How To Prepare Your House Plumbing Before A Vacation
If you are like us here at Boss Plumbing, you love taking a vacation. When you do, you always make sure plenty of details are taken care of before you leave. These include arranging for your pets to be taken care of by friends or family, making sure you lock your doors and windows, and perhaps getting your mail service suspended. However, you may be overlooking your home’s plumbing before you leave, and that could be a big mistake.
If you need to know more about plumbing prep before vacation, here are our best Boss Plumbing tips about preparing your home’s plumbing for vacation.
Plumbing Prep Before Vacation Checklist
1. Main Water Valve
If you have just recently bought a new home and have gotten everything moved in and settled down before your upcoming vacation, don’t forget to turn off your home’s main water valve before you leave. Should a pipe begin to leak or burst, you may arrive back home and discover you have severe water damage and plenty of plumbing repairs ahead.
2. Sprinkler System
Prior to leaving on your trip, take a few minutes to drain your home’s garden hoses and sprinkler system. Should a sprinkler develop a leak while you’re on vacation, expect to come back home and find your water bill significantly higher.
3. Water Heater Temperature
One of the most important things you should have on your plumbing checklist both when you buy a new home and when you go on vacation is to ensure your water heater is working properly. Since your water heater won’t be needed while you’re away, turn it off completely or use the “vacation mode” setting to lower the temperature. If you’ve been experiencing problems with your water heater, call us here at Boss Plumbing to solve your water heater’s woes before you embark on your long-awaited vacation. Our expert plumbers are pros in water heater repair.
4. Gutters
While you may not think of your gutters as something that should be on your plumbing prep for vacation checklist, the fact is cleaning out your gutters will help prevent water damage from occurring while you’re gone. Should it rain while you’re away, clogged gutters will send excess water down around your home’s foundation, possibly damaging it and flooding your home at the same time.
5. Drains and Garbage Disposal
When clogged drains occur in your home, they can be extremely inconvenient. While you’re at your vacation destination, have peace of mind by knowing your drains are clog-free. If they’re not, make sure you have your clogged drains repaired beforehand, as you may arrive home, open your door, and have strong, unpleasant odors saying hello.
Along with your drains, make sure your garbage disposal is also cleaned of food particles, since these too will result in foul-smelling odors.
6. Appliances (Dishwasher, Washer, Dryer)
While you are busy making sure your home’s water heater and other aspects of your plumbing system are in good working order, take some time to also do a few things with other appliances, especially your dishwasher, washer, and dryer.
First, always make sure all of these appliances are emptied before you head off to your vacation destination. If you can, we recommend leaving the doors to these appliances open, which will give them a chance to air out.
Finally, make sure all of these appliances are turned off and unplugged, since this will eliminate the chances of them being accidentally turned on and running for days on end until you get back home.
7. Sump Pump
If you discover you have some drains that need to be cleaned before you leave on vacation, do this while also having your sump pump tested. Should water enter your house while you’re gone, your sump pump will be the difference between having a dry home or flooded home when you get back.
To test the sump pump, put water in the sump pit to raise the level. If the water is immediately ejected in the proper manner, you’ve got nothing to worry about as you soak up the sun at that exotic beach.
8. Outside Faucets and Hoses
As we mentioned earlier when discussing your sprinkler system, it is always best to drain any garden hoses you may have in your yard. While you are doing this, also make sure the hoses themselves are disconnected from your home’s outside faucets.
Also, check the faucets to see if any of them are leaking long after they are turned off. If they are, call on our experts here at Boss Plumbing for professional leaky faucet repair services. Our pros will solve the problem, and get you on your way so that you won’t have any plumbing care in the world.
9. Leaks in Pipes
Since your home has plenty of pipes in its plumbing system, it may take you a while to examine the pipes for potential leaks. However, it will be time well-spent. To do this, start by opening up the cabinet doors underneath your kitchen and bathroom sinks to see if you notice any puddles or anything else unusual.
Next, take a walk around your home to see if you notice any puddles or signs of water damage to ceilings or walls, which could indicate a pipe is leaking. Finally, look around in your basement and attic for any leaking pipes. Once you know there are no leaks to be found, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
10. Have a Neighbor Check In
Finally, if you have had recent plumbing work done in your home or just want to give yourself additional peace of mind, have a neighbor you know and trust check in on your home a couple of times while you’re away. Give them a house key and a phone number where you can be reached in case of an emergency. By having someone you trust look in on things, you can relax and enjoy yourself.
Ready to Go!
Once you complete this checklist, we think you should be good to go for your vacation. If you discover any problems along the way or have questions about your home’s plumbing, contact us here at Boss Plumbing.
