Snowbirding and Home Care
 

When away from the home for an extended period, how do we prevent mold growth in Toilets?
With all of the snowbirds a lot of folks probably know the solution to this....but not us!

Clean/scrub the bowl, etc. well with a bleach solution before leaving - should work well for a good period of time. If you're having a home watch person or a neighbor stop in occasionally to check inside your place, you could have them flush the toilets periodically as well.

Bill :)

Bill you always give good advise! KUDOS. Hope your Christmas was a good one and may 2012 be your best year ever!:eclipsee_gold_cup:

Just remember to have them turn the water back on first - it should be turned off when you are gone for an extended period.

after cleanting the toilet i leave a 'quick pour' of bleach in the toilet water and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the lid up. works great!

In the three years of snowbirding, didn't see any mold in toilets. We did turn off the water, but didn't do anything else with the toilets but leave them clean, didn't cover them etc. We set the air at 83 as we were told to keep the humidity at an appropriate level.

Never felt the need to hire a "watcher".

Our new neighbors left to go North for the holidays last week and several days later, I saw their garage door up. I called Village Watch who called them and then I called them. They said their watcher person forgot to close it.

I am of the opinion that the less people to go in and out the better.

We never had mold in our dishwasher, nothing untoward happened but some spider webs in the corners here and there.

We had full time neighbors who kept an eye on our house.

Thanks for these good common sense suggestions.

What about the fridge? Do you leave it running or empty it and turn it off? :shrug:

Jim

We leave ours running when we're away from TV. We set the temp up higher (to a lower number on the dials on ours) and leave several jugs of water in it. Google "empty fridge water jugs" (without the quotes) for some insight/opinions on the concept.

Bill :)

we empty and leave our fridge on with a jug of water in it, too

we flip all the elec breakers 'cept for the fridge and a/c

we empty the kitchen pantry and what food we do not take home or toss we donate to local food pantry

and we invite neighbors to use our driveway for their extra car or guests

Thanks guys. These are things I've never had to consider before. You should write an articule with suggestions for those of us who will start snowbirding soon.

Jim

If you leave it running make sure to turn off the ice cube maker! I've also heard that it's also a good idea to place a small open box of baking soda in the fridge to control odors. That goes for when you there too!

If all the electrical breakers are turned off with the exception of the A/C and fridge there's a good chance that your front pole lamp and irrigation system won't work. The irrigation timer has a battery backup but it only keeps the timer settings and clock working.

I was going to add those tips about the fridge, but SkyGuy beat me to it. I also put anything from the pantry I wish to keep. Breakfast bars, unopened Cherrios, etc. All these tips are good but the most important is "TURN OFF THAT ICE MAKER". PS: The only fuse I turn off is the hot water heater. I unplug all major appliances.

Just to add to the suggestions, it was recommended to me to flip the hot water breaker off and drain the tank of hot water and replace it with new water, (hot heated). Then when the breaker is turned on, and the new water heated, it prevents that skunky smell from occuring.
Also, we had a humidistat installed. That controls the humidity in your home, which is the cause of mold problems. Set the a/c at 78 and the humidistat at 60%. The humiditat controls the a/c. The a/c is turned on not because it is hot, but if the humidity gets above the 60%. Also bought Damp Rid packets to hang in the closets. They really work!!