Closing a Sandbanks holiday home for winter: the checklist we use

Every autumn we walk each house we look after — from Sandbanks to Lilliput and Branksome Park — and run the same quiet checklist. It is dull work, which is exactly why it matters: the February phone call about a burst pipe or a tripped boiler is almost always a ten-minute job that got missed in November.

Water and heating first

Stopcocks exercised so they will actually turn when needed. Heating set to a low, steady schedule for the empty weeks rather than switched off — an unheated coastal house finds damp quickly. Outside taps isolated and drained before the first hard frost.

Outside the house

Gutters and gulleys cleared once the leaves finish falling, garden furniture stored or strapped, and anything the southerly gales can lift moved out of harm’s way. Salt air is hard on hinges, locks and light fittings — a little silicone spray in October saves seized metal in March.

Boats and cars

Batteries drift flat over winter. Cars get run up weekly and boats checked fortnightly — shore power, bilges, lines and covers — so nothing needs rescuing in spring.

Then, a weekly eye

The checklist gets the house ready; the weekly home check keeps it that way. If you would rather not think about any of this until the ferry queue in May, that is exactly what our home check and house sitting services are for — call Mark on 07944 884174.