Avoid Pipe Bursts in Cold Weather: 5 Effective Winterizing Hacks
Avoid Pipe Bursts in Cold Weather: 5 Effective Winterizing Hacks
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What are your opinions regarding Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes?
All homeowners that live in temperate climates have to do their finest to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can mean calamity like frozen, cracked, or burst pipelines.
Try a Hair Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipes are virtually freezing, your trusty hair dryer or warm weapon is a godsend. Bowling warm air directly right into them might aid if the hot towels do not assist remove any kind of settling ice in your pipelines. However, do not utilize various other things that produce direct flames like a blow torch. This can result in a bigger disaster that you can not manage. You may wind up harmful your pipes while trying to melt the ice. As well as in the future, you might also end up shedding your residence. So beware!
Open Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cold outside, it would certainly be practical to open closet doors that are concealing your pipes. Doing this small method can keep your pipes cozy and also restrict the potentially dangerous end results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Water Lines
One clever and very easy hack to heat up freezing pipelines is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can likewise use pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply don't neglect to use safety gloves to guard your hands from the warmth.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature drops as well as it appears as if the cold temperature will last, it will certainly aid to transform on your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly maintain the water flowing with your plumbing systems. You'll finish up throwing away gallons of water this means.
When Pipes are Frozen, shut Off Water
If you notice that your pipelines are entirely icy or practically nearing that stage, turn off the major water shutoff promptly. You will normally locate this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off as soon as possible to stop more damage.
Don't fail to remember to shut outside water sources, as well, such as your hookup for the garden home. Doing this will avoid extra water from filling your plumbing system. Unfortunately, with even more water, even more ice will certainly accumulate, which will at some point cause break pipelines. If you are unsure regarding the state of your pipes this winter season, it is best to call a professional plumber for an evaluation. Taking this aggressive technique can save you thousands of bucks out of commission.
All homeowners that live in warm climates must do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can lead to calamity like frozen, fractured, or burst pipes. If the warm towels do not assist displace any type of working out ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air straight into them might assist. Transform off the primary water valve immediately if you see that your pipelines are totally icy or nearly nearing that stage. With even more water, more ice will certainly pile up, which will at some point lead to rupture pipes.
Planning Ahead for Winter Plumbing!
Given how the weather has been recently here in Kansas City, it may not seem like it, but the truth is winter is quickly approaching. As we near the end of September, it is never a bad idea to start considering which areas of your home could use some preventative maintenance heading into the colder months, as well as what you should remember to do once the colder temps settle in. And considering your plumbing system can certainly be impacted by changing weather conditions, guess what we’ll be talking about today?
For those that are visiting our blog for the very first time, welcome to Stine-Nichols Plumbing. Here on the blog, we post weekly about various aspects of the plumbing world. Whether that be DIY tips, brand highlights or anything else, they’re all designed to make homeowners more knowledgeable about their plumbing systems. Believe it or not, even just some general knowledge about one’s plumbing can go a long way in preventing unneeded repairs and keeping everything running smoothly. As referenced in the previous paragraph, this week’s blog will walk through a few of the steps you can do to your own plumbing system to ensure you’re ready to go for the upcoming winter weather and tips for keeping it all in working order as the winter carries on. Let’s hop right in!
Disconnect Hoses
You’ve likely heard this one on multiple occasions, but it is certainly something worth mentioning. Make sure to disconnect any and all outdoor hoses and then turn off those outdoor faucets at the shut-off. The logic behind this is probably something you would have learned in a grade school science class. When water freezes, it expands. Thus, due to this, it’s going to occupy more space. And if there’s no space to occupy, trouble ensues. It’s as simple as that!
Long story short, if you have room to store them indoors, do so. If not, just be sure to completely drain them and then store them in a dry area, such as the garage or a shed. Failure to disconnect the hoses can easily result in frozen/bursting pipes and plumbing headaches for you, especially if there is still water sitting in the hose! Do yourself a favor and disconnect your hoses once you know you won’t be using them anymore for that season. It’s a quick-and-easy step that’s always worth the time.
Headed Out of Town?
Our next point will likely get more and more relevant as we get into the holiday season. Do you remember the extreme arctic blast that hit the Kansas City area in February of 2021? Sub-zero temps, frigid wind chills, it was definitely not the funnest of times for KC residents. Nonetheless, here at Stine-Nichols Plumbing, it’s safe to say our technicians were quite busy dealing with frozen/bursting pipes. What I’m hinting at here is that you never know when we’ll experience extremely cold temperatures. So if you’re going to be out of town for a little bit, it’s never a bad idea to turn off your water at the main shut-off valve. While this won’t prevent every possible plumbing issue, it will at least limit the damage if something bad were to occur. Especially if you don’t have a family member or friend that’ll be checking on your home while you’re away, make sure to keep this tip in mind!
By the way, it may sound like a no-brainer to most, but if you are headed out of town, make sure to also keep the heat on inside while away. You will have some added energy costs from heating a home while nobody’s there, but if it prevents you from dealing with a plumbing emergency, it’s well worth it!
Leave Cabinet Doors Open
As you may start to notice, the primary winter plumbing problem that you need to be mindful of involves pipes freezing. Whether it be indoors or outdoors, they can freeze for a few different reasons, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of various tactics you can implement to improve your odds of keeping everything in working order. Yet another one of these that you’ve likely heard before is leaving the cabinet doors under your bathroom or kitchen sink open. Will this provide complete protection? Not necessarily. However, this is an easy way to make sure some of the heat in your home is reaching those pipes that aren’t insulated under your sinks.
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