Winterizing vacant home

[Illiniwek]

My new property has two houses, one of which we don't use. With winter coming here to Central IL, I'd like to "winterize" the house so that we don't have to keep the heat going all winter. What do I need to do to "winterize" this house so the pipes won't freeze and so we won't have any other winter-related damage?

 

[PaulinSD]

Shut the water off, drain the water heater, blow out/drain the pipes and pour RV anti freeze in all the traps, like the sinks and toilets. Make sure all the windows are shut and locked. Good idea to turn off natural gas/propane in case of a leak, it could go undetected until about 2 micro seconds after it finds an ignition source. Check the place out once a week just to be sure. I'm sure a lot of the other guys here will have some good tips, too


Paul

 

[hayden]

Check where the water enters the house to be sure that once it's shut off, there is no water on EITHER side of the valve that can freeze. If you have town water, the shut off should be an outside, below ground shutoff that will not freeze. If you have well water, be sure to shut off the pump and be sure the feed line coming in to the house is drained as well as the pump housing and holding tank.

Don't forget to remove canned goods and liquids in glass containers because they can freeze and burst making a real mess.

Shut off the fridge and prop the doors open. If they are left closed they will grow mold inside.

Appliances like dish washers and washing machines need to be drained too and it oftern required reming internal hoses to get the water drained.

Peter

 

[gordon]

Yup thats a good start. Might also want to make sure that you cycle the washing machine, dishwasher and icemaker on the freezer while your blowing the air through the lines. That way you wont have any freeze ups in the app. themselves.

After you blow out the above put some r/v antifreeze in each and let them spin out --dishwasher and washingmachine. Don't have to use any antifreeze in the freezer./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Make sure to blow air through lines until dry and leave all faucets open when finished. Just in case there is any water pockets left in the lines.

You can get an adaptor fitting at any r/v store to hook up to your sink or your outside hose bib to tie the air compressor into.

If your going to be doing this house on a yearly basis it might be best to cut in some low point drains into the waterlines. Put in a water heater bypass and a tee to pump r/v antifreeze into the water lines. That way you could do the house average size with about 5-6 gal of antifreeze.

Make sure if you have an electric water heater you turn off the electric to it before draining the water out.

Sorry so chopped up
Gordon

 

[Joe_W]

Before you put the RV antifreeze in the toilet, turn off the water supply to the toilet and flush the toilet to drain the toilet tank. Then pour some RV antifreeze in the toilet bowl. If you don't drain the tank, it can freeze and burst. Rv antifreeze is non-toxic, so don't worry about putting it in your water lines. It will readily flush out when you run water through the pipes.
Joe W.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Joe_W on 10/27/01 04:08 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Henry]

I just got finished winterizing my place in Pennsylvania.

I use an air compressor to blow the water lines dry, which works really well. In addition, I've put a valve in the domestic water line at the bottom of my well pit so that when I blow the lines, the water has a good place to drain out.

RV (pink) anti-freeze in all the traps and toilets. Remember, that you only need a 50% mixture to protect you down to something like 20 below zero.

Don't forget things like the little sprayer next to the kitchen sink, the water lines in the frig, the water lines for your washing machine.

I forgot about the sink sprayer last year.... what a mess when I turned on the water last spring ... imagine that little hose flailing itself around and spraying water under the sink!!

I open up the washer and pour in a couple of cups of antifreeze. Then run the rinse cycle (with the water shut off).

We leave our refrigerator running (with the door closed) for almost 6 months and have never had a problem with mold.

I've winterized my pumphouse by building a small, but heavily insulated room for the water tank and softener. I keep a 1 foot electric baseboard running at 45 degrees to keep things from freezing up.