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Vistancia Home Watching › Common summer problems
Most summer damage starts small. The difference between a quick fix and a big claim is usually how long it went unnoticed. These are the problems we look for on every visit.
Subterranean termites are common across the Phoenix area, and their activity picks up around monsoon season, when swarms come out after the rains. In an empty house they can work for months without anyone seeing them.
The sign to look for is mud tubes: thin, dirt-colored tunnels running up the stucco, the foundation or a garage wall. We look for signs of pests on every visit, inside and out, and tell you right away if we see anything.
Drip irrigation runs every day in summer, and nobody watches it. An emitter pops off and a line runs wide open; a valve sticks on and floods a bed; a line cracks and the plants on the end of it slowly die. Either way it can run for weeks before anyone notices, and the water bill is often the first sign.
We check the irrigation and the plants on every visit, looking for soggy ground, standing water and plants in distress.
Monsoon season in Arizona runs through the summer, bringing strong wind, dust storms and sudden heavy rain. For an empty home that means patio furniture thrown into windows, debris in the yard and pool, roof tiles knocked out of place, and water finding its way in where it shouldn't.
Storms also knock the power out, which can trip breakers and leave the AC off or the freezer thawing. We walk the outside of the house, check for water damage on the ceilings inside, test the breakers and lights, and confirm the AC is running.
Water is the quiet one. A water softener's brine tank can overflow in the garage. A supply line to the fridge's ice maker or the washing machine can split. A water heater can start to drip, and a toilet flapper can stick and run for weeks.
On every visit we run water in every sink and shower, flush every toilet, and check the sinks, the washer and the water filters for leaks. We check the water softener, and refill the salt if you'd like us to.
Your AC works hardest in exactly the months you're gone. Beyond an outright failure, a common summer problem is a clogged condensate drain line: the water the AC pulls out of the air has nowhere to go and can back up and leak, sometimes from a unit in the attic or a closet.
We confirm the HVAC is running properly on every visit, change the air filters when they need it, and check ceilings and walls for water.
Heat is hard on car batteries, and a car that sits in a hot garage for months often won't start when you get home. A battery maintainer is the simple fix; our summer prep guide covers it. If you'd like us to check on the car during visits, ask about adding it to your checklist.
A power outage while you're away can leave a freezer full of food thawing. We check the fridge and freezer temperatures on every visit, so a problem gets caught in days, not months.
Water: irrigation that breaks or runs wide open, and leaks from water softeners, supply lines, water heaters and toilets. That's why every visit includes running the water and checking for leaks.
Subterranean termites are around all year, but activity picks up around the summer monsoon, when swarms come out after the rains. Look for mud tubes on stucco, foundations and garage walls.
That's the point of regular visits. A leak or an irrigation failure caught on the next weekly visit is a much smaller problem than one found when you get home in the fall.
We live in Vistancia and check homes here all summer. Tell Sage when you leave and what your home needs, any hour.
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Vistancia Home Watching