Preparing Your Home for a Great Vacation

By B. E. Conrad

The days and weeks prior to a vacation are some of the most exciting times in our lives. The anticipation of getting away from it all, relaxing on the beach and escaping stress is wonderful, but it is important for homeowners to properly prepare their homes for that upcoming vacation.

You must make sure that your home is safe and secure before leaving, since many break-ins and burglaries take place while homeowners are away on vacation. Perhaps the most important thing to do is to install a quality home alarm system. This alarm system should be installed at least several months prior to the planned trip, since it may take some time to become acquainted with the various features and learn how to use the system.

The beauty of such a home alarm system is that its value will last long after the vacation has ended. It is a good idea to have some sort of burglar alarm in place whether you will be gone for a month or just an afternoon. Often the mere presence of a sign on the lawn stating that the home is protected is enough to deter would-be burglars from attempting to break in to your home.

After the alarm system is in place, and after you are familiar with how to use it, it's time to start down the remainder of the pre-vacation home preparation checklist. Some of the most important considerations for vacationing homeowners include the following:

• For short trips, ask one of your neighbors to pick up your mail and your newspaper. If you are going to be gone longer, however, be sure to stop by the post office and have your home mail delivery stopped until you return.



• Be sure to provide neighbors, friends and family members with emergency phone numbers so you can be reached quickly. It's a good idea to leave a spare house key with a relative or neighbor as well.



• For long absences, you may want to turn off the main water valve. This will help avoid problems with frozen pipes and other plumbing issues.



• Be sure to turn down the temperature on the hot water heater and unplug televisions and other appliances. These appliances will be drawing electricity whether they are on or not. Unplugging them will help lower your electric bill.



• Turn your thermostats down (or up) before you leave. There is no reason to spend money heating or cooling the home when you are not there.



• Consider putting your lights and appliances on a timer in order to give the home a lived-in look. Hopefully, the home alarm system you purchased includes a setting that allows lights to be turned on and off at different times of the day. If not, you may need to purchase an additional timer to serve this function. Never set the lights to go on and off at the same time each day; it is a dead giveaway that you are not at home.



• At least a couple of weeks before you leave for vacation, decide what to do about your pets. You may want to have a friend or neighbor stop by each day to provide food, water and exercise. Or you may want to hire a professional pet sitting service or take the pets to a reputable kennel. This decision should be made well in advance so that proper arrangements can be made.



• Don't forget about the plants. If you are having a friend or pet sitter care for your pets, ask them to take care of your plants as well. Simply soaking the plants with water before you leave is not enough. A better idea is to create a self watering system if you cannot have someone care for the plants. For small plants, make a self watering system by filling a plastic container with pebbles. Then fill the bottom of the container with water. This allows the plants to slowly absorb the moisture they need, without the danger of their roots becoming waterlogged. Larger plants can be mulched with a damp towel or newspaper to prevent the loss of moisture.



• When the day to leave for vacation finally arrives, try not to make that departure too obvious to those passing by. If you have a garage, be sure to pack the car with the garage door closed. If you do not have a garage, you may want to pack a couple of items a day in order to avoid broadcasting to the world that your home will be unoccupied.

These simple tips can help make your vacation a lot more fun, exciting, and above all, safe. You need not be paranoid to enjoy a safe home, but you do need to exercise common sense and take some basic precautions to avoid becoming a victim of a vacation related home burglary.

© Doityourself.com 2006