In the beginning of Autumn, I shared a post on the different tasks that we should be taking on in order to prep for the colder weather coming.   Today, I took on a project that is a cheap and simple fix to an annoying problem we have at our home every winter:  Our shed lock freezes over and defies all human effort to unlock, once the spring thaw comes about.

We have a shed that we pretty much keep closed once the cold weather comes about. We’ll soon move the snowblower, shovels and ice melt into the garage, and the shed stays closed for the winter, kept locked with a combination lock like we all used in high school.  The problem is, when it gets wet and then freezes, the inside mechanism kind of gets destroyed, and, come spring, we have the toughest time getting it open, and we have to replace it with one that actually works every spring.

This year will be different!  I’ve just made our lock much more winter-proof, and I’m confident that next spring, we’ll have a lock that actually opens, and is usable year-round!

The trick?  Use a tennis ball to protect the lock! I took a standard tennis ball, and cut a slit across about half of the ball. I turned it so that the ball could “eat” the lock (like Pacman) and then, once it gobbled up the whole lock, I turned it 90 degrees, so that the slit was over the top, not front to back, and the front is completely protected by the ball.  Easy Peasy!

Winterproof Your Shed Padlock

One last tip:  Drill or cut a hole in the bottom, to help water drain out… will help to ensure that the lock stays protected from the ice.  You can even fill the tennis ball with some fabric or cotton to help insulate it.