Time to winterize...

Many houses that are ion the market are vacant for one reason or another. Cold weather is here already and it’s time to winterize your house if it is going to sit vacant this winter. There is little that can cause more damage and reduce the value of your property faster than frozen pipes that burst and flood your house.

Many of the homes that you see on the market that used to be $300-400,000 house and which are now selling for $100,000-150,000 are that cheap because they sat through last winter and had frozen pipe problems. Nor only is there water damage, but there is inevitably mold in those houses, too. Some are virtual tear-downs now due to nothing more than frozen pipes. So, it’s time to winterize; but, what does that mean?

A winterization generally involves:

-draining of all plumbing and heating systems as required;
- using air pressure to clear the system of water;
- adding anti-freeze to all traps and fixtures;
- shutting off water supply to the property;
- disconnecting the water meter, removing it from the cradle and leaving it on the premises;
- disconnecting the feed pipe leading to the main water valve and plugging or capping it; and
- placing tags, labels, warning signs, and dates on all items winterized, including the address and telephone number of your winterization company on all tags and labels.

The cost to winterize a house varies by the size; but, figure about $250-400. That is nothing compared to the damage that will be caused by a frozen and broken pipe. This is just the same as having your lawn sprinkler system blown out and winterized and certainly much more expensive than it would be if you lost a sprinkler head to ice.

You may say, well I’m going to leave the heat on all winter, so I don’t need to winterize. Well, what happens when the power goes out for a few days and the furnace doesn’t work. Or, say the furnace just has a problem of its own and won’t kick on. It’s doesn’t take more than a day for pipes to freeze and break. Then, when the furnace does kick back on and the water thaws, you are toast and so is the house.

So, have your house winterized if it is going to sit all winter, or even if you’re just going to Florida for a month of so. It is low cost insurance compared to the possible cost of a failure. Real Estate One has Winterization Services available under its Home Services One Program. Go there for a directory of all of the services and special deals that Real estate One customers can get on things like PODS for storage and Sears Home Appliances.