Frozen pipes, dead furnaces and tenants who don't know where the shutoff is are all predictable. Here's how to get ahead of them.
Most expensive winter calls come from the same few places: a pipe that froze overnight, a furnace that quit on the coldest day of the year, or a tenant who didn't know where the water shutoff was. None of those are surprises. They're predictable, and nearly all of them are cheaper to prevent in October than to fix in January.
This is a practical winterizing checklist for self-managing landlords, plus a short note you can send tenants so they're part of the plan. It's written for colder climates, so skip what doesn't apply to your area. (For what counts as a true emergency once the weather turns, see Is This a Maintenance Emergency?.)
Schedule the furnace or boiler tune-up before the rush, and replace the filter. Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Check weatherstripping on exterior doors and caulk around windows. Clear gutters and downspouts, and look at the roof for anything loose.
Disconnect outdoor hoses and shut off and drain exterior spigots where you can. Insulate exposed pipes in crawl spaces, garages and basements. Confirm you and the tenant both know where the main water shutoff is, and that it actually turns.
Tell tenants what to do in cold weather and who to contact (a template is below). A tenant who knows to keep the heat on and report a drip early is your best defense.
Watch the forecast. Remind tenants to keep the heat on, open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls, and report any loss of heat or water pressure right away.
Frozen pipes sometimes crack without leaking until they thaw. Ask tenants to report any new stains, drips or sounds, and check the places where pipes run through unheated areas.
An empty rental is the riskiest one in winter, because no one is there to notice a problem. Keep the heat on at a safe minimum (many contractors suggest nothing lower than about 55°F), and have someone check the unit regularly. If you'd rather shut off and drain the water entirely, have a plumber do it properly.
Most tenants have never been told how a frozen pipe happens, and many don't know where the shutoff is. A short, friendly note in early fall prevents a lot of calls. Adapt the wording to your property.
Frozen pipes are urgent, but the first few minutes are simple. Tell the tenant to shut off the main water supply if a pipe has burst or is leaking, open the affected faucet, and never use an open flame to thaw a pipe. Call a plumber. If there's standing water near anything electrical, they should stay clear and call you. Your own plan for who responds, and how fast, is the difference between a thawed pipe and a flooded unit. Is This a Maintenance Emergency? walks through how to sort these quickly, and What a Good Maintenance Action Plan Looks Like shows how to write the response down so it doesn't depend on your memory at 2 a.m.
Winter is when the maintenance side of self-managing gets hard to do alone. When a tenant reports a problem, Guardian's AI action plan includes weather-aware context, so a no-heat request on a freezing night isn't treated like a mild afternoon, along with an urgency read, suggested next steps, recommended vendors from your own list and a pre-drafted message to the tenant. You review and approve it. If you're traveling over the holidays, Away Mode (available on Starter and above) means Guardian's team coordinates incoming requests for you, billed per request only when we step in, with a full record when you're back. See How to Go on Vacation When You Self-Manage a Rental Property for how to set that up.
Early fall, before the first hard freeze. Schedule the furnace service, insulate exposed pipes, disconnect and drain outdoor spigots, test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and seal drafts. In the coldest climates, aim to finish by early to mid-October.
Many contractors suggest keeping the heat at no lower than about 55°F, even when a unit is empty or the tenants are away. Telling tenants to keep the heat on and open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls during cold snaps helps further.
Shut off the main water supply if there's a leak, never use an open flame to thaw a pipe, keep clear of any standing water near electrical items, and contact the landlord right away so a plumber can be sent. Tenants should know where the main shutoff is before winter starts.
Guardian Landlord drafts an action plan for every request with weather-aware context, and Away Mode covers you on Starter and above when you can't be reached. Try it free for 3 months.
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