Leaving For Vacation? Here Are Some Helpful Plumbing Tips

Planning a vacation can be exciting, complex and often times overwhelming! We put so much thought into where / when we are going, we often neglect to plan for the most important asset we will ever own - our home!

Too often we get calls from homeowners that got themselves into a plumbing or heating catastrophe that we, as professionals, feel could have been easily prevented.

We have taken it upon ourselves to share some helpful tips and tricks that will save you a whole lot of heartache once you return home, have a look:

• Turn your water off, at the main! Familiarize yourself with your main water shut off to your home, located just upstream of your water meter (most homes have water meters these days). Find the valve, then make sure it works! Close the valve then make your way to a faucet and make sure that the water pressure eventually tapers off completely. Leaving your water turned off while you are away ensures that if there is a burst pipe or no heat freeze up situation, your home will have a fraction of the damage that can be realized if the pressure is on! When you get home, carefully and slowly open the valve and bleed the air in your system from the same tap to get the water back on. Having a fully functional main shut off valve is absolutely vital for any home. Should yours not be working, call us or your local plumber to put together a plan to replace.
• Change your thermostat batteries. We have a had multiple no heat calls this winter due to dead batteries! Batteries are cheap compared to flood restoration! Give your home heating appliance (furnace or boiler) a good visual inspection before you leave as well.
• Plan for someone to come check the home every few days. Make sure your contact information is with them so they can communicate any changes they see while onsite, or just to let you know that everything is OK. Instruct them to walk the entire home, including mechanical room. This is a great thing to do amongst friends or family as these favours can be easily returned!
• Consider WIFI thermostats. Modern technology has delivered a truly useful innovation here. Being able to view the current temperature of your home at all times from your smart phone is a great way of reassuring yourself your home is at a safe temperature.

Contact us for more details. Enjoy your trip!