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Tips for when leaving your holiday home for period of time

Tips for when leaving your holiday home for period of time

Postby blackvelvet » Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:45 pm

For all those with holiday homes can I ask for hints and tips on what sort of things you do
Foe example do you leave your beds made
up? Or do you make them up when you get there?
Anything else you can think of would help thanks
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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Jan » Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:42 pm

blackvelvet wrote:For all those with holiday homes can I ask for hints and tips on what sort of things you do
Foe example do you leave your beds made
up? Or do you make them up when you get there?
Anything else you can think of would help thanks


:text-goodpost:

This is a good post and the answers could be very helpful to any new holiday home owners.

I have a few tips :
When leaving a property the temperature variations can cause dampness and a mouldy smell - Always leave all the room & wardrobe doors open to allow air to circulate around the house. Also pull beds / sofas slightly away from walls, so they are not touching the wall, for the same reason.

We leave the beds made up but put a bed cover right across the bed so the sheets/pillows do not get mould on. We have taken the bedding off at times ( still putting the cover over the mattress though!) but it's nice not to have to make beds on arrival.

Don't be tempted to keep any linen in plastic bags ( like the zipped bags that blankets come in) though...we did once and they sweat badly and cause a mouldy smell. Those large plastic storage boxes with lids are good for keeping linen in and if short on space they can be slid under the beds.

We put ant powder or Oro spray along door threshholds and around the edges of the kitchen when leaving the house - it doesn't matter how bleach clean the floors are the insects may still find a way in!

When we first moved in, I bought some insect/mosquito netting on line and cut it to size and stuck it with sticky Velcro over every air vent in the house (you can get this in the Ferreteria hardware stores in Quesada too) - There is generally a vent in each bathroom and the kitchen. We haven't had much problem with insects so hopefully the netting has helped. We also have mosquito netting on the windows which helps too.

We always empty the fridge and freezer, clean it and leave the doors open (important to keep the fridge/freezer fresh!). Some people leave theirs on but it depends how long you are gone for and we prefer not to chance it, in case of power cuts.

Try to put indoors all sun-chairs and tables as they really do weather & bleach badly in the Spanish heat.

I might think of some other things soon and hopefully you will get more tips from others on here.

If you haven't already seen it. We have some moving in security tips on this link that may be helpful:
http://www.talkquesada.com/safety-and-security-information-hints-and-tips-f78/moving-into-your-new-property-security-tips-t1399.html


Jan
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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby blackvelvet » Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:00 pm

Oh Jan that's brilliant thank you. Was hoping we could leave beds made up.
I have already packed some towels in a zipped bag so when I go back
Next week I will take them out.
Good tip about the mosquito netting on the air vents.
Oh and the garden furniture as we have a Sun room no blinds but has table chairs with cushions so will bring in.
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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Sandra » Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:42 am

I always switch the electricity off - as I have outside points and don't want to supply free electricity.

It is a good point of Jan's to switch off the freezer etc - as some of my friends have come back to horrible (and very smelly!) messes when they have returned to their holiday home and have left the freezer on!

A little time ago I bought electric blankets. If the beds have not been slept in for some time I switch them on for a few hours to air the beds (especially handy if the weather outside isn't great!)

I take all the porch furniture in at the end of my stay - I don't have high walls around my house - and furniture has been known to "walk"!
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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby blackvelvet » Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:50 am

Ah Sandra good idea about electric blanket to air bed thanks
Yes will be switching off freezer and electric.
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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Jan » Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:26 am

blackvelvet wrote:Ah Sandra good idea about electric blanket to air bed thanks
Yes will be switching off freezer and electric.



A few more things I just thought of:

It may be obvious but it's a good idea to switch off the water, either from the mains or at least from the inside stop cock(s). I bought a very large washing up bowl and place it under our water boiler in case of leaks (which can happen) and the boiler will still be full of water even when the stop cock is off.

One thing we have always done (especially in the winter months) is put some plastic bowls or containers(such as ice cream 1 litre containers) half full of salt, in corners of rooms and inside wardrobes (leaving the doors open too). They act as de-humidifiers and when we get back they are usually full of water or the salt is damp or hard where it has been wet and then dried - Something we learnt from owning a family holiday static caravan once. :lol:

Hope this helps too.

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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Mary M » Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:44 pm

I always had a supply of old cotten sheets that I used to use for covering over the sofa's/dining table etc plus always put one right over the top of all beds (I left them made up) as you know how dusty soanush houses are and easy when you arrive to just take off and fold up.

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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Jan » Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:42 pm

Mary M wrote:I always had a supply of old cotten sheets that I used to use for covering over the sofa's/dining table etc plus always put one right over the top of all beds (I left them made up) as you know how dusty soanush houses are and easy when you arrive to just take off and fold up.

Mary



:text-goodpost:

Good idea as those bed covers do get dusty & musty and washing old sheets is much easier than washing the padded bed covers too often.

:text-thankyouyellow:

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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Joed » Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:41 pm

we have a check list,one time we left telly plug in and there was a surge broke telly but washer was ok.
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Re: when leaving holiday home for period of time

Postby Sandra » Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:06 pm

I wish that I could switch off the water - but unfortunately I have a garden full of plants - and a watering system!! Someone told me that I could switch the water, to the main house, off by shutting off the stopcock in the downstairs bathroom, - and if I left the main stopcock to the house on (outside) then there was a bypass system to my watering system. Unfortunately, after doing this for a few times I realised that this was not the case!!
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