North Texas doesn't get a Minnesota winter, but it gets enough winter to do real damage. Godley, Cleburne, and the rest of Johnson County see multiple hard freezes every year, and a single night in the low 20s is enough to crack a water pump, split a PEX line, or burst a water heater tank in an RV that wasn't winterized. Fall is the time to handle it — before the first freeze, not after.
This is the step that matters most, and the one that causes the most expensive repairs when it's skipped.
Drain the fresh water tank, water heater, and both holding tanks. Open every faucet — kitchen, bathroom, shower, and any outside shower — and open the low-point drains to let the whole system empty. Don't forget the toilet valve and ice maker or washing machine lines if you have them.
There are two ways to finish the job:
Whichever you choose, leave the faucets open for storage.
Wash the roof and sides and inspect while you're up there. Texas summer sun cooks roof sealant, and fall is when cracked lap sealant around vents, A/C units, and skylights starts leaking. Touch up any cracks with the sealant your roof type calls for. Check slide-out seals, window seals, and door gaskets, and treat rubber seals with a conditioner so they don't dry out over winter.
Clean and retract the awning fully dry — storing a damp awning is how you get mildew you can smell all next season. Lubricate hinges, stabilizers, and the hitch coupler, and close or cover vents so wasps and dirt daubers don't move in. Texas pests don't really take the winter off.
Tires age in storage even when they're not rolling. Inflate to the manufacturer's maximum cold pressure, park on boards or level pads rather than bare dirt if you're outdoors, and cover tires that will sit in the sun.
For batteries, a charged battery survives winter, a discharged one often doesn't. Clean the terminals, top off water on flooded batteries, fully charge them, then disconnect them, use a disconnect switch, or put them on a smart maintainer. Do the same for the starting battery on a motorhome.
Remove every bit of food — including the canned goods and packets people forget in the back of a cabinet. In North Texas, mice and insects are actively looking for a warm place with a pantry in November, and a stored RV is exactly that. Defrost and clean the refrigerator, prop its doors open, and leave baking soda inside. Strip bedding, empty closets, and stand cushions up for airflow. A couple of moisture absorbers help in the humid spells between freezes. Take out anything that shouldn't freeze: aerosols, liquids, and batteries in remotes and detectors.
A breathable RV cover helps if you're storing outdoors at home, but it won't stop hail, wind-blown debris, or months of UV on the roof. That's the main call we get in spring: not freeze damage inside, but storm and sun damage outside.
At Godley RV & Boat Storage in Godley, Texas, we offer covered and enclosed RV storage that keeps weather, hail, and sun off your rig all winter, plus self storage units if you want gear and off-season equipment out of the garage while the RV is parked. We're an easy drive from Cleburne, Burleson, Granbury, and Crowley, with 24/7 access, so checking on your RV mid-winter takes minutes, not a road trip.
Winterize the plumbing right, seal the roof, protect the batteries and tires, and park it under cover — do those things this fall and dewinterizing in spring is a flush and a road test, not a repair list.
Call us at (817) 709-5407 to reserve a covered or enclosed spot before the first hard freeze.
