Closing the holiday home for winter: the checklist that avoids damp and frost damage

When the season ends, most holiday homes on the coast stand empty for most of the winter. A house shut down properly takes no harm and is fresh again in spring. A house shut down badly can greet you with burst pipes, damp and a heavy shut-in smell. Here is what we check ourselves, and in what order.

Water and frost first

The water matters most. Water freezing in the pipes can split them and cause serious damage. Turn the water off at the mains and drain the pipes, water heater, toilet and traps. Many people pour a little antifreeze into the traps so they neither freeze nor dry out and let drain smells in. If the house is not frost-proof, leave a low background heat running.

The reason water comes first is simple: it is the only item on the list that can cost a fortune. Everything else is unpleasant but reversible. A burst pipe running for three weeks in an empty house is not.

For the detail on the plumbing itself, we have a separate guide to frost protection.

Keep the damp down

Damp is the holiday home's worst enemy in winter. Air the place thoroughly before shutting down and make sure everything is completely dry. Leave cupboard doors and the fridge ajar so air can move. Pull the curtains back so condensation cannot form behind them. A dehumidifier or a little background heat keeps rooms dry and prevents mould.

What people miss is that the damp does not come from outside. It is already in the house, in textiles, in mattresses and in the air, and it only becomes a problem once the house goes cold and no air moves. So creating circulation helps more than trying to seal the house up.

• Pull furniture away from external walls, a hand's width is enough. Behind the sofa against the north wall is where mould starts.
• Stand mattresses on edge, or lay them on battens so air can pass underneath.
• Leave internal doors open so the whole house shares one temperature and one humidity.
• Empty the dehumidifier, or run a hose to a drain if it is to work all winter.

Kitchen and bathroom

Empty the fridge and freezer, wipe them out and leave them open. Throw out anything perishable and take opened food home, or it attracts mice. Clean the extractor and the drains. Dry the bathroom out completely so no moisture is left standing.

A fridge switched off with the door closed is one of the most reliable ways to make a house smell. There is always a little moisture left inside, and over five months it becomes something nobody wants to open in March.

Mice, and why they come

An empty, cool house with a few crumbs is exactly what a mouse is looking for in October. They do not come through the door but through gaps smaller than most people think.

• Remove everything edible, including rice, pasta, coffee and bird seed in the garage.
• Look for gaps at pipe penetrations, at the base of the walls and under the terrace door.
• Do not leave fabric, paper or cardboard out. That is nesting material.
• Empty the bins and take the bag home, not out to the shed.

What people forget

Take bedding and towels home or pack them away dry so they do not draw moisture. Check that windows and doors close tightly. Clear the gutters so autumn leaves do not send water down the facade all winter. Turn off the gas if the house has a bottle. And take a few photos of the house as you leave it: it makes it far easier to see whether anything has shifted when you come back.

Outside, before you lock up

Garden furniture, the barbecue, parasols and toys belong in the shed or under a cover, not out on the terrace all winter. A West Jutland winter storm moves a garden chair further than people expect, and a parasol going over into a window is an expensive way to save ten minutes.

While you are out there, walk round the house and look up. Loose roof tiles, a gutter out of true or a downpipe grating full of leaves are all trivial in October and expensive in March. If there are trees close to the house, check for branches hanging over the roof.

Finally, check that outside taps are closed and drained and the hose is coiled away. A frozen outdoor tap pulls the damage into the wall with it, and that is the kind of leak nobody notices until it is large.

Power, alarms and the small things

Switch off what should not run, and leave on what should. Fridge and freezer off and open. Heat pump or electric radiator set to the low background heat, if that is the route you have chosen. Router and alarm often stay on, which is fine as long as you know they are drawing power.

Test the smoke alarm and change the battery while you are there anyway. It is one of those jobs that never gets done in spring, because you are busy getting ready for the first guest.

Write down what you did at the end, and leave the note in the house or photograph it. Next autumn you will not remember whether you drained the water heater, and reading is easier than guessing.

Somebody should look in

It is worth arranging for somebody local to look in a couple of times over the winter, especially after a storm. This is not about break-ins but about the mundane things: a roof tile gone, a gutter down, a door blown open, or a small drip that becomes damage because nobody saw it for three months.

We do house checks after storm and frost for owners who live far away, and send photos so nobody has to guess.

Shall we handle the shutdown?

We are a local cleaning company based in Bork, and we close holiday homes down in Bork Havn, Hemmet, Hvide Sande, Søndervig, Nymindegab, Henne Strand, Blåvand, Skjern, Tarm and Ringkøbing. We clean the house, work through the list above and tell you if we find damp, damage or signs of mice. A fixed price agreed in advance. Send the address and get a quote.