Restored with Premier Restoration of the Carolinas

Winterize Your Vacation Home Right: Solid Advice from Premier Restoration Of The Carolinas

• Tim Rhoades • Episode 9

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 What Steps Do I Need To Take To Protect My Vacation Home In The Off Season?

A quiet second home can become a costly headache the moment temperatures drop. We sat down with Tim Rhoades of Premier Restoration of the Carolinas to map out a clear, no-drama winterization plan that keeps your property safe when you’re not there. If you’ve ever worried about frozen pipes, surprise leaks, or a power outage while you’re miles away, this conversation gives you the exact steps to reduce risk and sleep easier.

Tim walks through the essentials: closing the main water supply, draining lines, and using RV antifreeze in toilets and sink traps so standing water doesn’t crack your plumbing. We talk about how to set your thermostat for cold snaps, when it makes sense to fully power down, and which appliances and outlets to leave running for safety or monitoring. You’ll hear practical, real-world advice about labeling breakers, unplugging nonessentials, and thinking in zones so you cut costs without creating new risks.

We also dig into off-season monitoring. A monthly walkthrough by a trusted caretaker often catches the issues that sensors miss, but smart options like whole-home leak detection, shutoff valves, temperature and humidity alerts, and cameras can add helpful redundancy. Tim highlights the most common mistakes—leaving the main water on, skipping trap protection, and assuming the HVAC will never fail—and explains how a simple checklist and a posted emergency contact list can prevent a minor problem from becoming a rebuild.

Whether your getaway sits in the mountains of western North Carolina or anywhere winter bites, these steps will protect your investment and your peace of mind. If you need professional help or a second opinion on damage, we’re here to make things right. Subscribe for more practical restoration tips, share this with a neighbor who owns a cabin, and leave a quick review so others can find the show.

To learn more about Premier Restoration of the Carolinas visit:
https://www.PremierRestorationoftheCarolinas.com
Premier Restoration of the Carolinas
888-847-2214

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Restore with Premier Restoration of the Carolinas, where we turn floods, fires, and multi-mayhem into clean plates and fresh starts. Hosted by Tim Rhodes, the guy who's been knee deep in disaster, so you don't have to be. If your home or business has been through it, don't panic. Tim's here to talk recovery, restoration, and everything in between. Let's get things restored.

SPEAKER_01:

Your second home shouldn't be just a second headache. Tim breaks down how to keep your vacation property safe while you're away. Welcome back, everybody. Skip Monty, co-host slash producer, back in the studio with owner of Premier Restoration of the Carolinas, Mr. Tim Rhodes. Tim, how's it going? That's going good, Skip. How are you? Doing just fine. Doing just fine. I was uh just admiring every time we do a podcast. I love the intro music. Uh was uh Pain and uh is it Pain and Suffering? Is that the name of the song? By the Jacktown Ramblers.

SPEAKER_02:

Jacktown Ramblers, yes. Pain and Desire.

SPEAKER_01:

Pain and Desire. Pain and Desire. If you heard it here, guys, those guys are outstanding. So uh now that you know winter's upon us, unfortunately, and uh uh some people are fortunate enough to have a winter home, especially in this part of the country, up in the mountains in western North Carolina. Um if you're fortunate folks are fortunate enough to have a a winter home or a vacation home, you know, it's pretty important to make sure you're not there all the time. What steps should you take to protect your vacation home when you're not there, Tim?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, you definitely need to winterize it or have somebody winterize it for you. Um winterizing your it'll it'll protect your protect your investment, uh protect some water damage, um, you know, especially water damage in the wintertime.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh, no, I can't imagine how bad it could be if you're gone for weeks, maybe even a month at a time, and there's a water leak, it could completely destroy your house, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I mean, yeah, it possibly could. You're exactly right.

SPEAKER_01:

Jeez. So what what all is involved in proper uh uh winterization of a home?

SPEAKER_02:

It's a process of of turning off your main water supply, draining your water systems, uh putting some sort of an RV antifreeze into your commodes and your your S traps in your sink so they don't freeze, uh making sure your heat's set to certain temperatures so so you can maintain and not freeze as long as nothing happens, you don't lose power. You your house won't freeze, it stays at a you know a set temperature. Uh and just make sure, you know, make sure you don't have a lot of electrical products plugged in. That way you're not running a lot of electricity, it's just certain things you need.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I I was getting ready to ask that. Are there specific systems or appliances that should be shut off when you're winterizing?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I mean, everybody's house is different. You know, some people want different things running, you know. So I I guess that's going to be more homeowner-based to what they cut off and what they don't.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I know I've I've got a trailer on a farm that we we winterize every time we leave it because uh we we don't leave we turn the heat completely off and put antifreeze down into the sinks and uh P traps and and all of that. Um because otherwise you leave the heat going so that it doesn't freeze up while you're gone, but then you you know you got a heck of an electric bill or gas bill from that. So what about do you recommend that uh when you're gone that you have somebody check on your property? And if so, how often should they do that?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I mean that having somebody check on your property during the winter once a month is is a very good idea. Uh that way they can tell you if there's any water leaks. Uh you know, it's just it's always good to have a set of eyes on your property.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And does uh I know uh you know, there's all kinds of technology now that you can even get things that tell you if there's been a leak. But is there any technology that you would recommend that could play a role in off-season monitoring of a vacation home?

SPEAKER_02:

You know, recommend no. Uh look into it and let the homeowner do their own research by all means. There's a lot of lot of cool technology out there that you can put that'll, you know, let you know if there's water leaks and you know, depending on how much the homeowner wants to spend, it'd be dependent on how how tech savvy or they want to be.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I guess you know, uh they're getting cheaper and cheaper now, but like can't even cameras, you could have cameras set up where at least in in the main parts of the house you could tell if something if there was water moving around, I guess you could see.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So well, what are some common mistakes from your perspective that homeowners make when they're closing up a vacation home or maybe leads to when they call you?

SPEAKER_02:

You know, on our side of it, you know, the most common is just not cutting off the water, you know, not properly winterizing it. And that's you know winterizing it is a big circle. It's a process, it's not just a one-step thing like we've talked about. Um winterizing it it takes time, and whether the homeowner does it themselves or whether they hire somebody to do it, it's it's money well spent. I would agree.

SPEAKER_01:

Otherwise, they're gonna be spending a lot more with you. Eventually. They will. So uh what any recommendations on emergency plans like that people should have in place in case something does go wrong while they're not there?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I would I would have I would have somebody checking on the residents once a month. That's that's the best advice for anybody is is have somebody check on it once a month.

SPEAKER_01:

And just in case, have the phone number for uh uh premier restoration of the Carolinas up in the house somewhere so that when that person checks on it, if there's a problem, they can then give you a call. Exactly, exactly. Very good. Well, um wish wish I was fortunate enough to have a vacation home, but I'm sure a lot of our listeners do, and and uh taking some good advice from you here to prevent uh, you know, it's uh interesting to me because this is how you make a living restoring things and fixing when when uh disaster happens. But um, you know, you're spending a lot of time telling people how to avoid that. So we appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Very much. All right. Well, Tim, thanks so much. We we know what to do now with our vacation homes, and uh we'll look forward to covering another topic on the next episode of Restored. All right, thank you. All right, you have a good one, brother.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for tuning in to Restored with Premier Restoration of the Carolinas. If disaster strikes, don't Google, call the pros. You can reach Tim at 888-847-2241. Or visit us online at Premier Restoration of the Carolinas dot com. We'll bring the tools, the team, and maybe even the shop back. Because when things go wrong, we make it right.