If you’re planning on heading out on an extended vacation and you want to make sure that your home is safe while you are gone. Your home is a great investment comment and worth a good deal of money, so you don’t want to leave it in a way that may have you coming home from vacation to any kind of damage at all.
It’s really not that hard to prepare your home for a vacation. There are things that you will want to do inside your home and there are things you want to do outside your home, there are also things that will be determined by what time of year it is that you are vacationing. And, of course, don’t forget about the food in your house or the mail that might be delivered to your house while you’re gone.
Winterize Your Home
If you’re going to be leaving your home for any period of time during the cold winter months you want to make sure that you have winterized your home. That can mean doing things like shutting off your water, taking steps to make sure that your pipes don’t freeze which can cause them to burst and be a very expensive thing to fix, and possibly even having electricity shut off in certain parts of your home.
You probably also want to make sure that all your windows are sealed and that your doors are sealed. There’s no sense in having something cracked or broken and allowing snow to blow in your home when you’re not there to find out.
Make Plans For Your Mail/Newspapers
Unless you want to give someone a reason to attempt to break into your home, you need to make sure that you make other plans for your mail and any newspapers you normally get delivered to your house, while you’re on vacation. It’s easy enough to talk to your post office about putting a hold on your mail until your return, and calling your local newspaper offices to do the same.
You should also consider having someone swing by your house every couple of days to pick up any mail or other deliveries that may have slipped through the cracks. If you have a pile of mail in the mailbox or papers on the front porch it’s a sign to thieves that no one is home.
Shut It All Off
Even if you aren’t shutting off any power to certain parts of your house you still want to shut off, or unplug, individual appliances and electronics. If your refrigerator and freezer are empty and you’ll be gone a few weeks, or more, there is no reason to have it plugged in and running up your electric bill.
Also unplug simple things you may not think of, like your television or the coffee maker. These items still draw electricity, even when they aren’t turned on. Especially don’t leave things like computers, laptops, and cell phones plugged in, as even charging for short periods of time these items have been known to start house fires. It’s simply better to be safe than sorry.
