Seasonal owners
Six Things a Seasonal House Should Have
Half this market is empty through the worst months of the year, and the damage is preventable.
The property, its age, and what you are contemplating. We will tell you whether it is a renovation or a rebuild before anybody draws anything.
The six
All of them are built or installed, rather than left to a caretaker.
- Humidity control that runs while the house is empty, not switched off.
- Remote monitoring, so a failure is known rather than discovered in November.
- Leak detection with automatic water shut-off.
- A written closing-up procedure the house is designed to support.
- Materials and finishes that tolerate months of unoccupied conditions.
- Somebody local who actually goes in and looks.
The two that prevent the most damage
Humidity control left running, and automatic water shut-off with leak detection.
Turning the air conditioning off saves running cost and produces mould in cabinetry and joinery. A supply failure in an empty house runs for weeks. Both are among the most destructive and most preventable things that happen to seasonal homes.
Why it is a design question
A house that supports being closed up — zoned humidity control, monitored, with shut-off designed in — survives the summer. One that relies on somebody remembering a checklist does not, reliably.
It costs comparatively little during construction and it is awkward and partial to add afterwards.
FAQ
Common questions
- Can we turn the air conditioning off?
- It produces mould over a Florida summer. Leave humidity control running.
- What causes the worst damage?
- A supply water failure running for weeks in an empty house.
- Is monitoring worth it?
- Knowing about a failure beats discovering it in November.
- Is this a design question?
- Largely. It is cheap during construction and awkward to add later.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.