A calm, practical run-through before you lock the door and go.
By Nookhaven Homes | August 11, 2026
A Denver homeowner packing for a week in Glenwood Springs once told her agent she’d rather spend ten extra minutes at home than one anxious minute wondering, from three hours away, whether she’d left a window cracked. That instinct turns out to be exactly right. Home security professionals don’t rely on luck when they leave town, they run through a short, specific list, every time. Here’s what’s actually on it.
Lock It Down
Do one last walk around the house: side doors, garage entry points, gates, and first-floor windows are the ones people forget when they’re rushing to catch a flight. If you have security cameras, make sure they’re charged, connected, and not blocked by an overgrown planter or a chair that got moved in front of the window.
Then make the house look lived-in. Put porch and entry lights on a timer so they come on around sunset. Ask a neighbor to grab packages and mail, or pause delivery altogether. And if you’ve got a driveway that’s usually occupied, an empty one for a week is its own kind of signal. A parked car does more than people expect.
Handle the Utilities
Unplug the small stuff that doesn’t need to stay live: coffee makers, hair tools, space heaters. If you charge an e-bike or power tools with lithium-ion batteries, don’t leave them charging unattended while you’re gone. Press and hold the test button on your smoke and CO detectors before you leave; replace the batteries if either sounds weak or chirps.
Since mold can start in as little as 24 to 48 hours, empty standing water from anything that holds it: the dishwasher, the washing machine, the coffee maker. And don’t turn the HVAC off entirely; it’s doing more than temperature control, it’s keeping indoor humidity in a safe range while you’re not there to notice if it isn’t.
A Few Things Worth Adding for Colorado
A couple of local considerations that don’t show up on a generic checklist:
If you’re headed to a mountain property or leaving a home near open space, take a few minutes to check your defensible space. Clear anything flammable within a few feet of the structure before you go, especially during peak fire season. And before any trip, it’s worth a quick look at your gutters and downspouts; a hailstorm hitting a clogged gutter while you’re gone is a far worse homecoming than a clean one.
If you’re part of an HOA, check whether your community requires notification for extended absences. Some Front Range communities do, and it’s a five-minute email that saves a headache later.
None of this takes long, but it can be the difference between a vacation that starts the moment you lock the door, and one that doesn’t really start until you’ve checked your home security app for the third time from the airport.
The Checklist
- Walk the perimeter: doors, garage, gates, first-floor windows
- Confirm cameras are charged, connected, and unobstructed
- Put lights on a timer; pause mail and packages
- Unplug small appliances and unattended chargers
- Test smoke and CO detectors
- Drain standing water from the dishwasher, washer, and coffee maker
- Leave the HVAC running, don’t shut it off entirely
- Shut off the main water valve (or at least appliance lines)
- Clear defensible space and check gutters, especially in fire or hail season
- Check your HOA’s policy on notifying them of extended absences
Inspired by writing in Real Simple. All writing is original, re-voiced, and locally grounded for the Nookhaven community.
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