Seasonal Home Plumbing Checklist for Southwest Florida Snowbirds

Why a closed-up Florida house needs its own plan

Up north, closing a summer place is about freezing. Here the risks run the other way. An empty house in July deals with heat, high outdoor humidity, afternoon thunderstorms, power flickers and the chance of a named storm. Nobody is around to hear a supply line hiss or notice a water stain on a ceiling.

The plumbing failures we see in seasonal homes are mostly slow ones. A toilet fill valve that drips into the bowl for four months. A braided supply line under a vanity that lets go after years of pressure. An AC condensate line that clogs and backs water into a closet. None of these are dramatic on day one. They become expensive because they run unnoticed for weeks.

So the goal of a closing checklist is simple: take pressure off anything that can leak, keep the air dry, and make sure somebody will catch a problem early.

The main shutoff, and the irrigation question

Shutting off the main water supply is the single most effective thing you can do before leaving. With the main closed, a failed hose or fitting can only spill what’s already in the pipes. If you aren’t sure where your valve is or whether it still turns, our main water shutoff guide walks through the usual locations in local homes, including the curb meter box and ball valves on outside walls.

The catch is irrigation. In a lot of SWFL homes the sprinkler system tees off the potable line after the meter, so closing the house main also kills the sprinklers. Lawns and landscaping here don’t survive a summer of no water without rain, and HOAs tend to notice. You have a few options:

• Find out where your irrigation actually comes from. In much of Cape Coral, irrigation runs on the city’s separate reclaimed water system, so the house main can be shut without touching the sprinklers. Homes on a private irrigation well or a lake pump are in the same position.
• If irrigation does tee off your potable line, a plumber can add a separate shutoff valve on the house side of that tee. That lets you close water to the house while the irrigation backflow assembly and timer keep working.
• If neither of those is possible, at minimum close the individual fixture valves (toilets, sinks, washer, ice maker, water heater cold inlet) and leave the main on.

Watering days and hours in Lee and Collier fall under South Florida Water Management District rules, while Charlotte County is under the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Local ordinances can be stricter. Set the timer to match before you go so you aren’t watering on the wrong day all summer.

Closing up: fixture by fixture

Work through the house in this order. It takes about an hour in a typical three-bedroom home.

Water heater

An electric tank heater should be turned off at the breaker once the main is closed. There’s no reason to keep 40 or 50 gallons hot for months. Many gas water heaters have a vacation setting on the control knob that drops the burner to a low standby; use it rather than shutting the gas off entirely unless you know how to relight the pilot. Tankless units can generally be powered down. Don’t drain a tank heater unless there’s a specific reason, since refilling and restarting it creates more chances for a problem than an idle full tank does. If your heater is near the end of its life, our water heater page covers what to look at.

Ice maker and refrigerator line

Refrigerator supply lines are a common leak source, especially older plastic tubing and saddle valves. Close the valve feeding the fridge, turn the ice maker arm up or switch it off, and empty the bin. If you unplug the fridge while you’re gone, empty it and prop the doors open so it doesn’t grow mold.

Toilets and drain traps

Every drain has a trap that holds water to block sewer gas. In a hot, closed house with the AC pulling moisture out of the air, those traps slowly evaporate. Over a long absence a guest bath shower or a rarely used floor drain can dry out and let sewer odor into the house. Some owners pour a small amount of mineral oil or RV antifreeze into seldom-used drains to slow evaporation; a home watch visit that runs each fixture handles the same thing. For toilets, close the angle stop behind each one and flush once so the tank isn’t holding water against a tired flapper.

Washer, dishwasher and sinks

Close both washer valves. Rubber washer hoses that are more than a few years old should be swapped for braided ones anyway. Close the angle stops under each sink, including the one that feeds the dishwasher. If a stop won’t turn or weeps at the stem when you move it, note it and get it replaced before your next departure.

Wells, softeners and filtration

Homes on private wells, which are common in Lehigh Acres, Alva, Golden Gate Estates and other outlying areas, have an extra step. Turn the well pump off at its breaker when you close the house main. If a pipe fails with the pump on, the pump will keep running to replace the water and can run until it burns itself out. Our well pump page covers pressure tank symptoms worth fixing before you leave.

Water softeners should be put in bypass. Most have a bypass valve or a set of three valves at the head. With the softener bypassed and the house main closed, the unit won’t try to regenerate on its timer with no water. Also check the salt level. Salt bridging gets worse in humid garages over a summer, so break up any crust when you return. If you have a whole-house filter, a fresh cartridge on return is a good habit since a wet cartridge sitting stagnant for months isn’t something you want to drink through. Details on equipment are on our softener and filtration page.

The AC condensate line and humidity

This one isn’t strictly plumbing, but it’s the most common source of water damage we hear about in closed-up homes. Your air handler pulls water out of the air and sends it down a PVC condensate line, usually to the outside near the foundation. That line grows algae and slime in our climate and can clog. When it does, water backs into the drain pan and either trips a float switch that shuts off the AC or spills into a closet or attic ceiling.

• Before leaving, have the condensate line cleared. Many owners pour a cup of white vinegar into the cleanout tee at the air handler every few months.
• Confirm a float switch is installed in the pan or on the line. If it trips while you’re gone, the AC stops, which protects the ceiling but lets humidity climb. That’s another reason someone should check the house.
• Leave the AC running. Turning it off for the summer is how homes end up with mold on furniture and drywall.

For the thermostat, many owners settle somewhere in the high 70s to low 80s. The point isn’t temperature, it’s moisture. The EPA advises keeping indoor relative humidity below 60 percent, ideally between 30 and 50, to limit mold. A thermostat with a humidity readout, or a standalone dehumidistat, tells you whether your setting is doing the job. Leave interior doors and closet doors open so air moves through the whole house.

