Holiday travel means your home sits empty, sometimes for a week or more, right around the time North Texas is most likely to see its first hard freeze of the season. That combination, an unoccupied home and increased freeze risk, creates one of the highest-stakes windows for water damage all year. A frozen pipe that bursts while you’re away can run undetected for days, turning a preventable problem into significant damage by the time you return.
This guide focuses specifically on protecting an empty home during holiday travel, covering the preparation steps that make the biggest difference.
Why an Empty Home Faces Higher Water Damage Risk
The core issue with holiday travel isn’t just the freeze risk itself, it’s the lack of anyone present to notice a problem as it develops. A pipe that freezes and cracks while you’re home gets discovered relatively quickly, often within hours. The same event in an empty house might not be discovered until you return a week later, by which point water has had far more time to spread into flooring, walls, and adjoining rooms. This detection delay is what transforms a manageable repair into a major restoration project.
Maintain Adequate Indoor Heating While Away
One of the most common mistakes homeowners make before traveling is turning their heating system off entirely or setting it dramatically lower to save on energy costs.
- Set your thermostat to no lower than around 55 degrees Fahrenheit while away during winter months, rather than turning the system off completely
- Turning heat off entirely removes the buffer that protects pipes in garages, attics, and exterior walls from freezing during an unexpected cold snap
- The modest energy savings from turning heat off completely rarely offset the potential cost of a frozen pipe and resulting water damage
- If your thermostat supports remote monitoring, checking indoor temperature periodically during your trip, especially if weather forecasts show an approaching freeze, adds an extra layer of awareness
Shut Off and Drain Vulnerable Water Sources
Addressing specific vulnerable points before leaving reduces the number of ways water damage can occur while you’re gone.
- Disconnect and drain garden hoses, and shut off any interior valve controlling exterior spigots, since these are common freeze points even during a brief cold snap
- For extended trips during particularly cold stretches, some homeowners choose to shut off their main water supply entirely and drain the system, eliminating freeze risk at the cost of having no running water during your absence
- If you have a water softener or other system with a bypass valve, understand how it interacts with your main shutoff before deciding whether to use it
Ask Someone to Check on Your Home
A trusted neighbor, family member, or professional house-sitting service checking your home periodically during your trip provides the detection that an empty house otherwise lacks.
- Even a quick walk-through every few days can catch a developing issue, like a dripping pipe or unusual dampness, before it becomes severe
- Give whoever checks your home clear instructions on what to look for, including checking under sinks, near the water heater, and in any area with a history of past leaks
- Make sure they know where your main water shutoff valve is located, in case they discover active water damage and need to limit it before you can return
- If a smart home security system with water leak sensors is already installed, make sure notifications are set up to reach you or your designated contact while you’re traveling
Consider Smart Water Shutoff and Leak Detection Devices
For homeowners who travel frequently or for extended periods, smart home technology designed specifically for this scenario can add meaningful protection.
- Smart water sensors placed near common leak points, such as under sinks, near the water heater, or in a laundry room, send alerts to your phone if moisture is detected
- Automatic shutoff valves can be programmed to cut water supply entirely if a leak is detected, limiting damage even if you’re unable to respond immediately
- These devices represent an upfront cost but can prevent the kind of extensive damage that occurs when a leak goes undetected for an entire holiday trip
- Even without automatic shutoff capability, leak detection alone, paired with a neighbor who can respond to an alert, significantly reduces how long water has to spread before someone intervenes
Address Known Vulnerabilities Before You Leave
If you already know your home has a specific weak point, whether that’s a pipe that’s frozen before, an aging water heater, or a history of a particular leak, holiday travel prep is the time to address it rather than hoping it holds up during your absence. A water heater showing signs of age is worth having inspected before an extended trip, since a failure while you’re away can cause significantly more damage than the same failure discovered quickly at home.
A Real Example of Undetected Damage During Travel
A family in Southlake left for a ten-day holiday trip after a mild start to winter, without taking any particular freeze precautions since their home had never experienced pipe issues before. A sudden hard freeze arrived three days into their trip, and a supply line in an exterior-facing wall behind their laundry room froze and cracked, with the leak beginning once temperatures rose again a couple of days later.
Because no one was home and no neighbor had been asked to check in, the leak ran undetected for approximately five days before the family returned and discovered water damage extending from the laundry room into an adjoining hallway and partially into a bedroom closet. What likely began as a contained leak had, over those five days, saturated flooring across a significant area and begun affecting drywall in multiple rooms.
Restoration required removing flooring and drywall across three rooms, a considerably larger project than it would have been had the leak been caught within hours rather than days. The family’s main takeaway afterward was that their home’s clean track record with pipe issues hadn’t accounted for the specific risk of nobody being present to catch a problem quickly, which was the actual factor that allowed the damage to become so extensive.
Why Planning for Detection Matters as Much as Prevention
The Southlake example illustrates something important: prevention alone doesn’t fully address holiday travel risk, because even well-prepared homes can experience an unexpected failure. Planning for detection, whether through a neighbor’s visit, smart sensors, or both, closes the gap that prevention alone leaves open, since the biggest cost driver in holiday water damage is usually how long a problem goes unnoticed, not just whether it occurs.
Platinum Service Group is a family-owned business with more than 20 years of experience serving Dallas-Fort Worth and the surrounding North Texas area. Our team holds IICRC, ACAC, and NADCA certifications and is available 24/7, including during the holidays, if you return home to find water damage, handling the full restoration process so you’re not navigating it alone during an already disruptive time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What temperature should I set my thermostat to while traveling in winter?
Around 55 degrees Fahrenheit is a commonly recommended minimum, low enough to save on heating costs while still providing a meaningful buffer against pipes freezing in less insulated areas of the home.
Is it better to shut off my main water supply entirely before an extended trip?
For very long trips during peak freeze risk periods, some homeowners choose this option, eliminating freeze risk at the pipes entirely, though it does mean returning home without immediate running water until the supply is turned back on.
How often should someone check on my home while I’m away for the holidays?
Every two to three days is a reasonable baseline for a meaningful check, allowing a developing issue to be caught relatively early rather than discovered only after a week or more.
Are smart water leak sensors worth the investment for occasional travelers?
Even infrequent travelers can benefit, since a single undetected leak during one trip can cause damage costing significantly more than the sensors themselves, making the investment worthwhile for many homeowners regardless of travel frequency.
What should I tell a neighbor to check for if they’re watching my home?
Ask them to check under sinks, near the water heater, in any areas with a history of past issues, and to simply notice any unusual dampness, smell, or sound that might indicate an active leak.
Holiday travel creates a specific window of vulnerability for water damage, not just from freeze risk itself, but from the lack of anyone present to catch a problem quickly. Combining solid prevention steps with a plan for detection, whether that’s a neighbor’s visit or smart home technology, closes the gap that leaves so many holiday travel water damage cases more extensive than they needed to be.