June 18, 2021 by 360 Precision Cleaning
It’s that time of year again! Snowbirds everywhere are packing up their homes in the desert or the sweltering west coast to migrate to the northern United States and Canada. If you count yourself among the lucky ones who get to beat the heat in the cooler parts of the world, then you need to ensure that your Arizona home is safe in your absence.
Use this step-by-step guide to summerizing your home to make sure you have a clean, well-maintained home to come back to when it’s time to fly south for the winter.
Take Care of Your Utilities and Mail Service
Two weeks before you leave your Arizona home, let your mail service know that you’re leaving. They’ll put a stop to your regular deliveries and forward your mail to your correct address. This ensures that you won’t come back to a pile of mail or miss an important delivery while you’re away.
Let your phone, internet, and cable providers know that you need to put your service on hold as well. This will save you money while you’re away.
The Inside of Your Arizona Home
As you get closer to your departure, take time to prepare the inside of your home. If you have a homeowner’s association, let them know the dates you’ll be leaving and returning. They may have a program that can help keep your house secure while you’re gone, like a vacation watch program.
If you don’t have a homeowner’s association, your local law enforcement or community outreach center may also be able to help watch your home while you’re gone. If not, ask a neighbor that you trust.
If you don’t plan on bringing your valuables with you, take them to a safety deposit box or a safe storage center.
Lawn Maintenance
Prepare the exterior of your house for the summer closer to your date of departure. Trim all the trees and bushes in your yard and pick up all the trimmings before you leave.
Don’t forget to set an irrigation timer to water your lawn and bushes before you leave. You’ll come back to a lawn full of dead plants otherwise.
You’ll likely come back to weeds in your lawn no matter how well you prepare. Hire a yard service to periodically take care of your lawn while you’re gone. This will help keep your homeowner’s association happy.
The Pool and Other Water Features
If you have a pool, contact a pool maintenance service to take care of it while you’re away. They will routinely check it for debris, check the chemical levels, and clean it out.
If you own a hot tub, keep the water in it and turn off the heating system. If you drain the hot tub, the summer heat will damage the tub if it sits empty.
If you have any standing water fixtures like a birdbath, bucket, or small pool for children, drain them. You can either drain and turn off any fountains or let the water keep circulating. Standing water will attract mosquitos.
Inside the Garage
Before you leave, do a walk-through of your garage. Disconnect the battery to any vehicles that you aren’t taking with you. Cover anything you would like to protect from the dust.
Unplug your garage door opener. Give your propane tanks and any combustible, flammable chemicals to someone for safekeeping or dispose of them properly.
If you have an additional security system set up for your garage, don’t forget to set it. Secure your garage door and all the windows.
Appliance Maintenance
The day that you leave, you should unplug all of your appliances and electronics. The last thing you want is to come home and find out that a lightning storm messed up your expensive electronics. Don’t forget the ceiling fans.
Decide if you want to leave your air conditioner on or off. Leaving it off will save you money, but as the heat outside rises, so will the temperature inside your house. Some snowbirds choose to leave the air conditioner set to a high temperature to make sure that the home doesn’t get above a certain level.
Water and Air Circulation
Before you leave, flush all of your toilets and run all of the faucets. Turn off the main valve of water to your house. Drain the faucets and showerhead extensions.
Leave a bucket of water to humidify each room. Leave your interior door open to allow the air circulation to reach all parts of your home. Keep your blinds closed to keep the heat out.
Food and Refrigerator
Seal all of your nonperishable products in plastic bags or containers with tight lids to keep out moisture and bugs.
Whether you’re turning your fridge off while you’re gone or not, it’s a good idea to give a thorough cleaning before you go. Toss out all of your leftovers and anything that will expire before you get back. Make sure the trash goes out before you leave as well.
If you’re leaving the fridge on, put bottles of water inside to help keep the energy cost down.
Turn off your automatic ice maker, too!
Miscellaneous Tasks
Lastly, make sure you replace the batteries in your fire alarms, watering systems, thermostats, and security system. If you have a neighbor that you trust, consider leaving them a key so they can check your house for any signs of damage after a big storm.
Store your candles in a cool, dark place so they don’t melt in the heat as well!
Summerizing Your Home
Summerizing your Arizona home doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these steps to ensure that you get everything done before you take off for cooler weather. If you neglect these things, you may wind up with expensive damages, unwanted pests, or worse when you come back.
If you’re going away for a while and want to hire cleaning services to make sure that your house stays in shape while you’re gone, contact us today!