[rajesh1868]

This is seeking guidelines on measures to take:
1) When we lock our home for a long duration, and
2) When returning back.

I would like to know how best to leave the house unoccupied for months. Like covering of furnitures to protect from dust etc.
Will the drain pipes invite rats or snakes?
if so how to best protect these areas?
Any other points?


I had traveled to home town just before lock down was implemented. I am not sure when I will actually return back. Mine is an independent house. Electricity mains are on with only an Auto Defrost refrigerator switched on. My sump will be full of water that is unchanged. all these time.

Whenever I return, I am planning to schedule a house cleaning service to cleanup the sofas, and may be a deep home cleaning as well and also to clean the sump. Any other pointers will be helpful.

[amit_arya]

From my first hand experience

1. keep the Inverter out / electricity mains closed. you do not want any small bulb or something keeping the electricity bill running

2. Ensure you are cleaning the drains of balcony etc clean so that there is no water logging

3. if possible put a bori (sack) in all drains including toilet . this is especially required if your house is in ground floor. so that there is no sewer backpush

4. ensure your almirah and cloths have moth balls so that they do not get damaged

5. all doors should be closed, even the internal room doors. due to moisture and weight of doors the wood can be swollen and later not usable.

6. ensure enough lubrication of door handles and hinges. if these would remain like this for 6 months there are chances of rust etc so a WD40 layer just before closing would be helpful.

7. Motors , just ensure you are oiling them before closeout. else they might simply get jammed

8. if possible, give keys to your neighbors so that incase of emergency some one can open the house or once in a month they can get the same cleaned

9. ensure LPG cylinder area unplugged, if gas pipeline then they are shut

10. ensure all the water is drained out. if you have automatic motor for water is is disconnected.

11. cover on top of whitegoods will keep dust away

12. battery of vehicle (if vehicle is parked) is removed

13. overinflate the tyres of the vehicle by 3-4 points

[Rocky_Balboa]

(a) If You are delivered paper or milk or that sort of essentials every day, don't tell them You are going out of town
(b) If You have CCTVs, let them run
(c) If You are locking the gates, ensure You lock it from inside
(d) Have a neighbour keep a watch and pick up the usual bills/ mails kept on gate
(e) If You have plants inside the home, keep them outside to get watered (by a neighbour or rain god)
(f) Keep all electronics unplugged (baring CCTV or internet if You intend to monitor remotely)
(g) Have an arrangement to keep the surroundings tidy (a neighbour maid can help)
(h) If You are getting pest-control treatment, do it before leaving
(i) Save the number of Your area Police station (don't inform them You are leaving out of town, though)

[haisaikat]

Put caps sink or block their drainage holes using some bowl or something similar. This will prevent crawling animals including snakes and cockroaches from getting in through these areas. Same for bathtub drain and all similar water drain holes around the home.

Make sure there is no open food item anywhere as many crawling animals come smelling that and also there is no accumulated water in the tubs / bathroom or anywhere to prevent mosquito larva breeding.

There is one more precaution, closed apartment for a long time tend to get damped and thus damages walls and paints to a large extent. Netted ventilators are the best to ensure blocking insects yet allowing air flow.

[am1m]

Over the years, have left the house empty for up to 3 months at a time periodically. In fact, just got back home last week after 2 months away.

Security: Have personally never worried about this. Our house is in a very crowded neighborhood, something out of the ordinary or a stranger hanging out for long on the street will be noticed immediately by the neighbors. Plus, we have grills across all windows and doors.

Water damage: This is the only thing I worry about. During the rains, water does tend to collect on the terrace and that causes water damage to the ceiling. When I'm there I go up after every rain and clear any water logging, but that is an issue when we're away.

Electricals: Have never shut off the mains, the UPS, or the fridge when we leave. So far so good. Of course we double-check to make sure nothing else is on or running before leaving. The water pump loses prime of course without being run for long and that needs to be fixed when we return. Sometimes the wired Internet line gets cut, but apart from that no other damages noticed.

Apart from that, cover the drain holes, leave one or two windows slightly open for ventilation. With Bangalore weather, moisture retention indoors is not really an issue I think. Empty the fridge, certainly never leave any food lying around. Empty the wet waste. Have not covered the furniture or anything like that, the dust levels have been more or less normal when we returned. But lots of lizard crap all over Perhaps if we're away for a year or so, might consider covering furniture with sheets. Cancel the paper delivery and milk.

Keeping the outside clean while you are away is a bigger issue in the case of independent houses. The compound and front of the house gets really dirty in a few days. We're lucky that our maid comes in once in a while to sweep the front and water the plants. She has a key for the gate but not one to enter the house. In fact none of the neighbors has a key, our spare is with a good friend but he's some distance away. We do inform a couple of neighbors when we leave so they can reach us in case of any issue. (I would never consider informing the local police station!)

