Nothing can ruin a good vacation like returning to a house that’s been severely damaged while you were away. Taking a few easy steps to prevent some of these losses is a must before you leave for your next vacation.
- Water damage is one of the costliest types of damage to homes throughout the United States each year. Many of these losses could be prevented by simply turning off the water supply before leaving home. If you are on municipal water supply, you will likely find the main water shut-off valve right next to your water meter. Before leaving home, close the valve. If the valve is stuck or is leaking, call a plumber to fix it right away.
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- Replace rubber or plastic supply lines on your washing machine with braided “no-burst” supply hoses. Yes, they are more expensive, but at less than $20 for a pair, it’s money well spent since rubber hoses will eventually dry out, crack and fail. Unfortunately the first sign most people will see of this failure is a lot of water where it’s not supposed to be.
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- If you have an ice-maker in your refrigerator be certain that the water supply line is copper, not plastic. Again, plastic will eventually dry out and crack. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, many of us have mice in our homes and they just love to hang out behind refrigerators. If you have mice, they’ll have a much harder time chewing through copper than they will plastic.
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- Arrange to have a trusted friend or neighbor check in on the house while you’re away. If a loss does occur while you are away, such as a burst pipe, the person checking on your house will likely hear the water running and can act to limit the damage by shutting off the water, alerting you and or the appropriate emergency responders.
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- Have that same trusted neighbor bring in your mail and newspapers or have the post office suspend mail delivery. An overloaded mailbox and a pile of newspapers at the front door is a good indication of your absence and would-be thieves won’t overlook it.
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- Use timers to automatically turn on and off various lamps in the home each night to further mask your absence.
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- While it’s a good idea to lower the thermostat in your home while you’re away, don’t lower it too much. Pay attention to the weather forecast and set the temperature appropriately. Too cold of a setting may leave pipes susceptible to freezing should a blast of cold air hit the region while you’re away.
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- If you plan to be gone for an extended period of time, arrange to have your lawn maintained. This is just another step that will help make the home look occupied and it’s one less thing you’ll need to attend to upon returning from vacation!
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- If you have a sump pump, it’s a good idea to test it before leaving, especially during the rainy season or during the spring melt. A simple way to test it is to pour a bucket of water into the catch basin and see how well the pump works. Additionally, if you have one sump pump, you should have two. You’ll never know when a sump pump will fail, but rest assured it will fail when it’s badly needed. Battery back-ups to power your sump pump(s) are also recommended.
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- If you leave town during the winter, it’s a good idea to arrange to have your driveway shoveled or plowed if necessary. This will not only help make it look like you are home, but it will also help prevent ice from building up on the driveway and increase risk of slip-and-fall-type accidents. If it’s just a dusting, that friend you have bringing in the mail will be doing double duty by driving into your driveway and back out again. The tire tracks will be yet another indication that someone is at home.
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