A holiday home needs plumbing checks at three moments: before you arrive, while you are using it, and before you lock up and leave.
The third one is the one that matters most and the one almost nobody does. Everything that goes badly wrong in a second residence goes wrong while there is nobody there to notice it.
In this article
Why a holiday home needs more than a normal house
A permanently occupied house gets checked constantly without anyone thinking of it as maintenance. Somebody hears the toilet running. Somebody notices the damp patch while it is still small. Somebody smells the drain.
An empty property has none of that. The same faults develop, but they develop unobserved and they keep developing. A dripping outdoor tap runs for four months. A failed washing machine hose empties into a kitchen until someone arrives in July. Traps dry out and the drains start to smell. Valves that nobody has turned since last summer seize where they stand.
None of these are dramatic faults. They are ordinary ones, left alone for long enough to become expensive.
The checklist at a glance
| When | What to check | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Before arrival | Taps, toilets, drains, hot water, leaks | Makes sure the home is ready to use |
| During the stay | Pressure, odours, drainage, toilets | Catches small faults early |
| Before leaving | Shut-off valves, appliances, visible leaks | Reduces the risk while nobody is there |
| Twice a year | Boiler, water heater, pipework, limescale | Prevents long-term system failures |
| After a storm or long vacancy | Outdoor taps, damp areas, drains, pumps | Finds damage before it spreads |
Before arrival: five checks
Twenty minutes on the first evening, before anyone unpacks properly.
1. Run all taps and showers
Every one, hot and cold, for a minute or two. You are flushing through water that has been sitting still in the pipes, and at the same time checking flow, temperature and anything that drips once the tap is closed.
2. Flush every toilet
And then wait and listen. A cistern that keeps refilling in an empty property is one of the most expensive quiet faults there is — see toilet keeps running: simple checks before calling a plumber.
3. Check for leaks under the sinks
Open every cabinet — kitchen, bathrooms, utility. Look for damp or swollen cabinet bases, staining, corrosion on fittings and anything dripping. This is where a slow leak hides longest.
4. Test the hot water system
How long it takes to arrive, whether it gets properly hot, whether it holds temperature, and whether there is anything damp, rusty or noisy around the unit. See our hot water systems service and the signs a water heater needs repair or replacement.
5. Check the drains for smells
Dry traps are the usual cause after a long vacancy: the water seal evaporates and the drain smell comes back up into the room. Running the taps refills them. If the smell persists after that, it is something else — what drain smells usually mean.
During the stay: four checks
Not a job, just things worth noticing while you are living in the house.
6. Watch for slow drains
Especially if more than one is slow. One slow drain is a trap; several is the run they share — and preventing drain clogs is a lot cheaper than clearing them.
7. Check water pressure
Whether it is weaker than you remember, and whether it affects one tap or all of them. One is usually local. All of them points at limescale, the supply, or a leak — our domestic water supply service covers that.
8. Look for damp patches
Walls near bathrooms and kitchens, ceilings below bathrooms, around the water heater, and the base of exterior walls. Damp with no obvious cause should not be written off as cosmetic — see how to detect a slab leak before it damages your property.
9. Monitor the appliance connections
Washing machine and dishwasher hoses, and the valves feeding them. A perished hose is the single most common cause of a flooded empty property, and it costs almost nothing to replace before it goes.
Before you lock up: four checks
This is the part that actually prevents damage, and it is the part that gets skipped — because by then the car is loaded and everyone wants to leave. It takes ten minutes.
10. Turn off the water
At the stopcock, if the property can be left without it. This one measure protects against every scenario in this article at once: a failed hose, a running toilet, a pipe that lets go, a hidden leak. Nothing can happen if there is no water in the system.
If the valve will not turn, that is this year’s job — what a stopcock is and why every owner should know where it is, and who can replace a broken stopcock in Calpe.
11. Clean the visible drains and strainers
What is left sitting in a trap for six months is what is smelling when you come back.
12. Check the toilets one last time
Confirm every cistern has actually stopped filling. Not “it sounded fine earlier” — stand there and listen.
13. Inspect the water heater or boiler area
Dry floor, no rust, no staining, no dripping valve. A unit that is weeping slightly in October is a unit that has been weeping all winter by April.
Leave someone a key and these instructions. A neighbour, a manager or a cleaner who looks in once a month turns a four-month leak into a two-week one. Make sure whoever it is knows where the stopcock is and that it works.
