Winterize the house

[skocars]

I just bought a home in Utah. It is nearly three years old and has not been occupied. I got it soon after it went into foreclosure. I live in New York and will be moving to Utah after the winter. Question is this: how do I properly winterize this house. It is located at 5,000 feet above sea level and they get a lot of snow.

What the Bank has done over the last few winters is drain the water out of the pipes and put an RV antifreeze in each trap throughout the house. Before buying it we charged it with water and found no leaks, so the bank strategy seems to have worked. I would consider heating the home at a minimum temperature, still draining the water lines.

Any advice. Some tell me it is hard on a building to leave it cold, others say, it worked for the bank, why spend the money to heat?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

[Devine Plumbing]

We winterize a lot of properties with no problems. It is important to use compressed air to remove water from all lines. If you have never done it before it might be in your best interest to contact a professional plumber. A small fee upfront could save you hundreds in the end. There are a lot of places that hold water that can be potentially damaged (washer hoses, showerheads, dishwasher supply/drain, etc.)

[SewerRatz]

Thats a fact, I have seen many homes that the banks just shut the water off and drained it down with out using air to blow out the lines. When the turned the water back on they had some very costly leaks. Another thing I seen many forget is to turn off the water heater and drain it. Them there are always fun to see.

We winterize a lot of properties with no problems. It is important to use compressed air to remove water from all lines. If you have never done it before it might be in your best interest to contact a professional plumber. A small fee upfront could save you hundreds in the end. There are a lot of places that hold water that can be potentially damaged (washer hoses, showerheads, dishwasher supply/drain, etc.)

[Drip Trip]

Keeping the house warm is important.

[BHD]

I have seen building that were let to fluctuates with the temperatures and the building was fine and I have seen them receive a lot of damage,

depending on the materials, the temperature fluctuation causes expansion and contraction, of the materials used, if they all expand and contract at the same rates little damage is caused, but if for some reason it is different things like paneling can rip it self off a wall,

usually tho there is damage left in the way of cracks in the dry wall or plaster, and so on, but if there is not noticeable damage my guess is there would be little additional at this point,

As far as the plumbing blow it out and drain and fill all low area with RV anti freeze. and even at that many times one will still have some place freeze and split, a pipe.

[Redwood]

Find out who the bank used and hope he's as lucky the second time around...

Winterizing is something that just can't be guaranteed...

[toolaholic]

Do a search . I believe there"s a system that lets You phone the vacant home to get the Temp. Warm is good for the Mill Work.

[breid1903]

heat is better. but you should still winterize. are you going to do it? breid.........:party-on:

[MoJourneyman]

I always thought that when I finally got around to building my vacation home in Maine i'd drill all the holes for the water piping on grade. so I could open a couple of boiler drains in the basement over a floor drain, then open all the fixtures in the house and have them drain out that way. Dunno if i'll ever build that vacation home, but thats my plan for when I do.

[arren]

Hello Friends........

If you are faced with leaving your home in below freezing temperatures and a risk of power loss, you'll have to winterize the place or all the water pipes could burst. It's a simple step by step procedure. I'll describe a rural home with a well first. This is an ordinary home, not designed for easy winterization.
Freezing water expands. Old timers used to split rocks by drilling holes in the summer, filling the holes with water and by next spring the rock would be split. Ice expansion is very powerful.

Thanks