preparing toilet for extended house vacancy

[mookie19]

My mom just moved to assisted living and won't be selling her house immediately, so we're preparing the house for extended vacancy. Any advice on what to do to the toilets? The house is in the area of the Great Lakes. Upstairs bathroom will be warmer than downstairs in the summer, air con will be set to high 70's - low 80s. It gets cold there in the winter, but furnace is set to 57.

I am particularly worried about mold in the bowl and tank, stains/rings in the bowl, but I am sure there are other things think of too.

 

[Geofd]

Well you could remove the toilet and put a compression cap on the water and use a spin tight in the drain,or put rv type anti freeze in the bowl it won't evaporate quickly,+ shut off the water feeding the toilet

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Add some white vinegar to tank, Turn off water at shutoff, flush toilet and drain tank. Add some (don’t need a lot) white vinegar to the bowl. Put Saran tightly over the bowl to prevent evaporation.

Mold/mildew won’t grow in lo pH acidic water.

Used to do this in northern Michigan. If you set furnace to 57 you shouldn’t have to worry about freezing.

 

[pasadena_commut]

My mom just moved to assisted living and won't be selling her house immediately, so we're preparing the house for extended vacancy. Any advice on what to do to the toilets?

I know this is a plumbing forum, but the toilets are likely to be the least of your worries on a house that has an extended vacancy.

Have you considered getting a tenant to live there until it is sold? That way the house would be occupied and there would be some income to help defray the costs of the assisted living. Unless you have a lot of experience renting out property I would suggest finding a property management firm in that area. They will screen potential tenants, collect rent, maintain the house, and so forth. They take a fraction of the rent as compensation. The amount varies from location to location and firm to firm, but would be roughly 10% of the rent.

Going that route would probably convert the building into a commercial classification though, which could in turn affect inheritance rules for your state eventually. It is even possible that it might trigger some clause on an existing mortgage, if there still is one. For sure the home insurance needs to be converted to another type if the house is not occupied for more than a short period of time.

https://www.farmers.com/learn/insurance-questions/when-do-you-need-vacant-home-insurance/

 

[TomFOhio]

I would call a plumber and have it winterized. Still keep the heat at 57. You can do the tanks the way you want as suggested
here.