With the Christmas and New Year holidays right around the corner, and many second
homeowners ready to spend the holidays in their mountain getaways, don’t forget to winterize. You
ask, what are you talking? It is not uncommon in the Big Bear Valley for temperatures to drop well
below freezing in the winter months. If you don’t take some precautions before leaving your cabin
unattended over night, you are taking a risk of frozen and compromised water lines.
The last thing you want to do is to unlock the front door of the cabin and find the carpets are soaking wet from broken
pipes.
In order to prevent this
type of a problem, take a few minutes and winterize your cabin whenever you plan to leave the cabin unattended, even if for
only one night. I say that because many times the plan is to be back in Big Bear the next day but while
you are down the hill, something comes up and you don’t make it back up for an extended period of time.
Winterizing is a relatively simple process
and only takes a few minutes to do. When you are ready to leave the cabin, find the stop and waste valve.
This is water shut off valve that is normally buried a few feet underground and is visible by a rod that is sticking
out. You will normally see this valve somewhere between the house and the water meter. Turn the rod
90 degrees and this will shut off the water flow to the house and also drain the cold water lines. You
want to purchase some marine anti freeze and once the water is off, go back through the house and pour about half a cup of
anti freeze in all of the sinks. Flush the toilets and get as much water out as you can and then pour a
little anti freeze in the toilets as well.
It’s that simple. You have now winterized your Big Bear property and you
can go down the hill and not have to worry about sustaining any damage from the cold winter nights that we get in Big Bear.
If you have any questions about winterizing your
home, you can always give me a call or send me an email. I am always happy to help if needed.
You can call me at 909 436 8043 or you can email me at tony@tonycard.com