Prepared by Marti Timple of John R. Wood Inc., REALTORS ~ Marti@TheTimples.com ~ (239) 948-7581
(Download a Printable PDF Version)
Anytime you are leaving your
seasonal home, be prepared to deal with a number of pre-vacation preparation
items. Electric, the mail, water,
the police, and many more items must all be considered.
While there are some vacation basics that most of us are aware of, they
do need to be reviewed now and again. Even
if you’ll only be absent for a short while, don’t allow mail or newspapers
to pile up in your driveway. And, by
all means, don’t leave your garbage cans out during your absence.
If your home is protected by a n alarm system, be sure to activate it
before you leave. If your alarm
system is not monitored, ask a neighbor to call the police if the alarm sounds.
Ask a trusted friend to keep an eye out for you, and before you walk out
the door, be sure to make one final walk-thru.
ü
Prune or trim any large tree limbs that hang over your home, and
remove any hanging or broken branches, thereby reducing the chance of wind
damage, in the event of summer storms.
ü
Store your patio furniture, freestanding grills, tools, and other
outside items either in a garage or storage shed, or inside your home if
necessary. If you cannot place such
items inside in a protected environment, make sure they are secured and covered
if possible. This helps to deter
theft, as well as offering protection from strong winds and precipitation.
ü
Completely clean out your refrigerator (including the ice trays.)
If you will be unplugging your refrigerator, drain the icemaker hose and
turn off its water supply. Then prop
open the refrigerator door. Although,
for the minimal amount of electricity required to keep your refrigerator
running, you may want to consider whether turning it off is right for you.
However, in any event, place any ice makers in the off position if you will be
turning off the water supply. Failure
to do so will cause the motor to the ice maker to continue running in an attempt
to make ice cubes, increasing the likelihood of its burning out.
ü
Disconnect all appliances, such as dryers, ranges, microwaves,
TV’s, computers,
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Completely clean out your cupboards and pantries.
Don’t keep any foods that could potentially draw rodents.
You may consider donating any leftover foods to a nearby food bank prior
to your departure. If you plan to
leave your refrigerator running, consider placing items like sugar, flour, cake
mixes, nuts, chocolate chips, etc. in the freezer.
Such items will still be usable upon your return, and you won’t have to
go out and buy everything again. Other
items, that you might not wish to freeze, can be placed in metal cans, like
those you buy popcorn in, or sealed in plastic bags or Tupperware type
containers.
ü
Turn off the water at the main supply line. A single broken water
pipe can cause thousands of dollars in damage by flooding the interior of your
home Disconnect hoses from washers and make sure the power to your hot water
tank is turned off. You can do this
at the main breaker box. If the
power is left on and the water is turned off, the heating elements are likely to
burn out if and when the tank runs dry.
ü
If sprinkler systems are set to run at preset times to maintain
your lawn, or if you are operating a pool, you may not be able to turn the water
off at the main. (TIP: If you are
installing an irrigation system, an irrigation shutoff valve should always be
placed between the main shutoff valve at the house and the water source.
This way, the house water can be shutoff without affecting the irrigation
system.) If you cannot turn off the
water at the main, then install and turn off shut off valves to washers,
refrigerators, and interior water lines to sinks, toilets, etc., and make sure
they are turned off.
ü
Flush toilets, draining the tanks, and pour a Clorox solution into
the bowls (never into the tank) to keep them fresh and reduce likelihood of mold
and mildew. Covering the toilet
bowls with a plasticized “Saran Wrap” type material not only keeps the
toilet bowl fresh, but in the rare event that a critter (we once saw a squirrel
make its way into the toilet of an absent client’s home through the vent
pipes, and it was not a pleasant event) makes his way in, resultant smells, etc.
would be confined.
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If you have Comcast high speed internet service, and will be gone
for three months or more, have your service put on vacation mode, and arrange
for a date to have it re-activated, so it will be there upon your return.
ü
Make arrangements with your pest control people to continue to
service your home with inspections and treatments during your absence.
It doesn’t take long for ants or other pesky offenders to discover a
“feast” in your absence. We can
recall incidents where mice have even made nests in and literally destroyed the
upholstery of automobiles when left in garages during a season of an owner’s
absence.
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Have your postal and/or newspaper service stopped or forwarded.
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You may wish to have your phone placed on vacation mode as well.
However, if your home is currently monitored by a security system which
uses the phone lines for monitoring, consider the fact that if the phone is not
on, your security service will not work either!
ü
Notify your security company, if applicable, the Spanish Wells
gate house, the Sheriff’s office, and your condo association management, if
applicable, of the dates you expect to be away, and provide necessary contact
information for them, in the event they should need to contact you with a
problem. Something as simple as a
window which is broken out by a golf ball could cause significant collateral
damage, if no one knows how to get a hold of you to make repairs.
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Consider employing a home watch service, or have a neighbor check
on your property on a regular basis, especially following a bad weather
incident. Make sure you have their
contact numbers written down and available, and give them yours as well.
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Lock up and secure items that would likely be subject to theft
during periods of long absence. Sad
though it be, there have certainly been instances where workers and maintenance
people have seized opportunities to take items left otherwise unprotected.
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Make sure your lawn and pool are being maintained by a reputable
company, and ask a neighbor or friend who will not be leaving to report to you
in the event these companies “slack off” in your absence.
We’ve heard frequent stories about how once an owner is gone, the lawn
and pool services “cut corners” by failing to do the job as they did when
the owner was present, but continue to charge the owners at the same rate as
during the season, when the owner is present to oversee the work.
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Check the foundation of your home, and plug any holes to keep
small animals from entering your home. If
you have a fireplace, make sure the damper is left in the closed position.
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Upon vacating, do a double check to make sure all windows and
doors are locked and secure, and window treatments are closed.
If you have shutters, plywood, or other materials to cover windows in the
event of a hurricane, make certain that someone is assigned with the
responsibility and instructions in advance to protect your home, as needed, in
the event of an impending storm.
ü
Make a list of phone numbers of people who can and would be
willing to access your home if necessary, and leave a key behind with some
trusted individual,
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If you have valuables, photos, collectables, etc. that you would
take with you if you were facing an impending disaster, then either secure those
items in a safe deposit box, or take them with you.
When hurricane or other warnings do come up, your friends and neighbors
tend to take care of themselves first, and might not consider your
valuables to be their first priority.
ü
Keep the air circulating in your home to reduce the likelihood of
mold and mildew. You can do this by
keeping ceiling fans turned on in the low position.
Also, consider installing a humidistat, and then keep it set to run the
air conditioning only when the humidity reaches a certain point.
Without a humidistat, you will either be forced to keep the air
conditioning fully operational, or face the prospect of mold and mildew growth,
due to the high humidity common to
ü
Place “Damp Rid” or a similar product in closets and other
areas of your home, where air circulation is minimal, and humidity is high.
Leave closet and interior doors open, to maximize air circulation.
ü
Move all houseplants to one area, preferably outdoors, making it
easier for a neighbor or friend to keep them watered during your absence.
ü
Turn off the power switch or otherwise disconnect the garage door
opener for protection against unauthorized opening of your garage and access
through it to your home, It is not
unusual for garage doors to be opened by someone who accidentally has the same
opener code.
ü Pack your stuff, load up your vehicle, and have a wonderful time, knowing that you’ve done everything possible to protect you property here!
This Website has been designed and maintained by Spanish Wells resident
Marti Timple ~ John R. Wood Inc., REALTORS ~ (239) 405-1608
Email me at: TheTimples@InsideSpanishWells.com