The snowbird checklist: preparing your Lakeside home before you leave

Water

Water does more damage to a closed house than anything else, and almost all of it starts small. Before you go, decide whether the house will be visited. If nobody is coming, shut the main valve and drain what you can. If someone is visiting, leave the water on so they can run the taps, but check every connection first.

• Look under every sink and behind every toilet for drips. Tighten or replace flexible hoses older than five years.
• Turn off the water heater or set it to vacation mode; close its gas valve.
• Check the tinaco float and the pump. A stuck float overflows the tank every night.
• Pour a cup of mineral oil or a little water with bleach into unused drains so traps do not dry out and smell.
• If the house has a pool, agree on the service schedule in writing and leave chemicals where the pool person can reach them.

Electricity and gas

• Unplug everything that does not need to stay on: TVs, computers, microwaves, coffee machines. Lightning hits the grid here in the rains.
• Leave the fridge on only if someone will check it; an empty fridge unplugged and propped open is safer.
• Set up automatic payment for CFE or leave someone in charge of paying it. A missed bill means a cut, and a cut means a dead fridge and no pump.
• Close the gas tank valve if the house will not be visited. If it will, leave it on for the water heater and tell the visitor where the valve is.
• Put two or three lamps on timers, or leave instructions for lights to be rotated on each visit.

Roof, drains and the rains

If you leave in May, you leave right before the rains. The afternoon storms from June to October are the reason most stains, leaks and mold appear in a house nobody is watching.

• Clear every roof drain and downspout of leaves. Do it again after the first storm if you can.
• Look at the roof for cracks in the impermeabilizante; a coat before the rains is cheap, a ceiling repair in October is not.
• Clear the patio drain. A blocked one floods a room in one afternoon.
• Cut back trees and climbers that touch the roof or the walls.

Humidity and pests

• Empty and clean the fridge, pantry and bins. Anything left attracts ants and roaches.
• Leave closet doors and drawers slightly open so air moves. Put moisture absorbers in closets and bathrooms.
• Strip beds and store mattresses upright, or cover them; humidity gets into mattresses first.
• Seal gaps under doors and around pipes. Scorpions come in through spaces the width of a coin.
• Book a pest treatment before you leave and ask for it to be repeated in August.

Security and paperwork

• Lock every window, including bathroom and laundry windows, and check the gate.
• Tell the fraccionamiento administration who is authorised to enter, in writing, with names.
• Leave a set of keys and the alarm code with one person, and tell your neighbour who that person is.
• Leave copies of your CFE, water and predial numbers with that person, plus your plumber's and electrician's numbers.
• Photograph every room before you close the door. It settles any question later.

Who visits while you are gone

A neighbour with a key will notice a broken window. They will not run the water, clear the drains, look for mold behind the closet or send you thirty photos. That is the difference between a favour and a home watch service. Whichever you choose, agree on the frequency in advance: twice a month in the dry season, weekly in the rains.