Prep Your Home Before Going On Vacation

Like everyone else who gets the chance for a vacation, you are pretty excited about this summer holiday you’re planning to go on with your entire family. After a solid year of hard work and sky-high stress levels, you finally have the opportunity to relax and bask under the heat of the summer sun as your family does all kinds of fun things on the beach.

Without a doubt, you are more than prepared for this trip. The question is, is your home ready for the time you leave? Remember that your home will be empty for the duration of your summer holiday, and that makes it a prime target for burglars and other unsavoury elements of society. Plus, an emergency could take place while you’re out, and no one will be there to take care of it.

You need to prep your home just as much as you’ve prepared for your trip. To help you out, here are some tips that we hope would help you prep your home before going on vacation.

Safety First: Prep your Home

1. Clear all gutters

One good way to prep you home is to make sure that all your gutters, downspouts and drains are clear of leaves and other debris. You certainly would not want water seeping under siding and flood your home in case some unexpected heavy downpour hits while you’re away.

2. Unplug

Remember to unplug appliances—at least those that aren’t hooked up to a surge protector—before leaving. The possibility of a power surge is always present, and a particularly strong one may damage your appliances and even cause a fire.

3. Turn the Water Main Off

Some people say we should only cut off the water supply to parts of the house that are prone to leaks, like the dishwasher or washing machine. While this is good advice to prep your home, I always go one step further: I shut the main water valve down. That way, any possibility of flooding while you’re away is totally eliminated.

4. Never Announce you’re Going Away

When we say you should never announce you’re going away, we mean you should not post on Facebook or Twitter about how excited you are about this trip for everyone to see. While on vacation, wait until you get back before you post those pics. To make sure no one’s the wiser, turn off the ringer on your phone so that no one will realise no one is answering. If you’ve got a habit of changing your voice mail greeting, just make sure you never announce you’re going away.

5. Set the Home Security Alarms

If there are people aside from your family or closest friends that you should notify you’re going on vacation, it’s the security company that installed your home security system. It’s also wise to give your alarm code, the security company’s phone number, your itinerary, and your contact numbers to a trusted family member or friend.

6. Test your Smoke Alarms

To make sure that your smoke alarms are working perfectly, simply press the “test” button on your smoke alarms. To be absolutely sure that they’ll work when it matters most, change the batteries.

7. Make it Look Like Someone’s Home

A home that sits silent and still in the night is a very attractive home for burglars, because that means no one’s home. With all the technology available today, you can make your home look like there’s someone in it using lights that turn themselves on when it gets dark, or appliances that can be set through timers to turn themselves on and off at specific times of the day.

Do you have more tips on how to prep your home before going on vacation? If you do, please do hit the comments and share them with us in time for the summer holiday!