As the the winter season settles in Tennessee, it’s time for vacation Lake homeowners to think about preparing for the sometimes-harsh conditions of winter. Here’s how to winterize your vacation lake home.
It’s important to protect your Tennessee Lakefront Vacation Home when you close up for the season. Use this checklist to ensure that when your family returns, you won’t face any surprises and costly repairs. Following these relatively simple precautions will take a few hours of your time but will maintain your vacation home’s value and ensure its continued enjoyment.
To get started, carefully inspect the exterior and interior of your lake home and decide what needs to be done. Write it all down to create a checklist. Then post the checklist on the refrigerator or some other prominent place so you’ll remember what must be “un-done” when you return in the spring or if any family members or friends drop by to use it during the winter.
These suggestions should help you identify potential problem areas to address.
The Kitchen
Rodents and insects are looking for a warm, dry habitat for winter. But they also need food. Remove all food from your home so it doesn’t lure pests. Dry foods that remain should be locked in tin- or aluminum-lined cupboards or cabinets, and seeds and grains should be stored in metal containers with screw-on lids.
The refrigerator and freezer should be cleaned thoroughly, and their doors propped open, the better to forestall mold and mildew and their odors. You may have to turn off the ice-maker and loosen refrigerator bulbs. To further thwart odors, place an open bag of charcoal on the inside of the open refrigerator.
Wash kitchen trash containers and put away soap, sponges, candles and other possible sources of food for vermin. Spray a long-lasting insecticide along baseboards and under the sink. Place insect traps under the sink and on kitchen counters and use chemical rodent deterrents under the sink and in the garage, too. Place “asticky traps” at the corners of each entry door to catch any intruders trying to slip under the doors.
In areas subject to freezing, remove all bottled liquids, such as mineral water, soda, beer and paint, because their containers may burst when their contents freeze. Empty water from jars, vases and decorative indoor mini-fountains.
Leave cabinet doors open where plumbing supply lines and drains exist so some heat can get inside cabinet.
Plumbing
If a house is to be vacant for a long time, you may prevent water in a toilet’s trap from evaporating (and thereby permitting sewer gases to enter the home) by raising the toilet’s lid and seat and covering the bowl with saran wrap. You could also add a quart or so of RV antifreeze.
Turn off the main water-supply valve AT THE ROAD, not just the water to the home and stop the pump. Open all faucets and drain all waterlines. Empty or mostly empty pipes cannot burst from freezing water. Pipes can be drained at their low-point drain valves or, if there is insufficient slope to the lines, by opening a pipe junction. Make sure to remove all hoses outdoors.
For sinks, washtubs, showers, toilets and hot tubs, pour some RV antifreeze slowly down their drains to replace the water in their traps; this will also keep sewer gases from entering the house. Close sink and tub drains.
Drain the water storage tank. Turn off the water heater before you drain it. Drain water from a pump by using its drain plug. For electric dishwashers and clothes washers, follow the manufacturer’s directions. If you find the task daunting, get a local plumber to do it for you.
Utilities
To prevent problems with freezing, leave your heating system on but at a lower temperature (no lower than 50-55 degrees) to avoid frost damage to the home’s interior and its contents. Unplug electric appliances, including microwave ovens and TVs, to avoid the risk of fire in the event of a faulty switch or a rodent’s gnawing the wires. Set your thermostat to a level adequate to keep the inside temperature above freezing and to keep things dry.
If there are gas appliances in the home that have been approved by the American Gas Association, they should have automatic shutdowns that will close the gas valves if their pilot lights go out. Such appliances may be left on if properly vented, but if in doubt, check the owner’s manuals. For long absences, some experts recommend shutting off gas hot-water heaters completely.
Security
Good quality locks for your doors and windows are a must! If in a damp, humid climate, periodically lubricate pin tumbler locks with white lithium grease; using anything else will cause the mechanisms to gum up over time.
Strike plates and door hinges should be secured with wood screws at least three inches long. Close window shutters. Aside from enhancing security, shutters will, along with drapes, blinds and curtains, keep carpeting and fabrics from fading.
You may want to sell that Lakefront vacation home someday so it needs to be ready when spring hits!
Stop mail and other routine deliveries. Unplug garage door openers. Trim shrubbery so doors and windows are not blocked from view.
If an electronic alarm system is used, make certain that back-up batteries are in good condition and able to provide coverage in the event of power interruption. If the alarm system is monitored, don’t forget to inform the security company of your date of departure and where you can be reached in an emergency. Give the same information to the local police and fire departments.
Remove all fire hazards, such as oily rags and stacked papers, before you leave. And if there is a neighbor or friend living nearby who’ll remain in the area while you’re gone, try to work out an arrangement by which someone will come over every now and then to look the place over.
The Exterior
Check that all holes and cracks in exterior walls and foundations and around pipes are sealed. Otherwise, even small openings can be entry points for rodents and insects. Rodents and birds also can enter through stovepipes and chimneys. Therefore, make sure these openings are secured as well.
A large coffee can can be used to cap an open stovepipe (the kind that on top takes the shape of a T or an H), but a chimney should be capped with a permanent, stainless steel cap with wire mesh venting. Close flues and dampers.
Leave nothing outdoors that can be blown about by a strong wind or washed away by a lake or river overflowing its banks. If possible, cut tree limbs and branches that overhang the house. These, too, offer rodents easy access to the home’s roof and eaves from which they may find access to the home.
General
Linens, bedding, towels and the like should be washed or cleaned and stored in boxes or, preferably, plastic bins that can be sealed. Strip beds so mattresses can air out. Open empty drawers and closets and use mothballs in the others. Remove all trash.
Vacuum carpets and floors to ensure that no crumbs or other sources of food remain for vermin. In humid regions, use desiccants (water-absorbing material such as Damp-Rid) in closets; most hardware stores sell them.
Opening the Lake Home on Your Return
When you return to your Lake Home, go over the checklist you’ve created to “unwinterize.” Open all windows and turn on the furnace fan to air out the home. Readjust the thermostat and humidistat. Close all drain valves and plugs. Open the main water valve or turn on the pump. Flush waterlines to remove traces of antifreeze.
Uncap stovepipes and open flues and dampers. Check the interior and exterior of your home carefully for signs of rodent and/or insect infestation, mildew and fungi. Turn on gas and electric power and go down the checklist to put your home back to the way it was before you left it.
Posted by Karen Millikan, Lakefront Living, On The Lake Realty