Bill and carol to store linen get some big bin bags stick it in them get your hoover suck out the air and seal- instant vacuum packaging. move everything an inch or so away from the walls and dont forget to shut water off. But most important of all if its a new place and your going to leave it unoccupied is CHANGE THE DOOR LOCKS you dont know who has had acces to those keys whilst it was being built.

Thanks for good advice Bryn. Makes perfect sense. Especially the bit about changing the locks!

Bill and Carol, I put the change the locks thing in because it has happened in the bodrum area where someone has locked up for the winter and then come back to find their furniture gone but no sign of forced entry. A classic case in Belek a couple of years back was a couple came back to their place after an absence of about 1 year and found it to be all smartened up, thinking that the caretaker was being very nice they settled down and unpacked only to find someone else gear in their property, it turns out the caretaker had a spare set of keys and was renting it out without their knowledge. Changing the locks shouldnt cost to much and helps ith peace of mind.

bill and carol
make sure you leave your freezer and fridge door open.it will grow muold if not.we put all our material stuff like rugs,cushions, bedding in the wardrobes and they were fine in the spring.we usually read the meters for water and electric too, just tokeep an eye on things. do leave open your inner doors with the vent if you have one in the bathroom,open.this helps to ventilate the place. we still had a bit of black showing in some rooms when we came back in spring and had to paint them.ask your builder what colour is on the walls and keep a tin of it for touching up if needed.in a new build the buildings have to dry out which causes the black mould when the place is shut up.you can also ask the builder to paint it for you under your warrenty if you need to.we covered and unplugged the tv and all electricals,and put plastic sheeting over the beds.

Thanks for the advice everyone, it has been a great help, some good tips which we will certainly act upon.

HI,
Dont forget to take batteries out of clocks and remote controls.

We had a battery left in a clock on the tv stand and it melted the formica!
It was a cheap battery mind you which came with the clock. The humidity and damp over winter obviously did not agree!

Cheers
Lorraine

to bill and carol ,we also are going to lock our house up in october ,our house is in marmaris,when we were there in june it was just being compleated and there was keys missing ,we asked the builder to change the locks for us ,which he done so at no cost to us

I've been told a story about someone in Altinkum, who left their place over winter. When they returned in spring the toilets had dried out, and because of direct access rats had got in and eaten the chairs, bedding etc(all the foam stuff) So we are making sure the toilet lids are secured as well.

These are tips i have picked up from owners in Cyprus,, Fill large ice cream tubs with salt, it collects the moisture in the air. We were amazed some rooms it was rock hard others it was still as dry as the day we placed it there. Place it in front of windows,
I bought packs of storage bags from the Sunday Express shop, magazine not the plastic kind, a breathable fabric sort. Various sizes and used the dress and suit ones with the hangers to store pillows and duvets or throws left them hanging in the wardrobe with the doors open

We have shutters so I am not sure if this helped. Only a few small black spots in one area, the locals say wash it first with raw bleach and then paint over,
Put lots of bleach down plug hole and put the plugs in,,, Bleach down the WC and cling film over the bowl, We never did this and all was well ,but we did have 3 weeks there at Christmas.

I invested in these pest magic things you see on the shopping channels.

good advice re locks heard this goes on in Cyprus as well..

There are a few of us who own properties in the same area we all have each others keys and while we are over we open up and air each others places , check everything out for each other, it works well

I packed any food stuffs into large plastic containers that were within sell by dates of our next trip back , these were fine,
Lots of people spray all round before they close up . I never, I do take readings of the meters although I have lamps on timers and the pest magic runs on electricity.

When we arrived after it was shut up, I was suprised it did not feel to bad, I blasted it with the heaters on the A/C units, I left some of these little dehumidefiers different scents in all the rooms so it smelt ok.
Now we are lucky we have really nice neighbour and she will air it for us this year.
elizabeth

Some excellent tips at locking up.

I always leave the inner doors open, bleach down toilets, dried food stuffs stored in air tight containers, beds have all bedding taken off, all furniture away from walls.

I normally, wedge the fridge freezer and doors open, so there is air circulating. And I also have a dehumidifier, which can be plugged in and turned on, you can put an outlet pipe from the dehumidifier to a drain, so the water runs to a drain.

Luckily have got good friends and neighbours, have the windows open every so often. Toilets flushed, and just general weekly to fortnightly checks.

Thanks everyone. Some great tips. Mostly all common sense really, but never having done this before, we feel really inexperienced and a bit thick!! Maybe there will come a time when we are experienced enough to offer advice Anyway will certainly be taking everything on board. Many thanks again xxx

I've been told a story about someone in Altinkum, who left their place over winter. When they returned in spring the toilets had dried out, and because of direct access rats had got in and eaten the chairs, bedding etc(all the foam stuff) So we are making sure the toilet lids are secured as well.

I've left the lids up!!!!

I found some smelly balls for sell in a supermarket that can be used for a range of things from keeping your clothes smelling nice (?!!?) to putting in urinals. I first saw them in the sinks in the toilets at Kos Tas. Just 3 or 4 left in each sink in the bathrooms keeps the room free of that usual musty smell for your return.

Varnish the underside and back of your wardrobes/chest of drawers and furniture, especially if any are chipboard. This will then make it easy to wipe off any mould growth.

good advice M and N