Locking up your house

[BosoxI]

When we leave town for any reason, we turn off the main water and the ice makers, dump the ice bins (beng careful to save some ice for a drink when we return), adjust the heat or A/C, lock all the doors, turn down the H20 heater, set the house alarm and take off. This winter we'll be gone for more than a month and I'm tempted to nturn the water off at the street and maybe drain some of the pipes at least a bit. We don't have anyone check the house while we're away. What do others do?

[bobhsv]

Hi,

We plug in a timer switch which turns on a lamp for a couple of hours each night. Also get neighbours to collect the mail.

 

Jen

[captainron]

When we leave town for any reason, we turn off the main water and the ice makers, dump the ice bins (beng careful to save some ice for a drink when we return), adjust the heat or A/C, lock all the doors, turn down the H20 heater, set the house alarm and take off. This winter we'll be gone for more than a month and I'm tempted to nturn the water off at the street and maybe drain some of the pipes at least a bit. We don't have anyone check the house while we're away. What do others do?

 

For insurance purposes, I'd strongly suggest that you have someone check your house every three days or so. If something did happen and nobody had checked the house you could be out of pocket for loss or damages as insurance companies won't pay out. In addition don't forget to stop your mail at the Post Office.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[mr green]

I would not advise turning off the water, BUT turn the heat to your hot water tank off. Turn the ouside taps off, and drain those pipes, if you are in a cold area, don't turn the heat down below 62 F, or you MIGHT trigger your alarm system. If monitored you should inform the Co. if they are reliable, [i used to be in the buisiness].

Now you should try to get someone at least to pick up your papers, and mail, [unless you stop them, which is in itself a give away]. On garbage day you should ask a person to put out one can, with a little garbage in it.

Most TVs come with a turn on, turn off feature, use it, if it can be seen easily from outside.

Buy a large dog chain, and dog dish, make it look used, a ' beware of dog sign' on your gate might help. Just a few tips, in some smaller areas, you MIGHT inform the police, in others its a mistake.

All the best:)

 

john

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do not turn off the water to the house. But we do turn off the toilets.

 

We do turn down the heat.

 

We also have various timers throughout the house for the lights to go off and on.

 

I do unplug my computers.

 

Our mail goes directly into the garage -- so no problem there.

 

Our neighbors do pick up our newspapers and they do check the house ev ery few days even though we do have an alarm system.

[dkjretired]

We do not turn off the water to the house. But we do turn off the toilets.

 

We do turn down the heat.

 

We also have various timers throughout the house for the lights to go off and on.

 

I do unplug my computers.

 

Our mail goes directly into the garage -- so no problem there.

 

Our neighbors do pick up our newspapers and they do check the house ev ery few days even though we do have an alarm system.

 

Another big problem area is to make sure you turn the water off to the washing machine..

[BND]

We don't turn anything major off and only adjust the thermometer by a few degrees. We stop the paper and have our mail held and make sure all lights and the computer are off. We notifiy our neighbors a couple of weeks out. Other than that, we set the alarm and walk out the door. Turning off water heater and adjusting thermostat as well as unplugging a lot of things will only affect your electric bill by a small amount.

 

I'm not sure what good turning off the toilets does. Unless you have a leak that you should have fixed, they don't use enough water to make any difference.

[cb at sea]

If a toilet springs a leak, or your washing machine hose, it will run forever....happend to my uncle one night--his washing machine hose burst and flooded the 1st level of his home in just a few hours....

just turn off the water to the house at the main shut-off....if anything bursts OUTSIDE, its up to the county/city....

[boulders]

Just before leaving for a 3 week trip a couple of years ago, a little voice told me to turn off the water. I went down to the utility room, and there was the water softener spraying water everywhere. Definitely turn off the water. It's not an energy saving tip - it's a flood saving tip. :p

[Keith1010]

As someone who has gone away on two World Cruises for over 100 days each I highly recommend that you do indeed turn off the water to your house. This is even more important if you do not have someone watching the house and even more important in the winter time. If you can turn off the household water from inside the house or right outside the house that is perfect. No need to turn it off from the street.

 

I am not sure what state you live in. If you live where it gets very cold with hard freezes leave your heat at a decent temperature so nothing freezes and leave the cabinet door open under sinks.

 

We do not turn off our toilets since we turn off the household water, but as an extra precaution you can do that.

 

We turn off the washing machine water and the ice maker.

 

We put lamps on automotic timers.

 

We ensure the mail is stopped.

 

We unplug most items such as televisions.

 

I cannot stress enough the importance of turning off your water because you are not having anyone watch the house.

 

Keith

[Traveler353]

I turn on the alarm, lock the house, leave and forget about it. If anything happens while I am gone well that is why I pay the greedy insurance companies overpriced insurance premiums.

[PennyAgain]

I cancelled our newspaper service for good and don't deal with that anymore. A neighbor does our mail and puts out trash for us. We do the same for them when they are away.

 

We turn off the water at the washing machine.

 

We have to leave the water on in general to run the irrigation system.

 

We don't brag about our trips before we go. Most especially in public places.