[libranof1987]

We did so on a house that will not be occupied for the remainder of the year. This is an empty house with bare minimum furniture so didn't have to worry about loss of valuables

1) We'd got master valves fitted outside each water connection coming inside the house (bathrooms, kitchen etc.) years ago; switched that off

2) MCB in the Electricity junction box switched off

3) All furniture covered with a cloth

4) All sliding doors and windows shut with tape (the kind carpenters and painters use) along the periphery to avoid dust coming in

5) Put the broadband connection in safe custody

6) We considered installing a cctv to avoid break-ins or water leakage but decided against it since we didn't want to keep the broadband connection

7) Refrigerator door ajars with a chair blocking them from closing (the gaskets tend to have mould if the doors are shut)

8) Gas connection switched off, chimney outlet sealed

9) We considered covering the a/c compressors with sheets but decided against it since we otherwise don't when they aren't used

10) Plastic sheet covering the drain

11) Moth balls used liberally

[am1m]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

This is an empty house with bare minimum furniture so didn't have to worry about loss of valuables

Oh that's a great point - before leaving for an extended period of time, ensure that anything really valuable like property documents and jewelry is in a bank locker. It's a good practice to keep those in lockers anyway.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

5) Put the broadband connection in safe custody

Hey, how do you do this? What does it mean and involve?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by am1m

Hey, how do you do this? What does it mean and involve?

We have Airtel broadband, they have two plans for safe custody: monthly (250 I think) or three-month block (500). Just call 121 and they'll do it within an hour.

[Jaguar]

Our house in the hometown is locked for the most part and is occupied for less than a month every year. Once we didn't go for nearly two years due to some family commitments. The only issue we faced was when a semi open balcony got flooded during rains as the drain had gotten blocked. Addressed that by increasing the drain hole size and things have be alright since.

It is an two story independent house, with the ground floor let out. So the stuff like cleaning the compound and security is not an issue. The tenants do not have the key to the first floor house but it is with another neighbor in case of any emergency.

Before locking down do the following

• Switch off the fridge a day before and clean it

• Disconnect the gas cylinder and seal it shut

• Throw away all the trash, especially wet waste

• Cover the mattress and sofa with a cloth

• Remove all batteries from things like TV remote, flashlights and clocks

• Switch off the mains

• Don't like moth balls, so sprinkle Turmeric powder in the kitchen and camphor in other places

All the doors and windows are shut but the house has air-vents for ventilation. Other than lizards, haven't face any other critter issues.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

Whenever I return, I am planning to schedule a house cleaning service to cleanup the sofas, and may be a deep home cleaning as well and also to clean the sump. Any other pointers will be helpful.

We have an independent house in my hometown that's been vacant for almost a decade. We keep visiting (one of us) twice a year or so.

A lot of the suggestions given above by others are also followed at our house so won't repeat that. But to add to that, we also pay our old maid a monthly sum to come and clean the house once every month, his son waters the garden and other odd cleaning jobs around the house once or twice a week (depending on the season). Of course, she's been working at our house since last 30 years so she gets the key from our neighbors to do the above jobs.

Most importantly, having a neighbor that you can trust. Nothing ever beats that.

[GTO]

We have a holiday home that we use just once in 3 months or so (I prefer hotels now). But whenever we are going to use it, we send a trusted help 2 days in advance. He + a local clean the house inside out & set it up for us. Makes a huge difference.

But frankly, I just prefer renting a bungalow on Airbnb or a hotel room now. No more holiday homes for me.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

[list]Remove all batteries from things like TV remote,

In our holiday home, we used to remove the batteries from wall clocks and on more than one occasion the clocks would not work when the battery was put during the visits after several months.

So we leave the batteries on the clocks and let them run when we are away and that keeps them ticking and in good shape.

[Miyata]

My Noida home was locked away for over 2-years! If I dd visit Delhi on work, I would get the home deep cleaned, but otherwise -

1) Got pigeon nets installed in balconies to keep it free from pigeon poop.

2) Got rubber padding (?) installed at bottom of the balcony doors to reduce the dust getting in.

3) Threw out the RO unit - Did not feel hygienic to have that around anymore with potential bacterial / parasite load it might be harboring.

4) Got pest control done if I was in the region.

[alpha1]

If you have exposed balconies, then ensure (human beings for now, I don't see any foolproof technology yet) that the drainage is not blocked and stay that way during your absence. If not then expect flooding inside your house during rains and host of problems that brings with it.

[kkdelhi]

What about aircon units?

What do you suggest to do if one is going abroad for at least a couple of years? Any different guidelines? Would selling off any items be advisable?