Getting your home secure before a long trip away
The Abimeister team · Updated · 5 min read
Summer holidays and longer trips abroad mean a flat or house standing empty for weeks, sometimes in the hottest or coldest stretch of the Estonian year. Most of what goes wrong in an empty home is preventable with an hour of preparation: a tap left under slight pressure, a radiator set wrong, a door that only looks locked. This guide walks through the water, heating and electrics, the locks and windows, who ought to know you are away, and what to do if something does go wrong while you are gone.
Water shutoff and checking the pipework
The single most common cause of expensive damage in an empty home is a leak nobody notices for two or three weeks. Before you leave, close the main stopcock if your home has one you can reach and operate, and if you are in a flat, check whether your unit's isolation valves under the sink and behind the toilet are in good order rather than seized in the open position.
If closing the main stopcock is not practical, at minimum shut the valves on the washing machine and dishwasher, since flexible supply hoses are the most frequent point of failure and the appliance itself will not be running to notice a slow drip. Leave one tap slightly open afterwards to release any pressure trapped in the pipes.
A stopcock that will not turn, or one that turns but keeps weeping, is not something to leave for after the holiday. If you are unsure which valve does what, or you want a plumber to check the pipework properly before you go, that is exactly the kind of job we take on from 45 € per hour, and it is far cheaper than a burst pipe found by a neighbour.
Setting heating and electrics for the time you're away
In winter, never simply switch off the heating in an unoccupied home. Set thermostats to a frost-protection level, typically somewhere around 10–12°C, so pipes inside external walls do not freeze even during a cold snap. District-heated flats usually manage this automatically, but houses with their own boiler need the setting checked by hand.
In summer the main electrical risk is not cold but things left running: an iron, a hob, a phone charger with a fault. Unplug anything that does not need to stay on, and if your home has a fridge or freezer full of food, decide honestly whether it is worth the standing risk of a compressor fault going unnoticed for weeks.
If your fuse board is old, or you have never quite trusted a socket or a switch, having it looked at before a long absence rather than after is worth the call. That is electrical work we send a qualified electrician for, from 49 € per hour, and it is a sensible thing to book alongside general departure preparation.
Locks, windows and the security of the front door
Walk the property from the outside as if you were a stranger. Check that every window latch actually engages, not just that the window looks closed, and pay particular attention to ground-floor windows and any that open onto a balcony or shared stairwell. A window on the latch rather than fully shut is an easy way in.
Test the front door lock properly rather than assuming it works because it always has. A door that needs a firm shoulder to close, or a deadbolt that only sometimes catches, is worth fixing before rather than after three weeks of nobody checking it. Small adjustments to a sticking door or a worn strike plate are typical odd jobs, from 39 € per hour.
If you have a shed, garage or storage cage in the building's basement, do not treat it as an afterthought. Tools, bicycles and skis are what go missing from empty buildings over the summer, and a padlock that has been rusting quietly for two winters is not doing its job.
- Every window latch engaged, not just closed
- Front door deadbolt tested, not assumed
- Balcony and ground-floor windows checked last
- Shed, garage or storage cage locked and tidy
- Spare key not left under a mat or in a meter box
Who should know you are away
A neighbour who knows your flat or house will be empty is worth more than any amount of preparation done alone. Ask them to glance at the door, collect post so it does not pile up visibly, and have your phone number in case something looks wrong. In a smaller apartment building this is often simply a matter of asking whoever lives across the landing.
If you live in a korteriühistu, it is reasonable to let the board or the caretaker know, particularly if works are planned in the building or the water is due to be shut off for maintenance while you are away. This avoids a plumber or a neighbour trying to reach you when a decision needs to be made.
Do not announce the exact dates of an empty home on public social media. Telling one trusted person is protection; broadcasting it to everyone is the opposite.
What to do if something happens while you're away
Leave a set of spare keys with the neighbour or family member who is checking on the property, or make sure there is a way for someone to get in without breaking a window if there is a genuine emergency such as a burst pipe or a smell of gas, which is a matter for the gas company or emergency services directly, not for a handyman.
Make sure whoever is checking on the home has a number they can actually reach you on, and a rough idea of what is normal to see and what is not. A soaking carpet, a smell of burning, or plaster bulging on a ceiling are not things to leave until you are back.
We are on call around the clock for urgent jobs in Tallinn and Harju county, so if a neighbour or family member finds a leak or an electrical fault while you are away, they can call and we will go out and assess it, with a proper invoice and account of the work sent to you afterwards.
An hour spent on the stopcock, the heating, the locks and one phone call to a neighbour is what usually stands between a normal holiday and an expensive one.