Coming back to your Fort Lauderdale home for the winter should feel exciting. After months up north, there’s nothing quite like feeling the sun on your shoulders as you open the door, turn on the air, and settle back into South Florida life.
But behind the excitement often looms a worry: What exactly did I come back to?
While you were away and enjoying the northern breeze, your Florida home sat through the hottest, most humid, and most storm-prone part of the year. Even if things look good on the surface when you return, months of heat, heavy rain, wind, moisture, and year-round pest activity can create small issues that are easy to miss at first.
That's why it helps to know exactly what to check when you return to your Florida home. This guide walks through a simple Fort Lauderdale snowbird checklist — room by room, system by system — so you can catch minor issues before they turn into expensive repairs.
Specifically, we’ll focus on three main areas: your home’s systems, signs of pest activity, and your lawn and landscape.
Evergreen has served Florida properties since 1991, so we know exactly what a vacant seasonal home in Fort Lauderdale can go through while its owners are away.
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Your First-Day Walkthrough
Before you start unpacking, opening windows, or giving everything a “come back” cleaning, take a few minutes to walk through the property exactly as you found it. Those first impressions can be revealing. Before doing anything else:
Notice any musty or mildew smell as soon as you walk in. A strong, stale odor can be an early sign that excess moisture built up inside the home. This is especially important if the AC or dehumidification system did not run consistently.
Check your thermostat or humidistat history. If you use a smart thermostat, review the app to confirm the system actually operated throughout the summer. Unexpected gaps or unusually high indoor humidity readings are worth investigating.
Scan baseboards, windowsills and countertops before cleaning. Look for droppings, shed insect wings, dead insects, or other signs of pest activity. If you clean first, you risk erasing useful clues about where pests may have been entering or gathering.
Walk the exterior of the home. Look for loose or missing shingles, torn screens, downed branches, damaged vents, and gaps around soffits or rooflines that may have opened during summer storms.
Check the mailbox, porch, and entryway. A buildup of flyers, packages, mail, or debris can help you understand how closely the property was actually being watched while you were gone. This is even more telling if a neighbor, property manager, or house-sitter was supposed to be checking in.
Household Systems to Check After Months Away
Before you get back into your normal routine, it’s worth giving the major household systems a quick check. You don’t need to diagnose anything yourself, but a once-over can allow you to catch anything that looks, sounds, or feels different from when you left.
Air Conditioning & Humidity Control
Air conditioning isn’t just about cooling the home while you’re away. It also helps control indoor humidity. Many snowbirds leave their AC set somewhere around 78-82°F during the summer for that exact reason.
When you return to your Fort Lauderdale home:
Confirm the AC is cooling normally and, if you have a smart thermostat, check that it ran consistently while you were away.
Replace the air filter, even if it doesn’t look especially dirty.
Look around vents, closets, and behind furniture for visible mold, mildew, or condensation.
Pay attention to whether the house still feels unusually humid after the AC has been running.
If you notice persistent humidity, condensation, or signs that the system wasn’t operating properly, have an HVAC professional inspect it. Excess indoor moisture can create favorable conditions for mold and pests like cockroaches.
Plumbing
Water systems that haven’t been used regularly for several months deserve a quick walkthrough, too.
Run every faucet for a few minutes and flush each toilet to clear stagnant water and make sure everything is flowing properly.
Check beneath sinks, around toilets, and near the water heater for dampness, discoloration, water stains, or pooling.
Listen for toilets that continue running after flushing or faucets that drip after being turned off.
If your property has a pool system or irrigation backflow device, check the surrounding area for signs of an ongoing leak or excessive water use.
A small leak is easy to overlook when you’re living in a home every day. When a property has been vacant for months though, even a slow drip has had plenty of time to leave evidence behind.
Electrical
South Florida’s summer thunderstorms can be hard on electrical systems, even when there hasn’t been obvious storm damage.
Test the GFCI outlets in the kitchen, bathrooms, garage, and outdoor areas using their built-in test and reset buttons.
Check exterior lights and fixtures for visible storm or water damage.
Make sure appliances, electronics, and other equipment connected to surge protection are operating normally.
If breakers repeatedly trip, outlets appear damaged, or anything smells burnt or behaves unusually, leave the troubleshooting to a licensed electrician.
