Winterising an East End seasonal home: the full checklist

Why this matters more out here than anywhere

On the mainland, a burst pipe is discovered in hours. A neighbour hears water, someone notices a ceiling, the mail carrier sees water running down the drive.

On the East End and Fire Island, a large share of houses stand empty from autumn to spring. A supply line fails in January and runs. Not for hours — for weeks. Ceilings come down, floors delaminate, and mold establishes throughout the building long before anyone opens the door.

By the time we are called it is no longer a restoration. It is a reconstruction, and the difference between the two is frequently a hundred thousand dollars.

Every item below costs less than one day of that.

Water — the essential step

• Shut off the water at the main. This alone prevents the catastrophic version, because a closed main means a failed pipe releases what is in the line and then stops
• Drain the system. Open the lowest taps and let the lines empty, then leave taps open
• Drain the water heater or set it to vacation mode
• Pour antifreeze into traps — sinks, showers, toilets, floor drains — so they do not dry out or freeze
• Shut off and drain the irrigation system and any outdoor taps
• Drain and cover the pool equipment, including the pool house supply if there is one

Heat — low, not off

Set the heating to hold around 55°F rather than turning it off. It costs money, and it is far cheaper than a frozen system.

Heat also protects the building itself. An unheated house through a damp East End winter accumulates condensation, and condensation in an unventilated closed house produces mold with no leak involved at all.

If the property runs on oil, check the tank level before you leave. A house that runs out of oil in February is an unheated house.

Monitoring — the part people skip

This is where the money is. A monitored alarm turns a catastrophic loss into a manageable one.

• Low-temperature alarm that alerts you if the house drops below a set point — the earliest warning that heating has failed
• Leak detectors at the water heater, the boiler, under sinks, and in any basement or crawl space
• Cellular alerting, not Wi-Fi alone. A Wi-Fi sensor is useless the moment power or internet drops, which is precisely when things fail
• Automatic water shutoff valve if the budget allows — it closes the main on detecting flow anomalies, and it is the closest thing to a guarantee

The building

• Clear gutters and confirm downspouts discharge well clear of the foundation
• Check the roof for lifted or missing shingles before the nor'easter season, not after
• Confirm the sump pump works and has a battery backup
• Ventilate crawl spaces appropriately and check the vapour barrier is intact
• Close and secure storm shutters where fitted
• Remove or secure outdoor furniture, which becomes airborne in a serious storm

The human element, which beats every sensor

Arrange for somebody to physically walk the property through the winter. A caretaker, a neighbour, a property manager — someone who opens the door, looks at the ceilings, listens, and checks the boiler is running.

Sensors fail. Batteries die. Networks drop. A person opening the door in January catches things no device reports.

And give your restoration contractor the access arrangement in advance. If something does happen, the difference between having a key holder's number on file and spending a day tracking one down while water runs is measured in rooms.

What it looks like when this is skipped

We attend these every spring. A line lets go in the second-floor bathroom in January. It runs until the pressure drops or someone arrives in April. The ceilings below have collapsed, the flooring has delaminated across two levels, the insulation is saturated, and mold has colonised the entire affected area and the HVAC that distributed it.

Framing and masonry can usually be cleaned, treated and dried. Drywall, insulation, flooring, cabinetry and contents almost never survive months of saturation.

The whole thing would have been prevented by closing one valve.

If you need help now

Serving Nassau and Suffolk

Dispatching from 30 Lynch St in Huntington Station. Response times are honest by zone — 45 to 60 minutes across the core townships, longer as you head east.

• Huntington
• Smithtown
• Islip
• Babylon
• Brookhaven
• Hempstead
• North Hempstead
• Oyster Bay
• Riverhead
• Southampton
• East Hampton
• Southold

See every community we cover →