You may be ready for Y2K, but how about winter? The computer glitch of the new millennium may turn out to be nothing more than a minor electronic hiccup, but winter seldom disappoints. We can count on winds that chill below zero and at least several rounds of snow deep enough to stack.
Plan to skip all that? Well, lots of retirees move to Florida or Arizona for the winter. But before leaving your winter woes behind, here are some tips on how to prepare your house, which probably will be empty, for the first frigid blasts of 2000.
Heat and water are the two biggest concerns of a homeowner who leaves a house unoccupied for several winter months. They could be classified as one problem because there is so much interplay between the two, but let’s take heat first.
Experts don’t really agree on where the thermostat should be set. But not one professional surveyed for this story recommended turning the heat off altogether. Your house could be subject to all kinds of damage, even if you flush out the water from the pipes so they can’t freeze and explode.
Extremely cold weather can crack walls and sometimes even windows. Icy panes may look romantic in “Doctor Zhivago,” but they don’t give your house that lived-in look you’re trying to achieve in your absence.
How low can you go with the heat? Joe Albergo, assistant director of the Plumbing Council of Chicagoland, thinks 55 degrees is about right. He said that’s high enough to prevent major freeze damage, especially to pipes, his specialty.
Chicago home inspector Tom Corbett thinks 58 degrees is the lower limit. But, he said, if you have water pipes on the outside basement walls, they could freeze because the heat may not warm the basement enough. If there is any doubt at all, he recommends setting the thermostat at a more clement 68 degrees. Homeowners who don’t want to spend that kind of money on heat for an empty house, should then be prepared invest a few bucks to insulate the basement pipes, he said.
Obviously, all the fuss about the heat really has to do with the fact that a frozen pipe can burst, causing major water damage to a house. Ever seen a kitchen that looks like a skating pond? Not nice. Not cheap to fix either.
The consensus is that the water should be turned off in the house. Water that’s not sitting in the pipes can’t do any damage, the reasoning goes. But there are different opinions on who should turn it off.
Housing inspector Corbett thinks a plumber should tackle the assignment. Only a plumber, he said, can blow all the water out of the plumbing system, eliminating those stray fluids that could freeze in a trap or a drain. Don’t forget the water heater. These liquid-filled time bombs can rust out and flood your house at the most inopportune moments.
Curiously, plumber Albergo, doesn’t think you necessarily need to hire a plumber to turn off the water. “Just turn it off,” he advised. If you do it yourself, however, you might not want to lower the heat too much because water could still be trapped in spots and subject to freeze.
After the invigorating scent of sea breezes over the winter, no one wants to return home only to get a nose full of sewer gas. But it could happen if you turn off your water and don’t prepare the drains properly, the pros said.
Add anti-freeze to every drain, sink, toilet, floor drain and tub. Albergo recommends an anti-freeze with propylene glycol because it tends to be more environmentally friendly than other anti-freezes. This should prevent the formation of ice from any water left in the plumbing system. (Note: Experts remind homeowners never to put anti-freeze in the water supply side of the plumbing system. It is poisonous.)
Plumber Albergo has a pet peeve: Homeowners who turn on a trickle of water and leave home. The problem with this common ice-fighting strategy is that a drain line situated on an outside wall could freeze. As the water continues to drip, the ice grows, something like a glacier fed by an underground spring. Albergo once had to force open the door to a bathroom that had been overrun by two feet of ice from a dripping faucet. “Unbelievable,” he said.
Everyone agreed that the real secret to a happy spring homecoming is to have someone visit the house every few days. Only a watchful eye can catch impending problems. “The furnace could go out,” said A.G. Krone, a real estate agent at Koenig & Strey, Winnetka. House-watchers can reset timers as the days become longer. They can pick up the mail and keep everything locked.
Many people lean on friends or neighbors for the often dull routine of house-watching, but the experts suggest paying someone to do the job. That way friendships aren’t strained and the house gets scheduled attention.
Asked whether he would leave his house empty, home inspector Corbett said he would definitely hire a neighborhood person, maybe a dog-walker, to come in everyday. Upon further reflection, he decided he would prefer to have someone live in the house for the winter. That raises all kinds of questions about damage from tenants instead of the weather.
But that’s fodder for another column, maybe in the next millennium.
Resources
– The Yale Building, a national historic landmark at 6559 S. Yale Ave. in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, is being renovated into a 63-unit senior housing development. Rents will be affordable, according to a city housing department spokesperson.
Groundbreaking for the project should take place sometime this spring. No completion date has been announced.
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Jane Adler is a Chicago-area freelance writer. If you have questions or information to share regarding housing for senior citizens, write to Senior Housing c/o Chicago Tribune Real Estate section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Or e-mail adler@megsinet.net
