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14 Dec 07
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Shut It Mostly, or Shut It All? By BILLIE COHENYOU’VE waited for as long as possible. But the days are shorter, the shadows longer and the weather frigid. It’s time to face the cold, hard facts: winter is here, and it’s time to close down your warm-weather vacation home.
“The first thing is to decide whether you want a semi or complete shutdown,” said Ed Del Grande, a master plumber and contractor who appears on HGTVPro.com and who has written “Ed Del Grande’s House Call” (Penguin Publishing). “A semi will keep some services on, so that if you want to use it during the winter, it’s not like starting over; and it will keep the house warmer, which is important for keeping down moisture.”
On the other hand, he continued, “a complete gives you a peace of mind because basically the house becomes just a piece of lumber.” If you do seal your home up entirely, what Mr. Del Grande calls “pickling,” be sure to keep the interior dry. “When you pickle the house,” he said, “see if a contractor can provide some ventilation to prevent mildew.”
Next is the plumbing. “The No. 1 concern is a frozen water pipe, which could burst and flood the house,” Mr. Del Grande said. “But if you drain the water system, there’s nothing left in the house to freeze.” After draining the pipes, you’ll need to force all the water out of the low points by using an air compressor, and pour in antifreeze to take care of anything left in traps and drains. “You really should call a professional,” he added. “If you try to do it yourself and you miss something, the cost of having done it yourself will not offset the cost of the damage.”
Steve Grooms, author of “Maintaining a Vacation Home: A Practical Guide to Your Seasonal Home” (Creative Publishing), agrees. “The first year is the hardest because you’re not sure what to do,” he said. “And each year you find some mess you didn’t anticipate when you return in the spring. So I find it helpful to set up a relationship with a local to have them walk you through what you need to know: what things can freeze, whether bears are still active, what mice can do.”
Former owners are an invaluable resource as well. “When you buy the property, the person selling the cabin knows an awful lot about the touchy points where you dare not forget something,” Mr. Grooms said.
In some regions, neighbors come to the same conclusions. “Every house I know of on the beach by us in North Truro has shutters,” said Anthony Brill, who lives in Manhattan and has a second home on Cape Cod. “They look like ornamental shutters, but they close the windows so that no sand and stuff can pebble up the glass.”
As for electricity, if you’re doing a complete shutdown, it can all go off. “That way, if something goes awry there’s no electricity that could spark and lead to a fire,” Mr. Grooms said.
But if you’re doing a semi-shutdown — for example, if you have an alarm system that runs on electricity — Mr. Del Grande recommends having a professional install a standby power generator. “That’s different than a gasoline-powered portable generator,” he said. “These are permanently installed outdoors and run on natural gas or propane and have built-in transfer switches that sense if power goes out.”
Precautions also need to be taken against small intruders. Remove all perishable foods, and store any long-lasting dry goods in pest-safe containers. Squirrels can sneak in through the toilets, Mr. Del Grande said, so close all the lids and put something heavy on top. And start protecting your home even before you leave.
“When it gets to be colder, don’t leave any garage doors or windows open,” he said. “Critters can get in and hide, and then you leave for the winter and you just gave them the keys to the house.”
And, frankly, why should they get to stay when you can’t?
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