Flying south this winter? Lucky you!
If you’re taking a warm vacation anytime soon, you’re probably the envy of your fellow South Dakotans. But your friends aren’t all you’re leaving behind in the cold. When you lock up your house, you’re abandoning it — and opening the door to plumbing leaks, frozen pipes, and other icy (er, dicey) situations.
While you’re getting ready for your trip, don’t forget to prepare your house for vacation as well. Here are seven things you should do before you leave so you don’t come home to costly water damage.
7 Ways to Avoid Water Damage While on Vacation
- Turn your thermostat down (but not off!). The magic number is 55 degrees: cool enough to save you money on your energy bill, but warm enough to keep your pipes from freezing.
- Open room and cabinet doors. It might look odd, but keeping all your doors open helps circulate warmth throughout the areas your pipes are located.
- Install a water flow sensor and low temperature sensor on your main water supply pipe. You can hook it up to an alarm system on your smartphone, so you’ll be notified immediately if anything goes wrong.
- Pour some non-toxic antifreeze in your toilets. That way, if your furnace breaks while you’re gone, the water won’t expand to ice and damage anything.
- Turn off the water to your washing machine, dishwasher, and hot water heater. You don’t want to come home to leaks or broken hoses, do you?
- Turn off your water supply. If you’ll be gone awhile (and if your heating system can handle it), you might want to turn off your water supply entirely. If you do this, be sure your pipes are drained of all water by opening your faucets and flushing your toilets.
- Ask a friend to check up on your home. Have someone visit your house periodically to make sure nothing has gone wrong. You may also want to see if they can shovel your driveway and sidewalk in case of snow; that way, thieves won’t get suspicious of your unmaintained house.
What to Do When You Come Home to Water Damage
If you’ve prepared your home well, you shouldn’t have to deal with water damage. But sometimes, pipes just burst, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Hopefully, the friend you asked to check on your house detected the damage before you get home, and they followed these steps recommended by the American Red Cross.
If not, though, you’ll probably have to call a professional cleaning company like INTEK for water damage restoration. Our water damage services in Sioux Falls and Yankton are ready to take care of your frozen pipes the second you discover them.
But let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Follow our seven tips, and have a safe trip — wherever it is you’re going!
