Snow Birds

[bill not in oh]

I know there's folks on the board that shut down their northern residence and spend winters in warmer climes.... What do you do to prepare your residence for your absence? I'm selling my property and am going to be gone while it's listed with the realtor. Electric is a no brainier because of the sump pumps, but what about the water and gas? Any other tips?

[Hoop]

Just shut up my Mothers house for the winter.
Water heater must be drained, along with pressure tank. Toilets drained as well. All pipes within the house must be drained. Then add RV antifreeze into all drains & toilet. This replaces the water in the plumbing traps.

If you have your own well, be sure to switch off the electrical breaker for the well pump and if you have an electric hot water heater, switch that off as well. It won't hurt to put a piece of white tape on the water heater switch, specifying that the hot water heater needs to be filled before the breaker is switched on. Electric water heaters turned on, which aren't yet filled with water, may easily burn out the heating element.

If you have propane, you may want to shut off the gas at the tank. This in itself will shut off all pilot lights. If you do this, leave notes on all appliances that have to be re-lit after the gas is turned back on.
If you have natural gas, I think I'd leave the pilot lights on, as nearly all natural gas suppliers have a minimum charge each month, just for being hooked up to the system.


Lastly, make a list of things that need to be done in spring when things are turned back on. After all, the person doing the shut-offs may not be around in spring. (deceased, incapacitated, etc)

[Wolf mom]

Talk to your realtor first.

If the house is on the market, it needs to show well in order to sell. Your realtor should know what needs to be done to 1. have it sell, 2. create a balance with it being empty.

Is there year around access? If not, that's days that it can't be shown to a prospective buyer....Just another thought.

Also, after it's sold, but before close, there will be a "walk through", where the buyer will check electrical, plumbing, heat, cooling, etc. so that needs to be considered when winterizing an empty house.

[haypoint]

One common, "oh, darn , I forgot that" forgotten item is the pipe between the bath tub faucets and the shower head. When you drain the water out of your water lines, you leave the hot and cold faucets open. If you fail to turn the shower diverter back to the half way between shower and tub, water will remain in the pipe to the shower. It is likely that it'll freeze, crack the pipe and when you take your first shower next spring you'll have water pouring down the insides of your wall. Some water remains in the bottom of your washing machine, below the drum, in the washer's pump. Left all winter, it'll be snapped by spring.

[TundraGypsy]

I have a little house up in Northern Idaho and I have a regular check list of things to do. I drain all the outside pipes that I use for irrigation. I clean up all the leaves out of the gutters and around the house. I put my phone and satellite service on a 'vacation hold' I do not turn off my electricity. I set the temperature to 55 degrees.

One year I turned the water off at the street; last year DH didn't turn it off and it was okay. We put foam boards in all the windows and solid pieces of insulation boards in the basement windows. I unplug all unnecessary things like lamps and radios. I make sure the storm glass is back in both the screen doors.

Then I have someone come in once a month and take a look at the place; inside and out. Several people know where our 'emergency' keys are located in case anyone has to get into the house if any damage is done and repairs need to be made before we return in the spring.

This is our third winter and so far it has all been working out fine for us.

[sheepish]

Check with your insurance company. Unoccupied houses usually need to be checked frequently to keep the insurance in effect.

[Ohio dreamer]

Bill we are in the same situation. Our house in Ohio is for sale while we are living in Hungary. We didn't shut any utilities off! The thermostat is set to 50 (it's digital so we have it go "back to 50" every 6 hrs), gas is on, waters on (a must for our heating system) and electric is on. Only the Cable/Sat and phone are shut off. I would hate to have someone looking at or showing the house and use the facilities only to find out they can't flush! Or someone want to see it in the evening when it's dark out...flash lights just won't cut it. Our bills are $20 or less a month for all three utilities. For us it's worth $20 a month for piece of mind.

DH's company is paying for un-occupied house insurance (on top of our regular house insurance). I have no idea what it costs, but it might be worth looking into.