Reference
What actually goes wrong in an empty house.
Ordered by consequence rather than by likelihood. The expensive ones are expensive because nobody is there, not because they are unusual.
Highest consequence
Frozen and burst pipes
The single most costly thing that happens to vacant homes in Alberta, and the most preventable.
Heating system failure
A furnace that stops during a cold snap starts a clock, and in an empty house nobody is watching it.
Undetected water leaks
Not freezing — just ordinary plumbing failing, with nobody there for weeks.
Hail damage
Calgary sits in one of the most hail-prone regions in North America, and storm cells are extremely local.
Basement water and spring melt
Rapid melt over still-frozen ground sends water across the surface, and the surface often slopes toward the house.
Vacancy conditions in your policy
The risk that a loss happens and the policy does not respond the way the owner assumed it would.
Significant
Sewer backup
Older Calgary sewer lines under mature trees, plus heavy melt or rain, is a well-established combination.
Ice damming
A specifically chinook-country problem: heat escapes, snow melts, meltwater refreezes at the cold eave.
Break-in and unauthorised entry
A house that visibly announces its own vacancy is a different proposition than one that does not.
Pest and wildlife entry
An undisturbed building with no human activity is exactly what a nesting animal is looking for.
Wind damage
Calgary's chinook winds regularly exceed 100 km/h, and the damage is usually to things nobody secured.
Snow accumulation and roof loading
Wet spring snow is heavy, and flat or low-slope sections carry it worst.
Poly-B plumbing
Installed widely in Alberta homes built roughly 1985 to 1997, and known for failing without warning.
Worth knowing
Dry traps and sewer gas
The most common reason an empty house smells wrong, and among the easiest to prevent.
Radon accumulation
Alberta records higher residential radon than the national average, and vacancy is a practical window to test.
Appliance and equipment failure
A freezer that quits in week one of a four-month absence is a specific and unpleasant discovery.
Need someone at the house?
Tell us what the property needs. Direct services throughout Greater Calgary.