OnOtto

The vacation home maintenance checklist

Updated July 2026

Three rules keep an empty house out of trouble: shut off the water whenever it sits unoccupied more than a few days, hold 50–55°F in freeze country (or manage humidity in the South), and get human eyes on the place every 2–4 weeks. An occupied home reports its own problems — the drip gets heard, the cold gets felt. An empty one lets small failures compound for months. Everything below is organized around that one fact: the departure checklist, the absence plan, and the arrival checklist.

The departure checklist

Thirty minutes on the way out, in rough priority order:

Vacation home departure checklist — Updated July 2026
Task Why Notes
Shut off the main water supply An unnoticed leak runs for weeks in an empty house — this single valve removes the biggest absence risk Leave a hot tap open a moment to relieve pressure
Water heater to "vacation" mode (or off) No point heating water for nobody; electric units can simply lose the breaker Gas: vacation setting keeps the pilot; off means relighting
Thermostat: 50–55°F in freeze country; ~80–85°F in humid summer country Cold protects pipes; in the humid South, cooling and airflow protect against mold A smart thermostat makes this row remotely verifiable
Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls Lets room heat reach the most freeze-exposed supply lines Freeze-country item
Unplug electronics and countertop appliances Surge exposure and phantom load, both pointless in an empty house Leave the fridge decision deliberate: run it, or empty + prop the doors
Empty, clean, and prop the fridge — or commit to running it A tripped breaker plus a closed, off fridge equals the worst smell in real estate If it runs: someone should be checking it
Clear food, take out all trash, run and empty the disposal Everything edible is a pest invitation with weeks to RSVP Freezer contents ride on one breaker — see monitoring below
Lock up with a lived-in look: timers on a lamp or two, mail held or forwarded An obviously empty house collects both burglars and code letters A neighbor collecting flyers beats any timer

While the house is empty

Absence monitoring plan — Updated July 2026
Item Cadence Why
Someone physically walks the house Every 2–4 weeks Insurance policies commonly expect "regular checks" on unoccupied homes — and most disasters announce themselves early to anyone who looks
Leak sensors at the water heater, under sinks, by the washer Install once $15–50 each; the smart ones text you — the dumb ones scream to an empty room, so pair them with the walkthrough
Smart thermostat or a $30 WiFi temperature sensor Check the app weekly A furnace failure in January shows up as a falling graph days before it becomes burst pipes
Automatic water shutoff valve (if you leave water on) Install once $150–500; the honest alternative is the free main valve, turned by hand at departure
Yard/snow service continues Per season An unmowed lawn or unshoveled walk announces the empty house — and violates many HOA/municipal rules
Storm pass: someone checks after major wind/hail/freeze events Per event The gap between "shingle lifted" and "ceiling stained" is exactly one unwatched storm season

The arrival checklist

First hour back, before the house feels like vacation:

Vacation home arrival checklist — Updated July 2026
Task Why
Walk the exterior first: roofline, siding, windows, meter areas Storm and pest evidence reads best before you’re busy unpacking
Turn the water on slowly; walk every fixture and look under every sink The first pressurization after months is when winter’s cracks reveal themselves — be standing there when they do
Run all faucets and flush all toilets to refill P-traps Dry traps let sewer gas in; that "empty house smell" is often just this
Water heater back on only after confirming the tank is full Electric elements burn out fast in a part-empty tank
Check detector batteries and the electrical panel for tripped breakers Detectors guarded an empty house all season — confirm they still can
Sniff test: musty means find the moisture, not open a window over it Mold in a closed house had months of head start — trace it now

Two houses means two maintenance schedules — and the empty one can't remind you of anything. OnOtto reminds you at the right interval — and won't let you snooze it into next year. Both homes' tasks in one household, shareable with the caretaker or the neighbor who does the monthly walk.

Run both houses on autopilot — free for 30 days

Frequently asked questions

Should I really shut off the water every time I leave?

For any absence past a few days: yes, unless something in the house needs supply (an ice maker you refuse to give up, irrigation fed downstream of the main). A supply-line failure at 40–60 PSI releases water by the hundreds of gallons per day, and in an empty house it runs until someone notices the meter or the ceiling. The valve costs nothing to turn, and every restoration contractor's vacation-home story starts with it not being turned. Automatic shutoff valves are the convenience upgrade, not the requirement.

What temperature should an empty house hold in winter?

50–55°F is the standard guidance — warm enough to keep in-wall pipes on exterior walls above freezing with margin, cold enough to keep bills modest. Pair it with open under-sink cabinets and, for genuinely severe climates or fragile houses, shutting off and draining the water entirely (plus RV antifreeze in traps and toilets), which removes the freeze stakes from the thermostat question altogether. What doesn't work: turning the heat off with water in the lines and hoping.

Does my insurance care that the house sits empty?

Very much. Standard homeowner policies distinguish occasional-use secondary homes from vacant ones, and many restrict or exclude coverage (water damage especially) after roughly 30–60 consecutive unoccupied days — some require a vacancy endorsement, winterization, or evidence of regular checks. Read your policy's occupancy language before the first long absence, and keep records of the monthly walkthroughs; a dated task history is exactly what a contested claim wants to see.

What maintenance does the vacation home still need in the off-season?

The house's own schedule doesn't pause — it just compresses into your visits: HVAC filters (slower in an empty house — every 6 months is honest), gutters on the same seasonal dates as any house, sump pump tests before wet season, detector batteries, and the water heater flush annually. The trap is that "next visit" is the vacation-home version of "tomorrow" — the tasks need dates, not intentions.

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