Winterizing a house

My elderly aunt passed away recently, leaving behind a small 2BR ranch in a retirement community. The lawyer handling her affairs has asked me to prepare the house for the winter since there's no sure way of telling how long it will take to sell.

What should I do other than shutting off the water? Location is Jersey Shore area, and the house has electric heat.

Thanks, Buddy

Reply to
Buddy Matlosz
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It really isn't anything you have to do until October, or maybe November. It is a matter of getting ALL the water out of the plumbing. Turn off the water, pump out the toilets, drain the washing machine and dishwasher, and then get ALL the water out of the plumbing. Then put RVantifreeze wherever there might be any water left. I use compressed air to blow out every faucet. If the house wasn't designed to be winterized, I am not sure how you get it out of the very lowest pipes without cutting into them; my cottage has drains at all the low points.

Reply to
Toller

Turn off the water, gas & the main circuit breaker. After you turn off the water -don't- flush the toilets unless you want stinky sewer gas in the house. Just open the faucets and let the water out. I don't think it's necessary to blow air through all the water lines; if there is air in them and the water freezes, it will have some place to expand in without breaking the pipe.

Reply to
Bob M.

I was doing this work for a company handling foreclosure properties in WI. Here's the drill:

Turn off power at the main breaker.

Drain all the water out of the water heater. Turn off the water before the meter and take out the meter. Use compressed air to blow out as much water as you can out of the pipes. Even a small amount of water left behind can cause pipes to burst, period. If there is a significant amount of pipe before the meter, cover it with a big blanket of insulation, and consider shutting the water off at the street.

Pour a liberal amount of RV antifreeze into all toilets. Pour some in all drains to get it into the traps. If the heating system is hydronic, consider getting a professional to drain it down completely.

JK

Reply to
Big_Jake

Based on the cynicism about the legal profession expressed near the start of this thread sounds like best to make sure there will be nothing the lawyer can complain about! Would further suggest that the measures may depend on climate. Here our almost completely below ground basement never goes below 50 degrees F even in cold weather with house unoccupied. Almost all our house plumbing is at main floor level so can be drained down quite easily/quickly into a basement floor drain. BTW if there are any outside taps for watering the garden they may not be the type where the valve itself is buried in the wall! Open them up to allow water to drain out or back down the system.

Reply to
terry

Well if you advise him to not flush the toilet, you should also advise him to buy a new toilet and box for when it freezes and cracks the toilet over the winter.

Reply to
Devils Advocate

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