[FritzG]

That's one benefit among the negatives of leaving pets behind. We have a friend who feeds our cats twice a day, and she brings in the mail and checks to make sure everything is ok. We also have a monitored burglar/fire alarm system since we live in a wooded area. We use several timers on our lights at varying times in different rooms also.

[BosoxI]

Thanks for the ideas. We do unplug appliances and set timers. I see the wisdom of having neighbors check the place, but do they have to enter it for insurance purposes or merely check the outside? I would think it would be burdensome to have them enter every three days, especially as my greatest fear-a water problem-would not exist as we shut the H2O off. (Some policies require habitation within a certain period, so a world cruise might pose problems unless there is a house sitter.) I like doing it at the street as an added precaution since the inside shutoff is well into the house. Fortunately, our irrigation system is on a separate meter and runs even when the house water is off. Our pond and its pump used to worry me but I've outgrown that one. Incidentally, shutting off the water to a washing machine even when you're home is a really good thing to do, as hoses break with some regularity and valves in the machine are not as strong as those in the wall. Having a neighbor pick the mail sounds like a good idea, but again, I hate to impose for long periods. We live in a gated community and security will check the outside, but that is a give-a-way so we don't do it.

[klauer]

Wow, I've never even thought of many of these things like turning off the water to the toilets, washing machine, and ice maker. My sister comes every day to take care of the cats, and also brings in the mail and takes out the garbage. We live in a neighborhood where there are several seasonal residents, and to me the giveaway that no one is there is an accumulation of free local newspapers in the driveway, phone books, ads hanging on doorknobs, etc. as well as no garbage cans out on collection days.

[StillPooh]

Cautionary tale: while DH's parents spent two weeks in Mexico one winter, their elderly water heater rusted out. When they got home, there was so much water in the basement, the chest freezer was floating! :eek:

 

We have a pet sitter staying in our house when we're gone, so we don't have to turn anything off.

[LHT28]

I turn on the alarm, lock the house, leave and forget about it. If anything happens while I am gone well that is why I pay the greedy insurance companies overpriced insurance premiums.

 

You better read the small print in those overpriced policies ;)

Most will not pay unless you have someone check on your house every 48 or 72 hrs depending on the fine print:cool:

[Traveler353]

You better read the small print in those overpriced policies ;)

Most will not pay unless you have someone check on your house every 48 or 72 hrs depending on the fine print:cool:

 

Maybe in yours, but not in mine. Thanks for the advice anyway.

[mudscraper]

Keith1010s list of advice is excellent. But I would advise everyone to have a neighbor get your mail and pick up your paper instead of cancelling those services.

 

When cancelling your paper or mail you are telling everyone at your local post office that your home will be vacant. Same for your newspaper distribution office. It`s not just your mail carrier or paper boy that knows this.

 

I`ve probably investigated a couple thousand burglaries in my career and I feel that the less people that know your house is vacant the better.

 

Unfortunately, way back in the early 60s, even some Chicago police officers were involved in telling known burglars the addresses of homes where the occupants were out of town and had notified the CPD of their absence.

 

 

Rich

[StillPooh]

My in-laws insurance paid for all the water damage done when their water heater failed.

[cruiserbryce]

pretty much turn on a light timer and lock the door behind us...we live in an apt so very little is needed...

[mr green]

Leave a small light on in a bathroom at all times, at 3.00 am this gives the house a 'lived in look'.

 

john

[Trainman52]

If a toilet springs a leak, or your washing machine hose, it will run forever....happend to my uncle one night--his washing machine hose burst and flooded the 1st level of his home in just a few hours....

just turn off the water to the house at the main shut-off....if anything bursts OUTSIDE, its up to the county/city....

As a matter of course, it is a good idea to turn off the water to the washing machine even when you are not on vacation. Depending on the location, you may or may not hear the water running. You would be amazed at how fast it can gush from a ruptured hose. Home Depot sells a battery operated alarm that will sound when exposed to water. I have one installed by the slop sink which has been the site of a few overflows.

 

Otherwise, we do the timer thing, stop the mail, turn off the toilets.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Bon Voyage

[GORDONCHICK]

We always turn the water off to the house if we are gone more than 5 days - I don't know why that is our gauge, but it is. I have our mail stopped because, I too, don't like to impose on our neighbors since we aren't really close with them. We board our dog, so our neighbors will figure out at some point that we are gone (big outside dog). And we have a friend who will stop by (not a neighbor) and do a walk-through of the house just in case. Came in handy the time we turned in a stop on our mail, and they kept delivering it anyway...... We also adjust our thermostats and the friend who stops by, always does the day before we are expected home, and he resets the thermostats so it is nice and comfy on our return.

[BosoxI]

You better read the small print in those overpriced policies ;)

Most will not pay unless you have someone check on your house every 48 or 72 hrs depending on the fine print:cool:

 

I certainly didn't mean to start an insurance spat, and I don't know what the deal is in Canada, but no American company that I know of requires such monitoring. I had a policy once which required habitation within a 60 day period to be effective. Broken pipes are my big worry; breakins are a concern, of course, as are any number of things that can go wrong in a house. But que sera, sera to a certain extent. Vacations should relieve us of anxieties, not cause them.