What to do before you lock up for summer

Most summer damage in Dubai homes traces back to something that was not done in the week before the owner flew. None of it takes long.

The week before

Service the AC, or at least have the drain lines cleared and the filters changed. A unit that is about to fail is far more likely to fail while you are away than while you are standing in front of it.

Set the thermostats to 24 to 26 degrees and leave them running. Not off.

Have the water tank and the pump checked if the villa has them. A pump that runs dry while nobody is home will fail, and replacing it is expensive.

Clear the roof drains and balcony outlets. The August rain is rare but it is sudden, and a blocked outlet is how water gets inside.

The day before

Empty the fridge and freezer of anything that will rot, and leave both running. Switching a fridge off and shutting the door is how you get a smell you cannot remove.

Unplug what does not need power — televisions, chargers, kettles. Leave the fridge, the alarm and the AC.

Run every tap, flush every toilet and pour a little water down each floor drain. A dry trap lets sewer gas straight into the house, and that is the single most common complaint from owners coming home.

Close internal doors to rooms you want to keep cool, but leave wardrobe doors slightly open so air can move inside them.

Access

Decide who has keys and write it down. Tell your building or community security who to expect. Leave a working phone number that someone will actually answer from another time zone.

Tell your insurer the home will be unoccupied. Many home policies limit cover after 30 or 60 days of continuous vacancy, and discovering that after a claim is too late.

What you cannot do from abroad

All of the above protects the home on the day you leave. None of it tells you what happened in week five. That is the gap a weekly visit fills — not because anything dramatic usually happens, but because the things that do happen are cheap to fix in week five and expensive in week nine.