How to Prep Home for Extended Absence?
 

Looking for advice on how to prep home for extended absences.
Closing on our TV home in 3 weeks, but for next year can only visit every 3-4 months, will have security system. What advices/tips do you have for preparing our home for those extended absences?

home watch service,

then water off, remote wireless irrigation timer installed, external electricity off for all appliances, lanai and exterior outlets, refrigerator off, leave top and bottom open, drain ice maker of ice and water, garage doors locked from inside, garage door remotes shut off on the inside, air conditioner set to 78, humidity to 50%, monitor with smart phone app, natural gas off at grille connection, or house, if gas appliances. . .

bi monthly home watch to run water, flush toilets, check for leaks,

that's my list, for the most part. . .

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

CoachKandSportaguy, thank you for the great advice!

How about a house sitter?

water and water heater off, irrigation system on, stow anything outside, we tape all drains and place plastic wrap over the toilets, set AC at 80, leave 2 lights on timers, let neighbors know our plans, we left the fridge on this winter and placed cable and internet on away mode. That is about it for the six months we are away. Over the other six months we hope to be down at least 4 weeks but generally do close to everything for those time periods.

And be sure to have the lawn serviced on a regular basis.

Another thing to think about if you haven’t done it is to hire a company to treat and fertilize your lawn . In central Florida there are tons of insects and critters that will destroy your grass if it isn’t treated for controlling them.

This might not be an issue initially because the shrubs and vegetation included will be small when the house is new but they will grow very fast in the Florida environment and will need to be maintained. We utilize a home watch service too but I like them to come by at least every 10 days for peace of mind that all is ok.

Toilets
 

Easier fix on toilets. Instead of plastic wrap take a plastic garbage bag and drape it over the toilet then lower the seat. Done in seconds.

Why plastic over toilets?

My assumption is to keep water from evaporating. Without water in the toilets the line vents sewer gas and possible bug entry

Water filter
 

We also turn off our whole house water filter, then run the water a bit to make sure we have chlorinated water in our lines, toilets, hot water heater, etc.

to minimize evaporation and keep out bugs

Close your drains
 

Buy a cheap bag of cat litter and zip lock bags, fill the bags about 1/3 full zip them and place them on top of each drain so the entire drain is covered In the house, take Plastic wrap and seal your toilets, this will keep bugs from traveling to your home from the Sewer or from the Vent on your roof, don’t forget the washing machine drain, just wrap all together.

This is the list we use. Feel free to modify the list as you see fit.

Closing The House To Do List

1 Set the house thermostat at 80-82 deg F. Leave the air conditioning on.
2 Turn off the gas at the manifold in the attic.
3 Place the water heater selection valve to the off position.
4 Put a small amount of vegetable oil in the garbage disposal, and run (without water) for 1-3 seconds.
5 Place bleach in the toilet bowl and the tank.
6 Cover the toilet bowl and tank with plastic wrap. Draw a large X on the plastic wrap (for obvious reasons).
7 Take the outside thermometer sensor indoors.
8 Change the batteries in the smoke detectors.
9 Remove everything from the lanai, porch and outside, and place indoors.
10 Turn off the ice maker. Do this prior to turning off the water to the house.
11 Lock all windows and doors (including dead bolts).
12 Run vinegar and water through the Keurig and then run several cups of tap water through to clear the vinegar from the Keurig reservoir.
13 With the exception of lights on timers, unplug everything (washer, dryer, printers, toaster, coffee pot, wireless phones, lamps, etc.).
14 Turn off the water at the valve in the garage. At one of the sinks, release the pressure for both the hot and cold water supplies. Be sure to close the faucet value once the pressure has been released.
15 Pour a small amount of bleach in each sink trap.
16 Put stoppers in all the sinks.
17 Empty and take out all the garbage.
18 After backing the car out of the garage, lower the door, and set the wall pad button to the off position. Or, you can pull the plug on the garage door opener.

These actions do not have to be done necessarily in this order.

Why plastic wrap or trash bag on toilet ?

[Do yourself a favor and hire a home watch service. We owned for 3 years prior to retirement, hired home watcher and had peace of mind. Well worth the money.

Annie66, fantastic list, thank you!

See Posts Nos. 12, 14, 15.

Turn off water heater also

Good tips here, but while I agree with turning off house water and ice maker, I don’t agree with turning off fridge.

Use, give, or throw away any perishable food that won’t be good upon your return. I put all my pastas, cereals, condiments in the fridge while away along with several bottles of water and wine. For the freezer, I freeze a small Dixie cup of water ahead of time and place a coin on top. If the coin is in a different position on your return, you’ll know that there has been some thawing.

Throw a cupful of bleach into your toilet bowls before Saran wrapping them. Unplug all your other appliances and electronics and/or make sure you have surge protectors. Set the ac to 85 and if you have a humidistat, set that to 55.

