you gently agitate the surface with a soft-bristle scrub brush. Glove up and wear your least favourite clothing when using this product, it can stain. Rinse the surrounding area and foliage well after use.
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Solar String Lights – $49.99
Rattan Patio Furniture Set – $252.99
Napoleon Freestyle 365 Propane Gas BBQ Grill – $499
This one’s important, and if you care about the well-being of your AC unit, please don’t skip it. As in, don’t run your AC the first time without prepping the outdoor unit; you’ll either kill efficiency or damage the compressor.
Wait until daytime temperatures are reliably 15°C or higher (the compressor isn’t designed to start colder). Cut power at the disconnect box. Remove the winter cover and check it for damage and rodent nests. Hose it off and allow to fully dry in the sun before folding up and storing it away for the season.
Clear leaves, weeds and grass clippings from around the unit (you need two feet of clearance for proper airflow). Use the shop vac with a soft-bristle attachment to gently clean the condenser fins, then lightly hose the unit from top to bottom using a gentle showerhead spray setting on your hose. Don’t pressure-wash them! Those aluminum fins bend if you breathe on them.
Inside the house, change the furnace filter (it’s shared with the AC), and you’re set.
Reclaim the Yard from a Winter of Doggy Dumps
A single dog produces up to 274 pounds of solid waste per year, and after a winter of snow cover, your yard is hiding months of accumulated piles that just thawed. That waste contains Salmonella, E. coli, and more, and spring rain can wash it into local watersheds. Putting that aside, you don’t want your kids or grandkids rolling around in that do you? Didn’t think so!
Your tool of choice: a stainless steel rake-and-tray pooper scooper combo. The two-piece design lets you collect multiple piles in one trip instead of walking back to the bin each time. Stainless steel doesn’t absorb odour or harbour bacteria the way plastic does, and you can thoroughly hose it down and let the sun finish the sanitizing.
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Long Box Planter – $179.99
Patio Umbrella – $479.00
Patio Furniture Covers – $27.99
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