DIY guideCottage

Drain the water system before closing the place up

Shut off the water and the pump, open every tap, drain the water heater, the pressure tank and the low points, and pour antifreeze into every trap.

9 steps

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Switch off the water pump and the water heater at their breakers. A heater with a dial: turn it to Off.
Smell gas? Leave, and call your fuel supplier from outside.
Close the main valve where the water comes in from the lake line or the well.
Open every tap, hot and cold, from the top of the house down, the shower and the outside taps too.
Flush each toilet, then sponge out what's left in the tank and the bowl.
Run a hose from its drain valve to a floor drain or outside, and open it. A hot tap left open lets the air in.
Let the water cool first: it can scald.
Open the pressure tank's drain and every low-point drain valve, and leave them open.
Pour pink plumbing antifreeze into each sink, tub and floor drain, and into the toilet bowls and tanks.
Only the non-toxic pink kind made for plumbing. Never car antifreeze.
Leave every tap and drain open, and hang a note on the main valve so nobody turns it on by mistake.
A pipe that won't drain, a valve that won't turn, or pipes you can't reach under the floor: ask Handyman for a plumber to blow the lines out.

Handyman says: Won't drain? I'll find a plumber.

Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.