Leaving for Vacation? Don't Forget These Five Home Checks

After all the planning, packing, and counting down the days, the last thing anyone wants to think about before vacation is home maintenance. But taking a few minutes to prepare your house before you leave can help prevent unpleasant surprises when you return.

Over the years, we've seen homeowners come back from otherwise wonderful vacations to flooded basements, water damage, fallen tree limbs, and overflowing mailboxes advertising to everyone that no one was home. Fortunately, most of these problems can be avoided with a simple pre-vacation checklist.

Before you lock the door and head off to the beach, the mountains, or wherever your summer adventures take you, here are five things worth checking.

1. Turn Off Your Washing Machine Water Supply

This is one of the simplest steps you can take to prevent a potentially expensive disaster. Washing machine supply hoses are under constant pressure. Even newer hoses can fail unexpectedly, and when they do, they can release a surprising amount of water in a very short period of time.

Before leaving for an extended trip, shut off the hot and cold water valves behind the washing machine. It takes less than a minute and could save you from returning to damaged floors, drywall, and belongings. If your supply hoses are more than a few years old, consider upgrading to braided stainless steel versions for additional peace of mind.

2. Pause Deliveries and Ask a Neighbor to Keep an Eye Out

Nothing announces an empty house quite like a pile of newspapers, packages, and mail stacked on the front porch. If you'll be gone for several days, consider placing a temporary hold on your mail and pausing any regular deliveries. If that's not possible, ask a trusted neighbor, friend, or family member to collect packages and keep an eye on things while you're away. It's also helpful to leave emergency contact information with someone nearby in case an issue arises while you're gone.

3. Test Your Sump Pump

Summer thunderstorms can arrive quickly and dump a surprising amount of rain in a short period of time. If your home has a sump pump, take a few minutes to make sure it's working properly before you leave. One simple test is to slowly pour a bucket of water into the sump pit. The float should rise, the pump should activate, and the water should be discharged outside. If the pump doesn't respond, makes unusual noises, or struggles to remove water, it's worth addressing before your trip.

4. Put Your Lights on a Schedule

A dark house every night for a week can be an obvious sign that no one is home. Using timers or smart plugs to turn lights on and off during the evening can help create the appearance that the house is occupied. Focus on a few commonly used spaces such as a living room, kitchen, or front-facing room. If you have smart home technology, you can even vary the schedule remotely to make it look more natural.

5. Take a Walk Around the Yard

Before leaving, spend ten minutes walking the perimeter of your property. Look for dead tree limbs hanging over the house, driveway, vehicles, or power lines. Summer storms often bring strong winds, and weak branches can come down unexpectedly. While you're outside, secure patio umbrellas, outdoor furniture, and anything else that could become airborne during a storm. A quick inspection today may prevent damage while you're hundreds of miles away.

One More Thing: Don't Rush Out the Door

The hours before a vacation can feel hectic. There are bags to load, kids to wrangle, directions to double-check, and inevitably someone can't find their sunglasses. But before you pull out of the driveway, give yourself an extra fifteen minutes for a final walkthrough. Check windows, lock doors, verify appliances are off, and make sure these five items are covered.

A little preparation can provide a lot of peace of mind, allowing you to focus on what vacations are supposed to be about: relaxing, making memories, and enjoying time away.

Bob O'Donnell is the owner of O'Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions for Bob to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro.” All questions may be considered for publication. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O'Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.

A Power Washing Problem

This time of year, you can spot it all over town. The first warm weekend hits, someone drags out a power washer, and suddenly every surface around the house is getting blasted.

On the surface, it feels productive. The house looks cleaner and the grime disappears. You stand back and think, great, my spring cleaning is done. The problem is, power washing is one of the easiest ways to accidentally damage your home if you don’t know what you’re doing.

I see it every spring. The biggest misconception is that more pressure equals a better clean. But it really means you’re forcing water into places it shouldn’t go or stripping away materials that are supposed to protect your home.

Take siding, for example. Vinyl siding is designed to shed water, not withstand high-pressure spray at close range. Aim a pressure washer upward or get too close, and you can drive water behind the panels. That moisture gets trapped and over time it can lead to mold, mildew, and even rot in the structure underneath.

Wood is even less forgiving. We’ve seen plenty of decks and trim that looked fine before a weekend cleaning and came out rough, splintered, and permanently damaged. Once you tear up the surface fibers of wood, you can’t undo it. You’re sanding, repairing, or replacing it entirely.

