rs191
Member
My wife's cousin has a camp in northern NY which they haven't been able to visit since it was winterized and shut down in late 2019. They live up in Quebec. They are up into their 70s. He has a very serious heart condition. The camp is in Dannemora, NY, not far from Chazy Lake, at 1600 ft elevation.
In late 2020, we volunteered to drive two hours north to check out their camp before it went through a second winter. Everything looked good inside and outside. They have owned the place for many years, so it was closed up properly in late 2019. On that first visit, we added fresh RV antifreeze to the two sinks and the two toilets.
Late November 2021, we drove up to their property again, before the third closed-down winter. Other than a large pine that was leaning, hung up on other trees (far from the house), everything looked pretty good again.
We again poured RV antifreeze into the sink drains and toilets. The level in one bowl had dropped a little, the other was okay. It was in the 20s (F) on that visit and there might have been skim ice in one toilet. So I poured more RV antifreeze in that bowl, but not enough to force a "flush".
Question - I just added a few quarts to the toilet bowls on each visit. Now (much later and much colder) I wonder if I should have quickly poured gallons of RV antifreeze into each bowl to force a "flush" and then slowly added more to refill the bowl with fresh stuff.
Wondering if the active ingredient of the antifreeze could have evaporated over time, so a flush-and-refill is needed. I have no experience with winterizing and the cousin never dealt with multi-year closures.
Thanks for any advice! We're getting into sub-zero temps this week, but if the toilets aren't blocks of ice already, I can snowshoe in and put more antifreeze. The camp is only about 100 yards off the country road. Looks like 6"-10" of snow on the ground, according to NOHRSC Interactive Snow Information
In late 2020, we volunteered to drive two hours north to check out their camp before it went through a second winter. Everything looked good inside and outside. They have owned the place for many years, so it was closed up properly in late 2019. On that first visit, we added fresh RV antifreeze to the two sinks and the two toilets.
Late November 2021, we drove up to their property again, before the third closed-down winter. Other than a large pine that was leaning, hung up on other trees (far from the house), everything looked pretty good again.
We again poured RV antifreeze into the sink drains and toilets. The level in one bowl had dropped a little, the other was okay. It was in the 20s (F) on that visit and there might have been skim ice in one toilet. So I poured more RV antifreeze in that bowl, but not enough to force a "flush".
Question - I just added a few quarts to the toilet bowls on each visit. Now (much later and much colder) I wonder if I should have quickly poured gallons of RV antifreeze into each bowl to force a "flush" and then slowly added more to refill the bowl with fresh stuff.
Wondering if the active ingredient of the antifreeze could have evaporated over time, so a flush-and-refill is needed. I have no experience with winterizing and the cousin never dealt with multi-year closures.
Thanks for any advice! We're getting into sub-zero temps this week, but if the toilets aren't blocks of ice already, I can snowshoe in and put more antifreeze. The camp is only about 100 yards off the country road. Looks like 6"-10" of snow on the ground, according to NOHRSC Interactive Snow Information
