The Cottage Closing Checklist for Grey Bruce and Georgian Bay

Closing a cottage is one of those jobs where the cost of forgetting something is wildly out of proportion to the effort of remembering it. A tap left partially on in October becomes a burst pipe in January, and a burst pipe in January becomes a spring visit you will not enjoy.

Most people around Georgian Bay close up somewhere between Labour Day and Thanksgiving, depending on how insulated the place is and how stubborn the owner is about the last warm weekend. Whenever you go, the list below covers the jobs that matter, roughly in the order they should happen.

Four to six weeks out: book the things other people do

Everything that requires a contractor, a truck or an appointment gets booked well before you need it. Fall is the busiest stretch of the year for trades across the region, and the last two weeks before Thanksgiving are effectively full.

This includes septic pumping, dock removal, chimney and woodstove inspection, propane top-up, boat haul-out and shrink-wrap, and any bin you will need for a clear-out. If you are planning a repair, book that now too.

Water and plumbing

This is the section that causes almost every serious winter cottage claim, so it is worth doing carefully rather than quickly.

Shut off the water supply at the source: the pump, the main valve, or both. Pull the foot valve and intake line if you draw from the lake, and store the line where it will not freeze or get chewed.

Drain the entire system. Open every tap, hot and cold, and leave them open. Drain the hot water tank completely and shut off its power or gas supply first. Flush toilets until the tanks are empty. Drain the pressure tank, the water heater lines, and any outdoor spigots or hose bibs.

Blow out the lines with compressed air if you have the equipment, or have it done. Air removes what gravity leaves behind, and what gravity leaves behind is what splits the pipe.

Add plumbing antifreeze to every drain trap (sinks, tub, shower, floor drains) and to the toilet bowls and tanks after draining. Use the non-toxic plumbing type, not automotive antifreeze.

If your system is complicated, or if you have in-floor heating, a water treatment setup, or a finished basement, this is a reasonable job to hand to a plumber once and then learn from.

Appliances and food

Empty the fridge and freezer completely, including the door shelves and the ice maker. Defrost, wipe out, and leave both doors propped open, a sealed fridge left off over winter grows something memorable.

Clear the pantry of anything a mouse would consider food, which is a broader category than most people assume. Flour, sugar, pasta, rice, cereal, pet food, birdseed, and anything in a cardboard box either goes home with you or goes into sealed hard containers. Cans and sealed jars can freeze and split, so take those too.

Run the dishwasher empty, then drain it. Wipe the washing machine drum and leave its door open.

Heat, power and propane

Decide whether the cottage stays heated or goes cold. If you are leaving heat on at a low setting, confirm your fuel supply will last the winter and that a temperature monitor is in place. If you are shutting down entirely, the plumbing section above becomes non-negotiable.

Unplug everything that does not need to stay on: small appliances, televisions, chargers, anything with a standby draw. Turn off breakers for circuits you do not need.

Have the woodstove or fireplace cleaned and inspected if it has had a season of use, and close the damper. Check that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have fresh batteries, or remove them if the cottage will be completely unpowered.

Shut off propane at the tank.

Outside

Docks, boat lifts and rafts come out or get secured, depending on your setup and your shoreline. Ice movement does more damage than water does.

Bring in patio furniture, cushions, umbrellas, barbecues and propane tanks. Store the propane tank outside and upright, never indoors. Drain and coil hoses. Bring in anything that will fill with water and freeze… buckets, wheelbarrows, planters, kayaks left upright.

Clean the gutters. A blocked gutter in November becomes an ice dam in February.

Trim back branches overhanging the roof, cut the grass short, and clear leaves and debris away from the foundation and any vents.

The clear-out

Somewhere in every closing weekend there is a moment where the accumulated contents of the shed, the crawlspace and the back of the boathouse all become visible at once.

Old mattresses, broken patio furniture, the deck boards from a repair three summers ago, paint cans, a barbecue that hasn’t worked for a while… and a quantity of pool noodles that cannot be explained. Leaving it for spring means it spends a winter getting wetter and heavier.

A bin on site for the closing weekend takes care of all of it in one pass, which is considerably less painful than loading a truck repeatedly and driving to the transfer station on a Sunday in October.

Georgian Bay Disposal has bins in 10, 14, 20 and 40 yards. A shed and boathouse clear-out usually fits a 14. A full cottage clear-out or an estate clean-up is more often a 20 or 40. Note that paint, propane tanks, fuel and old tires cannot go in the bin.

The last walk-through

Before you drive away: taps open, breakers off where intended, propane off, fridge doors propped, windows latched, doors locked, keys accounted for.

Take photos of the interior and exterior before you go. It takes two minutes and it settles arguments in the spring.

Booking ahead

Labour Day and Thanksgiving are the two peaks for closing weekends, and availability across the region tightens on both.

If a bin is part of your plan, book it in advance rather than the week you need it.

Georgian Bay Disposal delivers throughout Owen Sound, Collingwood, Meaford, Thornbury, Wasaga Beach and surrounding communities across the Grey Bruce and Georgian Bay region.

Call (705) 241-1033 or book online here.