How to Winterize a Cottage or Cabin, Step by Step

Winterizing is the one job at a seasonal place that cannot be done halfway. Miss one trap, one valve, or one low spot in the line, and the spring opening starts with a burst pipe and a soaked floor. It is also the job most likely to be done by whoever happens to be up last, who may never have done it before.

This guide walks through winterizing in the order you would actually do it, with the why behind each step, so that anyone in the family can close the place with confidence. Adapt it to your systems, then keep it with the house.

Every place is different. If you are unsure about your water system, especially a well, a pressure tank, or a boiler, have a plumber walk you through it once and write down exactly what they did. Some families pay a plumber to winterize every year, and that is money well spent.

Before the closing weekend

Pick a date after the last family visit and before the first hard freeze, and put it on the shared calendar.
Buy supplies: several gallons of non-toxic RV antifreeze, the pink kind, plus mouse traps, steel wool, and fresh batteries.
Line up anyone who needs to come by: the dock service, the plumber, the propane company.
Print or pull up the checklist, and have last year’s notes handy.

Step 1: Drain the water system

Water that freezes expands and splits whatever it is in. The goal is to get every drop out of every pipe, fixture, and appliance, or replace it with antifreeze.

Shut off the water. Close the main valve if you are on town water. If you have a well, turn off the pump at its breaker.
Open every faucet, hot and cold, inside and out, and leave them open all winter. Open the lowest drain valve in the house to let the lines empty.
Drain the water heater. Turn off its power or gas first. Attach a hose to the drain valve and run it outside or to a floor drain. Leave the drain open.
Drain the pressure tank if you have a well, using its drain valve.
Blow out the lines with an air compressor if you have one. It is the only way to be sure horizontal runs and low spots are empty. If not, be generous with antifreeze in the next step.
Drain outdoor lines: hose bibs, the outdoor shower, irrigation, the dock water line.

Step 2: Protect the fixtures

Anything that holds water needs antifreeze, because you cannot fully drain it.

Toilets. Flush, then hold the handle down until the tank is empty. Sponge out the remaining water in the tank. Pour antifreeze into the bowl until it fills the trap, and add some to the tank.
Sinks, tubs, and showers. Pour antifreeze down each drain until it displaces the water in the trap. About a cup for a sink, more for a tub.
Washing machine. Disconnect the hoses and drain them. Run a short cycle with antifreeze in the drum, or follow the manual’s winterizing steps.
Dishwasher. Run it empty, then add antifreeze to the bottom and run the drain cycle briefly.
Water filters and softeners. Remove cartridges and drain housings. Softeners usually need a bypass and antifreeze; check the manual.
Anything else with water: the icemaker line, a boiler, a hot tub, the fridge water dispenser. Drain or add antifreeze, or have a professional handle it.

Step 3: Deal with heat

Decide whether the house will be kept above freezing all winter or allowed to go cold.

Keeping low heat (around 45 to 50°F) protects the structure and lets you skip a full drain in some climates, but you are trusting the furnace and the power grid for five months. If you do this, install a freeze alarm that texts you, and still drain the vulnerable lines.

Going cold is simpler and cheaper but requires the full drain above. Turn the thermostat off and shut down the furnace or boiler according to its manual. Boilers with water in them need their own winterizing.

Step 4: Keep the mice out

Mice are a winter certainty unless you make the place unattractive.

Remove every scrap of food, including pasta, cereal, pet food, birdseed, and the candle that smells like vanilla.
Empty, defrost, and wipe down the fridge and freezer, and prop the doors open.
Stuff steel wool into gaps around pipes and cables where they enter the house. Mice can get through a hole the size of a dime.
Set traps in the kitchen, under sinks, and near the furnace. Note where they are for whoever opens in spring.
Strip the beds and seal linens, towels, and paper goods in lidded bins.
Open drawers and cabinets a crack so any mouse that gets in is not nesting in your sweaters.

Step 5: Close up the outside

Pull the dock and store or cover boats and the furniture.
Clean the gutters so ice does not back up under the shingles.
Trim any branches that could drop under snow load.
Shut off propane at the tank and cover the grill.
Drain and store hoses, and cover outdoor spigots.
Check that the roof, flashing, and chimney cap are sound. A small leak is a big leak by April.

Step 6: Power and the last walkthrough

Unplug electronics and small appliances.
Turn off breakers except what must stay on: sump pump, freeze alarm, security system, or the furnace if you are keeping low heat.
Close and lock windows, draw the shades, and shut the flue.
Photograph the meters, the panel, and the thermostat.
Do a final walk of every room with the checklist in hand.
Lock up, and write down who has keys.

Step 7: Write down what you learned

Before you drive away, note anything that was different this year: a valve that stuck, a trap that needed more antifreeze, a gap you found. The next person to close, who may be you in twelve months, will thank you.

Keep the procedure with the house

Winterizing goes wrong when the steps live in one person’s head. Keep this list, with photos of your valves and breakers and last year’s notes, somewhere anyone in the family can open on a phone from the basement. With SharedStead, the winterizing procedure lives on the property next to its calendar and the spring opening checklist, so whoever draws closing weekend has everything they need, including the family’s hard-won notes from every year before.