Roof, Attic, and Ceilings
You may have missed all the storms, but your home has just been through an entire Florida rainy season. To check for potential rain-related damage:
Scan ceilings for new stains, bubbling paint, discoloration, or sagging areas.
If the attic is safely accessible, check for damp insulation, water staining, or signs of a roof leak.
Look around attic vents, roof penetrations, and other openings for gaps or damage.
Checking these areas will also come in handy when you move on to the pest portion of your walkthrough. Attics, soffits, rooflines, and other upper openings are common places for insects and other pests to find their way into a Florida home.
Pest Signs to Look For in Your Fort Lauderdale Home
Being away from your home for several months can give pests plenty of time to move in without anyone noticing. That does not necessarily mean you have a major issue or require pest control, but it does make your return a good time to look for the clues pests leave behind.
The key to spotting a potential problem is knowing what those clues actually look like and where they tend to show up.
Rodents
Rodents are skilled in staying hidden. You’re more likely to notice evidence of them before you actually ever see one. Look for:
Small, dark droppings shaped somewhat like grains of rice, especially in pantries, garages, attics, cabinets, and along baseboards.
Gnaw marks on food packaging, wood trim, baseboards, or electrical wiring.
Shredded insulation, paper, or fabric gathered into nesting material in attics, garages, or storage areas.
A stale, ammonia-like odor in closed-up rooms, cabinets, or the attic.
Pay particular attention to areas where food was stored and to quiet spaces that were rarely disturbed while you were away.
Cockroaches and Palmetto Bugs
In South Florida, homeowners often use the term “palmetto bug” to describe some of the larger cockroach species found around homes. Whether you see a large roach or a much smaller species, the evidence they leave behind can help you determine whether it was simply a one-off visitor, or an issue requiring professional pest control. Check for:
Tiny, dark droppings that resemble pepper flakes or dark smear marks along baseboards, pantry shelves, cabinet hinges, and beneath sinks.
Oval, brownish egg cases (called oothecae) tucked into cabinet corners, cracks, or behind appliances.
A lingering musty odor inside cabinets or enclosed spaces that remains even after normal cleaning.
Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and other areas near sinks and drains are good places to start because cockroaches are attracted to moisture.
Termites
Termite activity can be tricky for seasonal residents to identify unless they are looking for the signs, because much of it happens quietly and out of sight. Follow these steps to check for evidence of termites:
- Check for drywood termites by looking for small piles of hard, pellet-like droppings (called frass) beneath windowsills, wood trim, furniture, or other wooden surfaces. From a distance, these can resemble coarse sawdust or ground pepper.
- Check for subterranean termites by looking for narrow mud tubes, often about pencil-width, running along the foundation, exterior walls, support posts, or other surfaces between the soil and the structure.
Termite activity in South Florida commonly picks up during the spring and warmer months, which overlaps with the time many Canadian and northern snowbirds are away. This means evidence can develop for months before anyone is there to notice it.
For that reason, a professional pest inspection can be worthwhile after you return, even when you don’t see obvious damage yourself.
Ants
It’s not unusual to see a few ants at your property in Florida. However, established trails or outdoor colonies deserve a closer look. Watch for:
Steady ant trails along countertops, baseboards, cabinets, sinks, and bathroom fixtures.
Activity around pet food bowls, trash areas, or pantry goods.
New fire ant mounds in the lawn, particularly in sunny areas or along sidewalks and driveways.
Fire ants are a nuisance and their stings can be painful. It is important to address active mounds before family members or guests begin walking through the yard barefoot.
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Wasps and Other Stinging Insects
Areas that go undisturbed all summer become convenient nesting spots for wasps and other stinging insects. Before reaching into or moving outdoor items, check:
Under roof eaves and overhangs.
Around soffit vents.
In the porch and lanai corners.
Beneath patio tables, chairs, umbrellas, grills, and other outdoor furniture.
If you find an active nest in a hard-to-reach location, avoid disturbing it and have it handled professionally.
Mosquitoes
Florida rains can leave behind many small places for water to collect. These tiny puddles create ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. To ensure there are no breeding puddles around your home, walk the property and check:
Gutters and downspouts.
Plant saucers and decorative pots.
Pool covers.
Buckets, toys, tarps, and outdoor containers.