Smart leak detectors and automatic shutoff valves

Electronics won’t replace closing valves, but they’re a good backup and they let you hear about a problem from 1,200 miles away.

Spot sensors

Small battery-powered sensors sit on the floor and alarm when they get wet. Put them under the water heater, under each sink, behind toilets, next to the washer, under the fridge and in the air handler closet. Wi-Fi models send a phone alert. They’re cheap enough to scatter around the house.

Whole-house automatic shutoffs

These are motorized valves installed on the main line, usually where it enters the house. Some close when a paired sensor gets wet. Others monitor flow and close the valve if water runs longer than normal or if a periodic pressure test shows the pipes losing pressure with every fixture closed. Flow-based units can catch small leaks inside walls that a floor sensor never sees.

A few things to know before buying one:

• They need power and, for alerts, internet. Summer storms knock both out. Look for a battery backup and a valve that fails in a safe position.
• The valve has to go somewhere accessible on the main, and in slab homes that’s often an outdoor riser or a garage wall. Installation is a plumbing job.
• If your irrigation is on the potable line after the valve, a flow-based shutoff will see the sprinklers as a leak unless it’s set up with schedules or the irrigation is moved upstream.
• Some homeowner insurers offer credits for water shutoff devices. Ask your agent.

If you suspect a hidden leak already exists, have it found before relying on a device. Our leak detection service is the place to start.

Home watch services

A home watch service sends someone to walk through your house on a schedule while you’re away, usually every week or two. A good visit includes looking under sinks, checking ceilings below bathrooms and the air handler, reading the thermostat and humidity, flushing toilets and running each faucet briefly to refill traps, and checking for signs of pests or storm damage. After a storm they can report back with photos.

When you hire one, ask what’s on their checklist, whether they carry insurance, how they document visits, and what they do if they find water. Leave them clear instructions on where the main shutoff is and who to call. Give them our number if you’d like a plumber they can reach directly; we take calls Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, and urgent calls outside those hours by phone when we can.

Hurricane season overlaps your whole absence

Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30. If you leave after Easter and come back for Thanksgiving, your house sits through all of it. Ian in 2022 showed how far surge and wind damage can reach into Lee and Charlotte Counties, and plenty of seasonal owners didn’t see their homes for weeks.

On the plumbing side, the extra steps are about making the house easy to secure and easy to assess:

• Make sure your home watch provider or a neighbor knows where the main shutoff is and can close it if a storm is coming and you left irrigation running.
• Know whether your gas water heater or tankless unit sits where surge or flooding could reach it. Floodwater in a gas burner means it must be inspected before it’s relit.
• If your home has a sewage ejector or sump pump, understand it won’t work during a power outage.
• Photograph the water heater, softener, under-sink areas and outdoor plumbing before leaving. Insurance claims go faster with before pictures.

Our hurricane plumbing checklist goes deeper on prep and what to check after a storm, including boil water notices and septic concerns.

Condo and HOA rules

In a condo, your leak isn’t just your problem. Water from an upstairs unit can ruin two or three units below it before anyone notices. That’s why many Florida condo associations write rules for owners who are away. Common ones include requiring the unit’s water shutoff to be closed during any absence longer than a set number of days, requiring the water heater breaker to be off, requiring periodic inspection by a designated person, and sometimes requiring water heater replacement by a certain age.

Read your declaration and rules before you leave, and give the management office a key and a contact. Many condo units have their shutoff in a hallway closet, behind an access panel, or in a utility room shared with other units, so confirm which valve is yours. We cover unit valves, stack issues and who pays for what in our condo plumbing guide.

Returning: opening the house back up

Reopening is where people get in a hurry and pop a fitting. Go slow.

• Walk the house first with the water still off. Look at ceilings, baseboards, the water heater pan and the AC pan. Smell for sewer gas or mustiness.
• Open the main valve slowly, a quarter turn at a time. Throwing it fully open slams pressure into lines that have been sitting empty or stagnant, which can cause water hammer and shake loose sediment.
• Listen at the meter. If the dial keeps spinning with every fixture closed, something is leaking. Close the main and find it before going further.
• Open each fixture stop one at a time. Run every faucet, hot and cold, and every shower until the water clears. Expect some air sputtering and some discoloration at first.
• Flush every toilet a couple of times. Check that each one refills and stops. Flappers sometimes warp after months dry.
• Pour water into floor drains and any drain you treated, so the traps are full again.
• Put the softener back in service and set the clock. Replace the filter cartridge if you have one.
• Turn the well pump breaker back on, if you have one, and watch the pressure gauge come up and the pump shut off.

Bringing the water heater back

For an electric tank, make sure the tank is completely full before you flip the breaker. Open a hot water faucet and wait until it runs steady with no air. Powering an empty or half-full tank can burn out the upper element in seconds. For gas, switch the control from vacation back to its normal setting, or relight the pilot following the instructions on the heater’s label. If you smell gas, leave and call the gas utility. Give a tank heater an hour or two to recover before deciding it isn’t working.

Clean faucet aerators a day or two later. The sediment that comes loose on startup usually collects there and shows up as low flow at one sink.

Leaving and returning checklist

Print this or keep it on your phone. Adjust for what your house has.

Getting it checked before you go

Spring is a good time for a once-over, before the house sits for six months. We look at the water heater, supply lines, angle stops, toilet internals and the main valve itself, and we can flag anything likely to fail while you’re away. Old gate valves that won’t fully close are worth replacing with ball valves so the shutoff you depend on actually works.

Our annual plumbing maintenance plan is a yearly check-up of the whole plumbing system, and seasonal owners often schedule it around their departure. Call (239) 518-4198 for details or send a request through our contact page.