Then there are windows. High-pressure water can break seals, force moisture into frames, and shorten the lifespan of the window itself. Again, it might not show up immediately, but it’s the kind of damage that creeps in over time.

And don’t forget about paint. A pressure washer in the wrong hands can strip paint right off siding and trim. Sometimes people think they’re “prepping” a surface and end up creating a much bigger project than they planned for.

So what’s the right way to do it?

First, understand that most homes don’t need high pressure at all. What they need is the right cleaning solution and a controlled rinse. A soft wash with low pressure, combined with a cleaner that breaks down dirt, algae, and mildew is usually far more effective and a lot safer. One of my favorite products is Wet It and Forget it which doesn’t require any pressure washing at all and is great at removing common outdoor stains and grime.

Second, distance matters. Standing too close is where most of the damage happens. If you’re using a pressure washer, keep your distance and let the water do the work gradually instead of trying to blast everything off in one pass.

Third, know what you’re cleaning. Concrete can handle pressure. Your siding, trim, windows, and deck? Not in the same way. Treating everything the same is where people get into trouble.

Lastly, timing matters. Early spring is a great time to clean up your home’s exterior but it’s also when materials are still coming off a long winter. They’re not always in their strongest condition, which makes aggressive cleaning even riskier.

The goal here isn’t to scare you off from cleaning your house. It’s to do it in a way that actually helps instead of quietly creating problems you won’t notice until later. If you’re going to power wash this spring, ease up on the trigger. Your house will thank you for it.

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions for Bob to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro.” All questions may be considered for publication. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O’Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.

Spring Moisture and Mold Season

Every spring, Connecticut homes go through a quiet transition, and it is not just the obvious one happening outside. While we are noticing greener grass and warmer days, our homes are dealing with something else entirely: moisture buildup.

When that moisture finds its way into your home, even in small amounts, it can create the perfect conditions for mold to take hold. Here is the problem: mold does not need a flood or a major leak. It simply needs a little dampness and a place to sit undisturbed. That could be inside a wall, beneath a floor, or up in an attic with poor airflow. Once it starts, it spreads quietly.

A lot of homeowners assume mold is easy to spot. Sometimes it is, but more often, it remains hidden. It might show up as a faint stain overhead, a patch of peeling paint, or a room that always smells a little off, no matter how much you clean it.

In my line of work, we see it all the time. We frequently open up a wall during a project and find mold that has clearly been there for years, completely unnoticed. It is much more common than people think, especially in older homes or spaces that lack proper ventilation.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not just about the health of your home. Mold affects indoor air quality, which means it can impact how you feel day to day, especially if you are already dealing with allergies or respiratory issues.

So, what actually helps? In most cases, it comes down to managing moisture before it becomes a major problem.

A few things worth paying attention to this time of year include:

• Check your grading: Ensure water always moves away from your house by verifying that your yard is graded properly.

• Clear your gutters: Keep gutters and downspouts free of debris, and make sure they extend far enough from the foundation.

• Fix the roof: Address small roof issues early and thoroughly, as they rarely stay small.

• Check ventilation: Verify that bathroom fans vent outside rather than into the attic, where moisture easily gets trapped.

• Inspect for leaks: Take a closer look at any new signs of water on your ceilings or walls.

• Dry it out: Dry or remove wet materials quickly, particularly carpets.

• Use a dehumidifier: Run a dehumidifier in your basement, as these spaces tend to hold moisture longer during the spring.

• Monitor appliances: Place simple trays under your appliances to catch slow leaks and identify issues early.

One of the biggest mistakes we see is treating mold like a surface problem. If it keeps coming back after cleaning or painting, it means the source has not been addressed. Until the underlying moisture is fixed, the mold will keep returning.

That is when it is worth digging deeper, sometimes literally, and getting a professional involved. They can help figure out where the moisture is coming from and how to stop it permanently.

Spring is the time when a lot of homeowners shift into "fix-it" mode, which is a great thing. If you can stay ahead of moisture now, you will avoid much bigger headaches later in terms of both repairs and air quality.

Ultimately, when it comes to mold, it is rarely about one big event. It is the small, consistent moisture issues that do the most damage over time.

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro.” Questions may be considered for publication. To learn more, call (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.