A good arrival is prepared seven days ahead, not on the morning

There are two ways to arrive at a house closed for months.

The first: you open up, it is cold, it smells shut in, the water runs cloudy at the first tap, the pool is green, and you spend the first two days repairing instead of resting.

The second: the house is warm, the water is clear, the pool is ready, there is bread and milk. You put the bags down and the holiday starts immediately.

The difference between the two is a week of organisation.

D−7 — water and services

The technical day, and it must be done early enough to leave time to repair whatever has failed.

Recharging is never done abruptly. Open the main valve slowly, a quarter turn at a time, listening. A sudden opening causes water hammer that can split a tired fitting.

Then work through the house point by point: every tap opened until the water runs clear and free of air, every cistern flushed, every trap refilled.

Then close everything and wait an hour. If the meter is still turning, there is a leak somewhere — the simplest and most reliable test there is, and it costs nothing.

Finally: recommission the hot water cylinder, check the safety group, check the drains, repressurise the heating circuit if needed.

Why seven days? Because if a flexible connector has failed, you need a plumber. And a plumber in July on the Bay is not a same-hour proposition.

D−5 — temperature and air

A house at 10 °C since February does not warm up in a morning. The walls have several days of thermal inertia, and while they are cold, warm air introduced into the house condenses on them.

So bring the temperature up gradually over five days, ventilating generously during the driest hours. It is ventilation rather than heating that removes the shut-in smell: that smell is stagnant moisture and accumulated volatile compounds, and heating does not disperse it.

Use the same visit to check hot water production, test the air conditioning if fitted, and run every appliance empty.

D−4 — the pool

A pool coming out of winterisation needs several days, not a few hours.

Restart the filtration, clean thoroughly, test and rebalance the water, treat it, then run twenty-four to forty-eight hours of continuous filtration before the water is genuinely clear and the balance stable.

Check the safety devices: alarm, barrier, cover. This is a legal requirement for private in-ground pools in France, and above all the first thing to verify when children are arriving.

A pool treated the day before is not a ready pool. It is a pool that will look ready.

D−3 — the grounds

Mowing, cutting back, weeding paths, cleaning terraces, bringing out and checking garden furniture, testing external lighting and the gate.

It is also the moment to check the safety points: balustrades, stair lighting, condition of steps, low branches.

D−1 — cleaning and provisions

Full clean, beds made, household linen out, towels.

Basic provisions — bread, milk, coffee, water, cleaning products — and whatever makes the first evening possible without going out again.

Final check: hot water, heating, Wi-Fi, television, lighting, all shutters open, gate, alarm disarmed for the arrival.

The day itself

Nothing. Ideally, nothing at all.

If everything above has been done, arrival day asks for one thing only: that someone opened the shutters and aired the house one last time two hours beforehand.

What spoils an arrival, by frequency

From what we see, and it is almost always the same list.

1. No hot water. Cylinder not recommissioned, or the water heater breaker left off since winter.
2. A green pool. Restarted too late, chemicals out of date, insufficient filtration.
3. A shut-in smell. House opened on the morning itself, with no prior ventilation.
4. No Wi-Fi. Router stuck in a reboot loop after a power cut, or the subscription suspended.
5. A wasp nest. Under a roof overhang or in a roller shutter box. Common from June, and a job for a professional.
6. Damp bedding. Stored in a wardrobe in a house at 85% relative humidity for five months.
7. A leak at the first tap. A seal that dried out during winterisation.

None is serious. All spoil an evening, and all are avoidable with seven days' notice.

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead should a holiday house be prepared?

Seven days for a full preparation. Recharging the water system must be done well in advance to leave time to intervene if a fitting has failed, and the pool needs several days of continuous filtration before it is genuinely usable.

How do I recharge the water system after winterisation?

Open the main valve very slowly to avoid water hammer, then purge every outlet until the water runs clear and free of air. Then close everything and check the meter has stopped: it is the simplest leak test available.

Why does a closed house smell shut in?

Because moisture stagnates and volatile compounds accumulate in an unventilated volume. The remedy is ventilation, not heating: several days of generous airing in dry hours removes the smell, whereas heating without ventilating merely moves it around.

How long does it take to recommission a pool?

Allow three to four days: cleaning, rebalancing, treatment, then twenty-four to forty-eight hours of continuous filtration. A pool treated the day before may look clear without its chemistry being stable.

Should the heating be turned right up before an arrival?

No. Walls have several days of thermal inertia, and warm air introduced into a cold house condenses on the surfaces. A gradual rise over five days, with regular ventilation, gives a healthy house rather than a warm, damp one.