Turn the water on last.

Yes, seriously. The single most common spring cabin disaster is turning the water back on before you’ve checked for leaks, broken pipes, or mice nests in the plumbing. A slow drip behind a wall you can’t see will turn into a mold problem before you unpack your coolers.

Start outside. Walk the property, check for fallen trees, roof damage, animal intrusions. Open windows to air out the must. Then go inside and inspect every pipe, faucet, and toilet you can see. If you had antifreeze in the p-traps last fall, flush that out first. Once you’re sure everything is intact, then turn the main water valve on slowly. Watch for drips for a few minutes. Listen.

After water, check the furnace or heater before you need it. Pilot lights, gas lines, CO detectors — all that boring stuff. Then electricity. Flip breakers one at a time. If a rodent chewed a wire, you’ll find out when a breaker trips instead of when a wall catches fire.

You will be tempted to just flip the main breaker and run the water. Resist. Future you will be much happier not dealing with a flooded basement on Memorial Day weekend.