The twice-a-year check
| Area | What to check |
|---|---|
| Bathrooms | Toilets, showers, taps, drains and seals |
| Kitchen | Sink, waste pipe, dishwasher, tap pressure |
| Utility area | Washing machine hoses, valves, floor drains |
| Hot water system | Temperature, pressure, leaks, noise |
| Outdoor taps | Leaks, corrosion, irrigation connections |
| Drains | Slow drainage, odours, gurgling |
| Pipework | Corrosion, scale, damp, previous repairs |
| Water treatment | Filters, softeners, scale control |
| Emergency readiness | Shut-off valves, and emergency contact details |
If the pipework shows corrosion or has been patched before, that is worth a decision rather than another patch — whether to repair or replace old plumbing pipes.
Stagnant water in an empty property
Water that sits still in unused pipework for months is not the same as water that has been running. US Centers for Disease Control guidance notes that stagnant water in building plumbing can allow bacteria, including Legionella, to develop — which is why flushing a property through before anyone uses it is not just about clearing the taste.
- run the taps before guests arrive;
- flush the showers through carefully;
- use all the bathrooms from time to time, not just the main one;
- do not leave outlets completely unused for months;
- arrange a professional check after a long vacancy;
- keep the hot water system serviced.
The last one matters because hot water systems that sit unused and part-heated are exactly the conditions this is about — see how often you should service a boiler or hot water system.
Hard water and limescale
Water on this coast is hard, and in a property used a few weeks a year the scale still builds — it just builds while nobody is watching it. It affects:
- taps and showerheads;
- boilers and electric water heaters;
- washing machines and dishwashers;
- pipework and valves;
- toilet mechanisms.
That last one is why a seized stopcock and a sticking cistern tend to turn up in the same property. How hard water affects pipes, boilers and appliances in Costa Blanca homes covers what it does, and our water treatment service covers dealing with the cause.
When to call a plumber
Promptly
- Water leaking onto floors
- A toilet or cistern overflowing
- Damp ceilings or walls
- A shut-off valve that does not work
- The meter moving with every tap off
- A sewage smell that will not go away
Book it in
- No hot water, or a boiler fault
- Several drains running slowly
- Very low water pressure
- A check before the rental season starts
- A check after a long vacancy
If you are unsure which column something belongs in, when to call a professional plumber covers where the line falls. For a pipe that has already failed, who can repair a burst pipe in Calpe.
Read next
Hidden water leaks and high bills: how to spot the warning signs early
If you rent the property out
Everything above applies, with the difference that someone else is in the house and will not be looking for any of it. The practical additions:
- label the stopcock, and tell whoever manages the property where it is;
- leave emergency contact details somewhere obvious, not in a drawer;
- replace appliance hoses on age rather than on failure;
- book the checks before the season, not during it.
A guest will report a blocked drain. A guest will not report a slightly damp patch under the sink, and that is the one that costs money.
We inspect holiday properties before arrivals and after long vacancies.
We offer our own comprehensive guarantee for the work we carry out.
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We look after holiday homes, second residences and rentals across the Marina Alta — see general plumbing and our full plumbing services.
Related Services
Calpe · Benissa · Moraira · Teulada · Benitachell · Javea · Denia · Jalon · Pedreguer · Ondara · Pego · Orba · and the rest of the Marina Alta
Frequently Asked Questions
What plumbing checks should I do before arriving at a holiday home?
Run all taps and showers, flush every toilet and listen for refilling, check under every sink for leaks, test the hot water system, and check the drains for smells from dry traps.
Should I turn off the water when leaving a holiday home empty?
Yes, where the property can be left without it. It is the single most effective measure an absent owner can take, because it protects against failed appliance hoses, running toilets, pipe failures and hidden leaks all at once.
Why do drains smell in holiday homes?
Usually dry traps. The water seal in the trap evaporates during a long vacancy and drain odours come back up into the room. Running the taps refills them. If the smell persists after that, the cause is something else.
How often should a holiday home plumbing system be checked?
At every arrival and departure as a routine, plus a fuller check twice a year covering the boiler or water heater, pipework and limescale, and an additional check after storms or an unusually long vacancy.
Can hard water damage plumbing in Costa Blanca homes?
Yes. Limescale builds up in taps, showerheads, boilers, electric water heaters, washing machines, dishwashers, pipework, valves and toilet mechanisms, reducing flow and efficiency and making valves stick.
What are the most common plumbing problems in holiday homes?
Dry traps and drain smells, running toilets, failed washing machine or dishwasher hoses, seized shut-off valves, limescale build-up, and hidden leaks that run for months because nobody is there to notice them.
When should I call a plumber for a holiday home?
Promptly for water leaking onto floors, an overflowing toilet, damp ceilings or walls, a shut-off valve that does not work, a meter that moves with every tap off, or a persistent sewage smell. Book an appointment for no hot water, several slow drains, very low pressure, or a check before the season.
Closing up the house, or opening it for the season?
We check holiday properties before arrivals and after long vacancies across the Marina Alta — taps, drains, hot water, valves and the things that go wrong while nobody is there.
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