Thread: How Do I Prep a House for an Extended Vacation ?

Originally Posted by Utopian

Good call on the traps/drains. I forgot about them. Though they are less likely to freeze, the cost for a little anti-freeze is trivial compared to the risk.

I would fill them completely with AF. No sense risking the pipes cracking.

Originally Posted by Stubear

Will you be able to go back to the house periodically to check on it or will you be moving far enough away that this wont be an option?

I was just thinking it might be a good idea to go check the place out over couple of months or so and make sure nothing is going wrong!

This is important to know because.
Do you have hot water heat? Does it have an auto refill? If you shut the water will the boiler need to be refilled on occasion?
You should also unplug everything including appliances. Do you have natural gas coming into the house? Consider turning it off.
Some questions to ask before you decide how best to shut the house down.
In some places there are services that will check on your house for a fee or in best case scenario, ask a friend.


Don't forget to tell the local police and the local fire dept the house will not be occupied.

I forgot about the water heater!
You definitely want it turned off. I'm not sure if you should drain it or add some antifreeze. If you drain it, there's no risk of bursting but you risk rust. If you add antifreeze, you protect from rust but will have to mess with draining and rinsing it when you return. I lean toward the latter, but this sounds like a job for some google research!

you could also leave a few buckets of clay cat litter in various rooms of the house to adsorb moisture. I do that with my cabin in Tn. and each summer when I go back it doesnt have as bad a smell of a musty closed up place.

So, I'm still working on the water situation. I've read that I should turn the water off "at the main". In a modern US townhouse do you guys think the "main" would be somewhere in/near the house that I would shut off, or would the "main" be something the water company would turn off? I assume that the "main" is off when I can flush the toilet but no more water enters the bowl . . . ??

Should I be draining the toilets so they do not have any water in them at all and then add the AF?

I'm planning on keeping the house at 45 degrees and I'm expecting temps in the 15 - 20 degree region. I'll be able to check on the house every few weeks.

The main on my house is located in the front yard just off the street. It's located fairly deep in the ground (below frost line I believe) and is housed a round steel tube with a cover. I've never shut it off, but the plumber did once, and as I remember he used some kind of wrench type fitting on the end of a long rod to turn it off. Perhaps it's possible to use a cresant wrench to do the same thing, but I don't know.

If you have forced hot air heat, consider cleaning the flame sensor before leaving. On my furnance carbon builds up on it and it reaches a point where it won't ignite. (My old furnance used to do the same thing). I was told by the furnance guy to use a dollar bill, wrap it aound the sensor, rub it up and down quickly to get the carbon off. He said not to use any kind of abrasive paper as that would degrade the sensor. But, after using a dollar bill, I could really see any difference on the sensor, so I use 600 grit crocus cloth. However, I also order 2 new sensors just in case at some point I kill the old one.

Definitely drain the toilet tanks, but you will need some fluid in the toilet trap to prevent sewer gas from coming through the toilet and into the house. (I had a toilet in the basement I never used and turned the water off to it. Eventually the water in the trap evaporated and a most unpleasant smell ensued!). But, as to putting antifreeze in the trap, I have no idea.

Kent

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

By all means do as Ron has suggested, turn the water supply off, open the taps and drain the system. If you choose to leave the water on DO NOT LOWER the temp less than 40-45 degrees. The furnace will shut off at whatever point it is set and cool from there until it kicks on again.

We need to know a bit more.

The hot water heater is at risk if you shut off the water.
and forget to shut the burner off.

Same for the house furnace. Is the furnace hot air
only or a combo furnace.

Same for standing water in the tank behind the toilet.

Some houses have a second story water tank
to maintain pressure.

If you dial the heat in the house too low you risk
frozen pipes in the walls. Many houses run at a
balance point where leaked heat protects things
like outside taps. For this reason 40-45F is often
way too low. I would set it back only a little more
than then you have already tested it last winter.
My guess is 60F.

If you have a neighbor you trust make sure mail is
collected. The drive and walk cleared of snow
(clearing snow can be a legal obligation in some
towns. While they are at it have then walk through
run some water and flush once... on a weekly basis.

Drain traps (that U shaped bit of pipe) to the sink, shower,
bath etc should not be permitted to dry out. Sewer gas stinks and
might even be flammable.

If you blow the water pipes dry you still need to heat
the house so the foundation does not freeze.

Some summer homes in places like Minnesota are commonly
shut down cold but they fully drain tanks and fill traps with anti freeze and
have other things done in the design and building
construction to make it possible.

AF is poison so it should only go into drains. Not
house plumbing or the hot water heater. It may be illegal
to flush it down a city drain. I forget how bad it is on
a septic system.

You could rent it...