Winterizing a house?

R

robvas

Forum Member
What needs to be done? This is for an empty house that I want to shut the gas and water off at.

The one thing I'm worried about is the pipes freezing, couldn't I just have the city shut the water off, go in the basement and turn the sink on, and then just flush all the toilets and open all the faucets upstairs? All the water in the pipes should 'drain' back to the basement sink, right? Probably wouldn't even have to open the faucets I guess.
 
I'll leave it to the plumbers for a real answer, but I would still be worried about the water in between the street shutoff and wherever your first sink is. Water pipes normally come into the house pretty low in the basement, vertical run up to the floor joists, then over to wherever. Not sure how you would get that water out.

I would also be concerned about sewer pipes. Water in all the traps, and you don't really want that dry since it'll then allow sewer gas into the house. I don't know... maybe add anti-freeze to the traps? :shrug:

Probably would be a lot safer to just keep the heat on & just set it low - 45-50*.
 
all the water traps will need anti freeze.
The toilet needs some too. YOu can shut the water off at the meter and then open a low faucit and let the water drain out, I would help it with a wet-dry vac and maybe blow at each fiture to make sure there is no water.

The there is the heating system, boiler or furnace...boilers are more work, and furnaces might have humidifiers that need to get drained.

AND after you do this DO not let anyone in, I have been in homes that were 'winterized' with tons of broken pipes b/c it was either done wronog or someone got water back in the systems.
 
Killjoy said:
Probably would be a lot safer to just keep the heat on & just set it low - 45-50*.
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That would cost money. The water and gas weren't on at the house for a few weeks before I moved in, and that was in the winter.

Just use car anti-freeze or do they have something different at Home Depot?
 
they have green stuff that is enviro friendly, but anything that wont freeze will work...washer fluid is probabbly the cheapest.

AND if it does get super cold you might run into an issue at the meter...some have plastic bodies that can crack if left filled with water.

another trick is to make sure there are no drafts coming into the room with the water shutoff...or let the water trickle, it cant freeze if its flowing/running
 
My company can do it for 100.00, We are fully insured and do about 2000 home winterizations a year. we blow all pipes free of water. disconnect the main. add rv antifreeze to all the drains. drain the water heater. every thing that needs done. it is more if its a boiler system

its pretty basic. if you really want to do it yourself pm and i will tell you step buy step should take less then 1/2 hour
 
briansbadlx said:
My company can do it for 100.00, We are fully insured and do about 2000 home winterizations a year. we blow all pipes free of water. disconnect the main. add rv antifreeze to all the drains. drain the water heater. every thing that needs done. it is more if its a boiler system

its pretty basic. if you really want to do it yourself pm and i will tell you step buy step should take less then 1/2 hour
Click to expand...

if it's an investment home, it's definitely worth paying a company to do it, just for the liability factor.
 
if you need a company to do it I have contractors everywhere in every state, the company I work for does this type of work for banks
 
I used to do my grandfathers cottage every year and my RV its easy if you take your time

shut down water at the main drain at low point & blow air through faucets
add anti freeze to drains use a plunger to force as much water out of toilet bowl and drain tank get the pink RV stuff use alot of it!!!
make sure to also add it to washing machine and disconect hoses to it also
same with dish washer and ice maker on fridge
leave drain open on hot water heater remove breaker if it is electric
if leaving electric on put a 100 watt lite on a timer next to water meeter ( prevents freezing )

oops forgotforgot this one year

blow air through water valve on toilet
 
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RV antifreeze is all you need. About 3 gallons. follow all above instructions. Flill toilet tank with one gallon of antivfreeze and then flush. Pour Antifreeze down all drains after you open all faucets and let drain. open spighet on bottom of water heater, and then the vent. let all drain. If you can blow some water through the lines. If your house is like mine, i have a 6' line doing up i cannot drain in my basement. I will not disconnect it either, becasue it's 65 year old galvy. I will put a section of Heat Tape on it. It plugs into an outlet and wraps around the pipe to keep it from freezing. Pretty simple process and about an hour of your time.
 
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