Winter tips for your property and related information when leaving it empty


Outside

Check that the roof is watertight

Check for broken tiles and replace as needed

Check for tiles that may have slipped and make sure you refit them

If you have a chimney then this is a good time to check it

Clean our the gutters and make sure the drainpipes run free

Check the ridge tiles/coping stones for any movement or gaps

Check all the exterior woodwork for any flaking paint


Inside

Drain the boiler

Drain the toilet cistern

Drain all the taps both hot and cold and leave them open

Clean and empty the 'S' bends under the all sinks (if they are accessible)

Turn off the water completely at the mains

Switch of all electrical appliances

Switch of all gas connections

Switch off the main power supply to the house

Check round your house for any small holes that a mouse could get in and seal it

Check that all doors and windows close fully and are sealed well

If you have central heating Put some antifreeze in the system

Give the someone you trust a spare set of keys so the house can be checked on

I'm sure others will have more tips to add here so lets hear them

Put a bowl of salt in each room to soak up the dampness
Pull the wardrobes and cupboards away from the walls about a couple of feet so the air can get behind.
This should keep the mould at bay

Thank you both this is all good and tips lkie this are so useful

If you are staying in the house over the winter and use a woodburner, make sure you have plenty of wood as you may be snowed in and find it impossible to get more if you are under a metre of snow.

Should you live up a steep track/mud road, do not park close to your house, but away on a flat and accessible area so you can move your car fairly easily in snow where necessary. Obviously, make sure your vehicle is secure if you are not close to it (disconnect/remove battery).

where and when possible ADD a new stormwater drain round the perometer of your concrete slab base and dig a sump hole away from the house as a soakaway.this drain should be tight up to the floor slab in order to accept the flow of rainwater /snow from your roof and patio including your fall pipes.

Reason ;
It is well known and highly visible in many properties that cracks appear down walls and across patios .This is mainly due to this water freely running off the ecge of your floorslab and into the ground and soaking away under the floor slab.The water performs a capiliary action on the soil beneath and washes particles of soilthat is under your floorslab together thus leaving an air void which of course weakens the strength of the soilwhich overtime gives way to the construction materials weight .this in turn reduces the floor strength of the concrete slab.The only thing that the floorslab can do is crack as it is a solid mass and cannott of course bend.
Once you have a hairline crack at surface level then of course the the elements of changing temperature takes over as the seasons change..
have a look at a few properties around the 3/5 year old mark to see this or the old properties where this crackin problem has manifested itself into serious structural damage.
Hope this helps you .

Thank you people this is all worth knowing to us that are green

Yes indeed thanks a million - just replaced 4 roof tiles yesterday. We did all the above but when we came back the taps had burst so when we leave this time, the taps will be removed. Thanks for the salt idea I put this down the toilet too as it stops it going black

Oddy

Wow!!! Thank you very much for the tips. We have been here for 4 years and have always had a problem with mould on the walls. I have had to wash the walls of the whole apartment (which is a nuisance) We have never tried the salt trick. This year I will try it. I have also used 'Mould and Mildew' - which I must say has done wonders to the walls. But if the mould is too much... it does not always work.

I tried to find the old existing thread - but could not!!! Thought some of the newer members may find this info useful.

We moved here in September 2007 - we were no-where near ready for our first winter when it arrived. A mistake NEVER to be repeated!!! Last year we were battered by storms and snow in October which took out power lines, fallen trees caused hazardous driving conditions.

The reason I thought of this today is because we had an all day power cut (EVN maintenance work) Hubby had a few jobs to get on with so he thought he would use the generator. It did not fire up, after some investigation he discovered that the doodleflip on the thingymijig was crudded up (I still have no idea what he was on about) but after an hour of fiddling around and giving it a good overhaul he got it working again. We are just lucky it happenend now ... not at 10 PM on a blizzardy -12 degree, pitch black, winters night.

Make sure you have plenty of firewood / fuel!!
Make sure your chimney is clean
Stock up freezer / pantry etc.
Test any generators, heaters that have not been used over summer
Clean gutters out
Later it will be check anti -freeze in the car and in the heating system.

I'm sure other members also have loads of handy tips for an easier winter!!

:Good post:Eata another things to do is lag as much as you can fit round all the outside pipes with heavy duty plastic

i can relate to this thread. we arrived december 3 totally unprepared for a bulgarian winter. forget fashion, you need the right clothing. thermals, wool socks, wellies, hats and gloves. insulate the house does make a real difference and dont forget candles/torches you never know when the electric wil go. have some bottled water in case the pipes freeze.

Like you we moved here in September 2011 for the coldest Winter for years and it was a steep learning curve. I found out that my flat kitchen roof needed insulating as we didn't need to put anything in the freezer all Winter the ice on the ceiling took care of that.The central heating that I had put in just about kept us luke warm as the cold crept in through the hinged side of the doors along with the cold creeping into the house from the kitchen. I found that I left ordering my wood a bit late and it was fresh from the forest and was a hell to burn and I being gulable was short changed on the cubics delivered and more had to be ordered later on.Having central heating the water pump needs electric to run it and having a power cut or two I found out that my Proton inverter battery would only last an hour and had to put the fire out or the water would boil up as it was not being pumped through the system.

So this Winter I have addressed these problems by hooking up a 12v car battery to the inverter which now will last 8 hours, and purchased a propane gas fire for a back up. The kitchen roof and the house has been insulated with Fribran and the kitchen window replaced, I now have 12 cubic metres of last years wood which is perfectly dry and proberbly will burn to fast now! I have chopped enough kindling to last at least two weeks and moved the same amount of wood next to the house already chopped for those extreme weather days.I bought from Practika a reel of adhesive draft excluder for the hinged side of the doors and panneled in my porch way to keep the North West winds at bay. My truck has been serviced as I do for every Winter and had a battery check done on it.Also I have bought another freezer because I have aquired half a dozen cats three of which are half grown kittens and all are fed on chicken necks and the necks need to be stored. So if I have missed anything please let me know.

dont forget to feed these little fellows, they really struggle to find food in the snow.

Whilst we are on this subject:: Last year we had a post as one of our members vulcho can supply wood in the VT area so if you need any do contact him.

Oddy

best to get your wood in early as it does get hard to get and more expensive in the winter a lot of wood yards run out and almost all put their prises up for good older wood that will burn well.