mothballing home

[ilaboo]

any suggestion about mothball home northern Montana winter can reach 40 degrees below zero and sometimes 60 below thanks in advance

[Rob Gray]

As someone whose family used to have a vacation house that remained unoccupied for most of the year, I would say that the biggest problem we had in hindsight is controlling dampness/humidity. As I understand it a de-humidifier will not operate below certain temperatures (50's or above I believe). We would drain the pipes in winter which was easy to do, and put some pipe camper type anti-freeze in the sinks and toilet to prevent freezing damage. This allowed the heat to be turned off in winter. These steps worked great generally, but this did not control dampness at all, and over time there was damage related to dampness on furniture, beams, etc.

Unfortunately, I don't have any specific suggestions as to how to control dampness unless you keep the place heated all winter long. If you do leave a furnace on all winter then you can run a de-humidifier but the cost of he heating could be high....

In terms of other aspects, if this place is in the country on some land it is good to locate a neighbor who you trust to give a key to the place and see if they can watch the place for you. Often times someone who might want to hunt the place will do this for you as sort of a barter agreement. Getting someone to watch the place can be important in order to prevent vandalism.

Rob

[Joseph Meehan]

Rob had some good ideas and some insight on the moisture problem. I suggest that if you can provide a regular source of heat, it only needs to be a few degrees it should keep it dry. That could be nothing more than a couple of light bulbs. You want to use more than one so if one burns out the others will still be there.

Security is also a problem, depending on where it is located. It is also a good idea to have someone check on it from time to time if possible. Something like a tree falling on it or an invasion of some kind of animal can always happen.

[Dave]

[Speedy Jim]

Can the structure and finish stand 40 below *inside*? A log cabin is one thing, a plastered "house" another.

Besides the good suggestions made already, other things to consider:

Well tank/pump and lines. Dishwasher/clothes washer pumps/valves. Water heater. Heating boiler (if applicable). Definitely fill *all* traps including toilet bowl with RV antifreeze (it's non-toxic).

If you're counting on some heating system to maintain a minimum temp: don't. Even a neighbor watching can't protect against a power outage or heating system failure.

Jim