Closing Your Cabin or Camp for Winter: A Northern Michigan Plumbing Checklist

August feels early to be thinking about closing up camp. But the smart move is to plan while the weather is good — because the cabins that come through a Northern Michigan winter without burst pipes are almost always the ones where somebody did the shutdown right back in October, not the ones where someone figured they'd deal with it later.

Water left in pipes when temperatures drop below freezing expands. Pipes crack, fittings split, and what starts as an unheated cabin in November becomes a flooded mess come spring. The good news is that winterizing a cabin's plumbing isn't complicated — it just has to be thorough. Leaving one line full of water can undo everything else you did right.

Step 1: Shut Off the Water Supply

Everything starts here. Find your main shut-off — either at the pressure tank if you're on a private well, or at the main entry point if you're on a shared system or municipal line — and close it completely. Once it's off, open a faucet somewhere in the house to bleed pressure from the lines before you start draining.

If your cabin is on a shared well or community system, contact whoever manages the system before you disconnect or shut off anything. Some systems require a specific procedure to isolate individual cabins.

Step 2: Drain the Water Heater

A standard tank water heater holds anywhere from 30 to 80 gallons. That water will freeze and damage the tank if the cabin loses heat. Draining it is non-negotiable for an unheated cabin.

To drain it: turn the thermostat to the pilot setting or switch it off entirely, connect a hose to the drain valve at the bottom of the tank, and run it somewhere that can handle the volume — a floor drain, outside, or a utility sink. Open a hot water faucet somewhere in the house to let air in as the tank drains; without that air vent, the water won't flow freely. Once drained, leave the drain valve open and the hot water faucet open — this signals anyone who checks on the cabin that the system has been winterized.

If you have a tankless water heater, draining it is simpler — most tankless units have small service ports for exactly this purpose. Consult your unit's manual, or have a plumber handle it the first time so you know the right procedure for your specific model.

Step 3: Drain All Supply Lines

With the main shut off and the water heater draining, open every faucet in the cabin — hot and cold, kitchen and bath, laundry, utility sink, everything. Let them run until water stops flowing. Then leave them open. Open faucets allow air to circulate through the lines, which helps any residual water drain out and prevents a vacuum lock that can trap water in a low spot.

Don't forget: outdoor faucets and sillcocks need to be opened too. If your outdoor faucets are frost-free sillcocks (which most Northern Michigan cabins should have), they're designed to drain themselves when you close them — but only if the interior shut-off is closed and there's no hose attached. Remove garden hoses before you close the sillcock for winter. A hose left on a frost-free sillcock traps water in the valve body and defeats the whole frost-free design.

Step 4: Drain the Toilet Tanks and Bowls

Toilets hold water in two places: the tank (the upper reservoir) and the trap in the bowl. Both need to be addressed.

Flush each toilet after the water supply is shut off — the tank will empty and won't refill. Then use a sponge or a small wet-vac to remove the remaining water from the tank completely. For the bowl, either sponge it dry or pour a cup or two of RV antifreeze (propylene glycol — not automotive antifreeze, which is toxic) into the bowl. The antifreeze displaces the water in the trap and prevents it from freezing without requiring you to get every last drop out. Use RV antifreeze in the same way for any floor drains, sink traps, and the shower drain — a small pour into each one is enough.

Step 5: Handle the Pressure Tank

If your cabin has its own pressure tank and well pump, the pressure tank needs attention before winter. The tank itself holds both water and compressed air — in a freeze, the water portion can cause damage. Most pressure tanks have a drain at the bottom; open it to release the water.

For the well pump itself: if the pump is submersible (below ground, inside the well), it's generally protected by the earth and the water column above it, which don't freeze under normal winter conditions. The more vulnerable part is the supply line between the well and the cabin, particularly where it rises above the frost line near the foundation. If that section isn't buried deep enough or is exposed inside an unheated crawl space, it can freeze even if the pump itself is fine.

If you're unsure about your well setup, this is worth reviewing with a plumber before your first winter in a new cabin. Getting it right matters — a frozen and burst supply line in March means no water at all until someone digs it out.

Step 6: Check the Sump Pump

If your cabin has a sump pump, don't just unplug it and walk away. Spring snowmelt and early rain can fill a sump pit in March well before anyone is back to reopen the cabin. A sump pump that's been unplugged all winter isn't doing any good when the pit is overflowing.

The right approach depends on your situation. If the cabin is heated to at least 40°F over the winter (even with a low-set thermostat), leave the sump pump plugged in and operational. If the cabin is truly unheated and the pump itself could freeze, disconnect the discharge line where it exits the pit, remove the pump, and store it indoors — then reinstall and test it when you open up in spring. Without a functioning pump, a spring flood is all but guaranteed in lower-lying Northern Michigan properties.

Step 7: Insulate and Protect Vulnerable Spots

Even after draining, some cabins have spots where pipes are more exposed than others — unheated crawl spaces, areas near exterior walls, pipes running through uninsulated bump-outs or additions. Before you close up, take a walk through and identify any exposed pipe runs. Foam pipe insulation is cheap and takes ten minutes to install. It's not a substitute for draining, but it adds a buffer against brief cold snaps in a cabin that might still have a little residual heat.

Also check that any vents into the crawl space are closed for winter — open foundation vents are great for summer ventilation but let in frigid air all winter long and are a leading cause of frozen pipes in cabin crawl spaces.

Step 8: Document What You Did

This sounds unnecessary until you're standing in your cabin in May trying to remember whether you actually drained the water heater or just meant to. Before you leave for the season, write down what was shut off, what was drained, and where the shut-offs are located. Leave that note somewhere obvious — taped inside a cabinet door, stuck to the pressure tank, whatever works. If someone else checks on the cabin over the winter, they'll know what state things are in.

When to Call a Plumber for Winterization

Most cabin winterizations are genuinely DIY-able if you know your system and follow the steps carefully. Where it makes sense to call a plumber:

• It's your first winter closing the cabin and you're not sure you know where everything is
• Your plumbing system is older or complex — multiple zones, a boiler, in-floor heat, an older well setup
• You want to use compressed air to blow out lines (this is effective but requires the right equipment and technique)
• You had a pipe freeze or burst last winter and want to make sure the root cause is addressed
• Your cabin will be truly unattended for six or more months with no one checking on it

A professional winterization typically takes an hour or two and costs a fraction of what a burst pipe repair costs — let alone the water damage that follows it.

Opening Back Up in Spring

When you come back in spring, reverse the process slowly. Close all the faucets and drain valves you opened before you restore water supply. Turn the water back on gradually and walk the cabin checking for drips or sprays — any fitting or joint that had a small crack over winter will make itself known quickly. Fill the water heater completely before relighting it or turning it on; heating an empty tank will damage the element.

If anything looks wrong — a pipe that seems off, water staining on a ceiling or floor, a fitting that's visibly cracked — call a plumber before you have guests arriving. Spring damage is easier and cheaper to fix when it's caught early.

The Bottom Line

Closing a Northern Michigan cabin for winter is one of those things that rewards thoroughness. Miss a step and you risk coming back in spring to a costly mess. Do it right and you can forget about the cabin until opening day. The checklist isn't long — shut off the water, drain the heater, open the faucets, handle the toilets and traps, check the sump pump — but every item on it matters.

If you'd rather have a licensed plumber walk through the cabin and sign off on the shutdown, Zenco covers the entire Mancelona area and the surrounding 45 miles. One visit now beats a spring repair call.