Any low spot or object that may be holding stagnant water.
In addition, pay attention to how the yard feels around dusk. If mosquitoes seem noticeably heavier around your property than at neighboring homes, there may be breeding sites nearby that require mosquito control.
Ultimately, you don’t need to identify every pest perfectly on your own. The purpose of this walkthrough is to spot anything unusual and understand where activity may be occurring. A professional inspection can then help confirm what you are seeing, locate less-obvious trouble spots, and determine whether treatment is actually necessary.
Why South Florida Homes Need Extra Attention on Arrival
Your seasonal home in South Florida deals with a different environment than homes farther north. Fort Lauderdale pest control for seasonal residents looks a little different than it does elsewhere. Broward County has special circumstances that make checking things over even more important.
Canal-Fronts & Waterfronts
Fort Lauderdale’s extensive canals and waterways contribute to the consistently humid, moisture-rich conditions surrounding many local properties. If your property backs up to a canal, sits near the Intracoastal, or stays shaded and damp for long stretches, pay extra attention to standing water and wood-to-soil contact when you return. Those spots stay favorable for pests even after a home has been closed up all summer.
Lush, Tropical Landscapes
The same palms, shrubs, and dense landscapes that make South Florida yards feel like a retreat also give pests plenty of cover when they’re left to grow unchecked for months. And unlike landscaping in northern climates, South Florida vegetation can continue growing aggressively throughout much of the time snowbirds are away.
Year-Round Warm Environment
Unlike northern homes, a South Florida property doesn’t get much of a winter “off-season” in pest activity. A seasonal home left empty for months can see more pest activity than a similar home that’s occupied year-round.
Getting the Lawn & Landscape Back in Shape
Often, the lawn is one of the first places snowbirds notice the effects of being away for several months. In South Florida, the summer brings intense heat and heavy rain, which accelerate plant growth. Even a yard that looked great when you left can appear thin, patchy, overgrown, or full of weeds when you return.
Before making any major lawn care updates or changes to your landscape, start with a slow walk around the property.
Check the turf for thin spots, weeds, and irregular brown patches. If an area stays brown even after proper watering, lawn pests (like chinch bugs) may be part of the problem rather than simple drought stress.
Run the irrigation system zone by zone. Look for broken, clogged, or misaligned sprinkler heads, and make sure water is actually reaching the areas that need it.
Review the irrigation timer. Seasonal homes are often left on an old setting, a builder default, or whatever schedule a house-sitter thought was appropriate. Reset it based on current conditions rather than assuming the summer schedule still makes sense.
Trim shrubs and tree branches away from the house. Overgrown landscaping can create easy bridges for ants, roaches, rodents, and other pests to move from the yard onto the structure.
If the lawn looks significantly different from when you left, a professional lawn inspection can help determine whether you are dealing with irrigation problems, nutrient issues, pest damage, or some combination of all three.
When to Call in the Pros
Although a careful walkthrough can tell you a lot about what happened while you were away, some problems simply aren’t easy to spot without knowing exactly where to look.
Because of this, after you’ve worked through your own checklist, a professional pest and lawn inspection is one of the most efficient and effective ways to catch anything you may have missed. A trained technician can look beyond the obvious signs and check the most likely entry points, hidden pest activity, lawn damage, moisture-prone areas, and other conditions that may have developed during the months you were away.
Evergreen has been serving Florida properties since 1991, with licensed professionals who understand the pest and lawn pressures that come with South Florida’s year-round heat, humidity, and growing season.
Evergreen offers free estimates and same-day service availability (when scheduling permits). The goal isn’t to simply spray and leave, but to identify what’s causing the problem, address the conditions contributing to it, and use targeted treatment where appropriate. Furthermore, bilingual service may also be available depending on the location and technician.
Most importantly, you don’t need to assume every strange spot in the lawn or every insect you find means there’s a major problem. Likewise, not seeing any evidence doesn’t mean nothing is happening. An inspection gives you a clearer picture so you can deal with what actually needs attention and get back to enjoying your winter in South Florida.
If you’re returning to a seasonal home in Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, or elsewhere in Broward County, contact Evergreen for a free estimate or to schedule an inspection. Evergreen’s Fort Lauderdale-area office can be reached at (954) 335-0661.