And finally, it’s always a good idea to give a trusted neighbor a key and have them do a walkthrough at least monthly. If you don’t have any neighbors that you trust, there are professional house watching services.

The expression that whatever doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. This is not true. Whatever doesn't kill us merely postpones the inevitable.

Good to also keep blinds down to help keep inner house temp less heated up from the sunshine.

Do not put bleach inside your toilet tank, it will degrade the rubber gasket and any other rubber parts and is not necessary.

A lot of good advice. Check with your Homeowners Insurance company. Many, if not most or all, require that a person check the inside of your house regularly. Mine in Pittsburgh required itbe cake Ked every week as I recall.

Also I want to support the importance of lawn and shrub maintenance and treatment. Everything, good and bad, grow quickly in Florida. This happens year round.

Check out Empty Nest. The cost is about $100 a month but they are thorough, reliable and VERY helpful.

Here's one you might want to keep in mind on your garage door.

Robbers are using a Stiff wire with a hook, inserts into the top garage door, hooks
the release rope with their wire and trips the garage door to open.
I remove my release rope years ago.

Leaving standing water in toilet without leaving lid up will trap evaporation creating mold/mildew. (From experience)

Leaving standing water in toilet without leaving lid up will trap evaporation creating mold/mildew. (From experience)

Make sure to check with your Insurance Agent. Some Policies have a Vacancy Clause which basically says if you do not have an actual company making weekly visits they can deny a claim. Not all have it, but better to be safe and check.

If you need a Home Watch Company see my Ad in the Village Sun Classifieds and or give me a call at 585-739-8933, I manage 60+ Snowbirds and 40+ Rentals in The Villages and would be happy to help.

Great tips, I must save this thread! However, some conflicting advice regarding the toilets. Are bugs coming up through your toilets that big of a problem in Florida? I always flush then shut off the water in my toilet if I am away for more than a few days but I haven't done that here in TV yet. I know of two different people who had their homes flooded when they were away because of problems with their toilet mechanisms. And another two who had their homes flooded from a dishwasher leak and fridge/ice maker issues.

If you're leaving your internet connected, get a FLUME.

It attaches to your water meter in minutes and will let you know if it detects a leak.

Someone ran over one of our sprinkler heads and we had a full stream down the street for about 2 months whenever the irrigation ran. One month was about 5000 gallons water usage, the next month was like 40,000 gallons. The next purchase was a FLUME.

Just recently the Flume detected a water leak. After a few days, I tracked it down to one of the irrigation valves was leaking about a pint an hour. I replaced the diaphragm, all better.

For what it's worth, I have the following.

Wifi Thermostat
Wifi Garage Door opener
Nest Hello doorbell
remotely accessible Surveillance cameras
Wifi Irrigation controller
Wifi Flume Water monitor.

We're here in TV full time now, but still travel, so I still use all that stuff as we did when we bought but were only visiting every few months.

I leave the thermostat at 80 when we are away.
I never bothered with wrapping the toilets nor did I ever find one that was dry, even after about 3 months, our longest away period.

I did turn off the toilet valves in case one decided to start running.

I do have family nearby so someone could always pop over. Get to know your neighbors, maybe someone can just check in for you.

If you have an electronic ice maker, (which does not have a wire level sensor over the ice cube storage bin) and you turn off the water to the house, check your owners manual to see if you must turn off the ice maker switch which is usually located next to the ice storage bin to prevent damaging the ice maker.

a few more things
 

Most everything has been covered by others.
I recommend turning your water off. I also unplug washer, dryer, microwave, stove, TVs, printer, etc. to prevent any possibility of Lightening/Electrical Voltage surge. A few neighbors have lost things due to power surges.

I also bought plug in lightening/surge protectors for things i leave plugged in like garage door openers, refrigerator and irrigation system timers. Belkin Single Outlet SurgeCube Surge Protector, 1080 Joules. I actually have these surge protectors on all major items, just in case of a surge even while i am in TV.

Pour vegetable oil down garbage disposal drain and run.
A little bleach in toilets to prevent algae/mildew.
Bring in all outdoor Lanai furniture or anything that can become a projectile during a wind storm.

I got a battery disconnect for the golf cart battery, so, i can quickly disconnect it to avoid parasitic voltage problems and put Stabil in the gas tank.

With the exception of the flume, I have the same WiFi devices in my Amazon basket. I will now search of the flume, thank you for the great tip!

Aside from lawn maintenance, keep in mind that usually doesn’t include weeding. That is the bane of everyone here. If you’re gone for awhile, you’ll be amazed at how quickly it looks like your home has been abandoned, and likely someone will file a complaint.

The house won’t flood if you turn off the main water valve. I put plastic wrap over the toilet but it’s to keep the smell out of the house when the water in the trap evaporates. Nothing to do with bugs

I might be in touch to ask you more about the WiFi stuff you use. I’m new to much of it! Thanks for the info.

I would add you should close all blinds or curtains to keep out the sun. Putting in a RING doorbell is another good idea.