Preparing house for long road trip

reelcamper1 wrote:
Husband & I are about to take our longest road trip this fall.....16 Days! Just wondering how you prepare your homes for being empty for so long. We always do the basic things: mail, lights, disconnect tvs...
Does anyone go further & turn off water, shut off water heater, etc?
Would love any tips!

Looking forward to the long trip, hope to be full-timing in about 5 years!

I'm sorry, but 16 days is not a LONG road trip. That's a 2-week vacation. We shut up our park model each April and return in October - that is a long trip. Clean out fridge and shut if off, clear out all foodstuffs, clear out all medicines, turn off water, turn off power, put RV antifreeze (1 cup) in each drain, cover all of the windows with blackout curtains, cover toilet bowl with plastic, lock her up and away we go.

I will shorten a very long story. Went to Greece for my sons wedding. Forgot to turn off water to house. Got food poisoning in Greece the night before the wedding. Passed out into bathroom striking forehead on marble sink. Fractured front of skull,broke eye socket and nose. Missed wedding. Very painful flight home next week. Couldn't open front door so hit it with my shoulder. Pain in face was memorable. Discovered a pipe on second floor had ruptured shortly after locking door to leave for Greece. One hundred fifty thousand gallons of water flowed through house for eight days. $273000 damage.

Moral...turn off the water.

If you are leaving a car in your driveway while gone, do not leave a garage door opener in it. Too easy for thieves to enter your house un-noticed. Also, highly recommend an alarm system. Make sure a neighbour knows your plans so if a big truck pulls up and starts loading - - - chances are it should not be there.

I would cut off water at the street ( whole house ) if possible. I have found turning water off at a toilet, especially if plumbing has some age, will cause the cutoff valve to leak either when off or when you cut it back on. If you have newer valves or new washers in old valves it should not be a problem.

We always turn the water off at the main inlet valve when we are away from the house overnight, even one night. BIL learned the hard way, that if the water heater starts leaking, a lot of damage can be done over one night.

Put at least some lights on a timer, and let a trusted neighbor know when you are leaving and when you will return.

Our daughters check our house frequently while we are away, and if we are gone more than a week, our SIL cuts the grass and checks the house.

For peace of mind take cell phone pictures of your doors being locked, the stove off, garage door down, ect.

reelcamper1 wrote:
Does anyone go further & turn off water, shut off water heater, etc?
Would love any tips!

Yes even for a weekend. Although W/H just goes to pilot.

For a long trip we have also cleaned out the fridge. Literally remove everything, clean all the shelves, turn it off and leave the door open. Do the clean/prep a few days before. If some items don't go along they can go in the trash. Good to come back and start new.

GordonThree wrote:

2chiefsRus wrote:
put an icecube in a glass in the freezer. Check the ice cube when you come back. If it has changed shape, i.e. melted, and then refrozen, you know your power was off for a while you were gone.

That's a great tip, thanks!

Or just look at the clock on the microwave.

Turn off water to entire house, we learned the hard way. DIL was supposed to check house a couple of times a week, but did not. We got a call from our yard man that water was coming out from under our front door. We do not have close neighbors so no one saw it. Yard man comes weekly. We also unplug electric water heaters. For toilets I read a tip on this forum that we have used for several years now. Add CLR to toilet bowl, I use about a third of a bottle per toilet, and then raise seat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, it will take two sheets. Press seam together over middle of bowl and then press wrap well all around sides of bowl. Lower seat and lid. When you come home there will be no ring in the toilet and all the water will be in the bowl. We have been gone as long as 3 1/2 months and had no problems.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Turn water off, otherwise this may happen to you:



(Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure)

House near me actually had that happen. I saw it after it was "cleaned" up. It even broke and moved the basement foundation wall. I pity the person that bought that house.