Thinking about a nice tropical getaway during the coldest of the winter months? Or maybe something a little closer to home like a road trip to see family? No matter how far you go, if you’re leaving your house unoccupied for even a night during the winter, you need to take a few extra precautions to make sure disaster doesn’t strike while you’re away.
The most common problem that strikes during winter is frozen pipes. But if snow has fallen before you leave or if it comes down while you’re away, you need to guard against ice dams, which can be equally devastating to your home. Here are some tips for preventing these emergencies, followed by a few more common tips for protecting your home and traveling with peace of mind.
Preventing Frozen Pipes
Pipes burst when frozen water causes a pressure buildup between the ice blockage and the closed faucet. Pipes in attics, crawl spaces and outside walls are particularly vulnerable to extreme cold.
- Fit exposed pipes with insulation sleeves or wrapping to maintain a steady temperature.
- Seal cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations near water pipes with caulking.
- Leave your cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathrooms open to allow warm air to circulate around pipes.
- Let a slow trickle of water run through faucets connected to pipes exposed to an unheated or unprotected space.
Preventing Ice Dams
Ice dams are an accumulation of ice at the lower edge of a sloped roof. When interior heat melts snow the runoff can refreeze at the roof’s edge without proper drainage available. If the ice builds up and continues to block water from draining off the roof, water is forced back up under the roof covering and into your attic or down the inside walls of your house.
Make sure your gutters are clear of leaves and debris.
- Keep the attic well ventilated to maintain a temperature close to outdoor levels to minimize snow melt
- Insulate the attic floor to prevent heat from rising from within the house
Additional Precautions
- Tell a neighbor that you’ll be away and make sure she has a key. If something does go wrong in your home, there’s nothing worse for you or your neighbors than knowing that the damage could have at least been minimized had someone been able to get in.
- Don’t tell Facebook that you’ll be away. Sure it’s fun to announce a countdown until your big beach getaway and have all your friends tell you how lucky you are, but all it takes is one person with bad intentions to really mess things up. Better to save the announcements for when you can also post a picture of your fierce winter tan.
- If you’ll only be gone for a few days, have the same neighbor get your paper or mail. If you’ll be away for an extended period, have their delivery stopped. Nothing announces an empty home like a stack of unread newspapers.
Keep these safety measures in mind and you’ll keep all that rest and relaxation you get during your vacation from going to waste.
Do you have any other tips that we’ve missed to provide additional peace of mind to your fellow winter travelers? Share them in the comments section below.