Essential Home Prep for Homeowners Preparing to Travel

A basic mistake many homeowners make when they travel is forgetting to do some essential home prep to protect their home. This could be finding housesitters to occupy your property and ward off opportunists, it could be to prepare your home for your extended absence by checking for electrical faults and water drainage issues. Read on to learn our top tips for home prep.

Essential Home Prep Steps Every Homeowner Should Take Before Traveling

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Dreaming of traveling without stressing over your home?

Every year thousands of homeowners return from vacation to discover burst pipes, electrical fires, and worse of all… a break-in. FBI crime data reports over 779,000 burglaries occurred in 2024 alone.

However..

Most home damage and burglaries are preventable with the right preparation before leaving on vacation. Having a home prep checklist can help secure your property from damages that could cost you thousands, and keep you stress-free while you’re away.

Why Preparing Your Home Before Travel Is Important

Let’s start with the basics…

An occupied home is a safe home. Burglars and criminals look for homes that appear to be vacant. Hence the need to find housesitters as an essential home prep before you travel away from home. In fact, June is the number one month for burglary due to seasonal travel.

However, break-ins aren’t the only risk you face when traveling.

So What Are the Essential Home Prep Steps You Need to Make

Electrical fires, water damage, mold, pests. Leaving for vacation is like throwing open the door for disaster. The second someone isn’t there to mitigate the problem things can quickly spiral out of control.

Bottom line? Taking precautions before travel can ensure your home stays safe while you’re gone.

Electrical Safety Checklist Before Traveling

Believe it or not, this is one of the most neglected home preparation steps…

Your home can catch fire whether you’re home or not! Old or faulty wiring, overloaded circuits, and poor electrical work can spark a fire in the blink of an eye. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, roughly 51,000 home electrical fires occur every year in the US.

Having a professional home electrical inspection is always recommended for homeowners. Hiring a qualified Airdrie electrician to perform a circuit breaker installation is the best way to ensure your home can properly handle your electrical load. An electrician will make sure your circuit breakers trip correctly, replace old or faulty panels, and leave your home up to code.

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Electrical Safety Steps To Take Before Traveling:

Unplug unnecessary appliances like toaster ovens, coffee machines, and phone chargers. Appliances suck energy even when they’re turned off! This is called phantom power and can pose a serious fire risk.

Inspect your circuit breaker panel for any signs of damage. Do any breakers seem tripped? Are there any scorch marks on your panel? Does it smell like something is burning? These are all signs you need to contact an electrician immediately.

Test your smoke detectors and CO alarms to ensure they have fresh batteries and are working properly.

Set a few light timers so your house appears occupied at night.

Electrical fires can be prevented by ensuring your circuit breaker is professionally installed and maintained. Don’t skip this step!

run essential home prep on your electricity before you leave — Older homes are particularly vulnerable to issues, run some essential home prep checks on your electricity
Photo credit – Ajin K S

How To Prepare Your Home For Vacation From Water Damage

Water damage.

It’s something most homeowners don’t think about but can cause serious headaches (literally).

Water damage is one of the costliest damages a homeowner can encounter. Broken pipes can unleash thousands of gallons of water inside your home in a matter of hours. And you may not know until it’s too late.

Unless you do these things.

Three simple steps you should always take to prevent water damage before going on vacation:

Turn off the main water valve. Stopping the water at the source is the most effective way to prevent leaks and flooding while you’re away.

Drain your pipes. If you’ll be traveling in cold temperatures, drain your pipes to prevent them from freezing and bursting.

Take a sneak peek around sinks and toilets for any leaks. Small drips can become larger leaks while you’re away, so fix them before it’s too late.

Put your water heater on “vacation mode”. Not only will this save you money, but it can prevent your water heater from springing a leak while you’re away.

This literally takes five minutes. Five minutes that could save you from coming home to a flooded house.

Essential Home Prep Security Tips That Actually Work

essential home prep for when you travel — One of the key recommendations of our essential home prep is to ensure your home looks occupied
Photo credit – Lina Kivaka

OK, so you’ve minimized your risk for electrical fires and water damage. But what about break-ins and burglaries?

Here’s the secret to successful essential home prep…

Layer your security.

One single thing won’t 100% protect your home from burglars, but the right combination will make your home a hard target. Burglars look for the path of least resistance. If they don’t perceive your home as an easy target, they’ll move on to the next. Homes without a security system are 300% more likely to be robbed. That should speak for itself.

But outside of installing a home security system, what else can you do?

Home Security Tips:

Ask a neighbor to keep an eye on your place. Have them park in your driveway, pick up your mail, and take the bins out for you.

Keep travel plans off of social media. Don’t make it easy for a burglar to know you’re away from home.

Use smart plugs and light timers. Programmable plug-ins and lights can simulate someone being awake in different rooms at night.

Lock all doors and windows. Double check deadbolts, pet doors, sliding glass doors, and garage entries.

Install or check security cameras. Doesn’t have to be expensive. Even a doorbell camera can scare off prowlers.

Make your home appear occupied whenever possible. If your lawn’s overgrown, your mail’s piled up, and your house is dark at night, you’re inviting burglars to target your home.

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The Travel-Ready Home Checklist

You’re almost ready to leave for vacation. Don’t forget this final essential home preparation checklist:

Inside the home:

Unplug unnecessary electronics/appliances
Set your thermostat to an eco-friendly temperature
Clear out your fridge of perishables
Take out all trash/recycling
Close and lock all windows/doors

Outside the home:

Mow lawn and tidy yard
Put away any outdoor furniture/tools
Set up outdoor lighting timers
Store/remove spare keys

Essential Home Prep: Wrap Up

Preparing your home for vacation doesn’t have to be stressful. Traveling can be stressful enough!

By taking the steps listed above, you can ensure your home is protected from electrical fires, water damage, and burglaries. Every homeowner should prepare their home in these ways before leaving on vacation.

No single tip is guaranteed, but together they cover all your bases. Here’s a quick recap of our recommended steps for essential home prep before you travel:

Have a professional inspect your electrical system and circuit breakers
Shut off your home’s main water supply
Keep your home secure with layered protection
Follow the complete travel-ready checklist before leaving

It’s worth the extra time and money to prepare your home before traveling. You’ll be glad you did when you’re relaxing on the beach instead of stressing about your home.