Practical Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing and Protecting Against Freezing Temperatures
Practical Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing and Protecting Against Freezing Temperatures
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In this article down the page you will find a bunch of worthwhile points relating to How to Prevent Frozen Pipes.
All home owners that live in temperate environments need to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. It is something you should do throughout autumn prior to deep wintertime really starts. Failing to do so can mean calamity like icy, split, or ruptured pipelines. Here are some helpful winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system safeguarded even if the climate outside is terrible.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Heat Gun
When your pipes are virtually freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or warm gun is a blessing. If the warm towels do not help dislodge any type of clearing up ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air straight right into them might assist. Do not utilize other objects that produce direct fires like an impact torch. This can lead to a larger catastrophe that you can not manage. You may end up destructive your pipelines while trying to melt the ice. And also over time, you might even wind up burning your house. So be cautious!
Open Up Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would certainly be handy to open cupboard doors that are masking your pipes when it's cold outside. They might be somewhere in your kitchen area or shower room. This will certainly permit the cozy air from your heating system to flow there. As a result, you prevent these exposed pipelines from cold. Doing this tiny technique can keep your pipelines warm as well as limit the potentially harmful results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Pipes
One easy and nifty hack to heat up cold pipelines is to cover them with warm towels. You can likewise utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't neglect to put on protective handwear covers to safeguard your hands from the warmth.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature declines and it seems as if the icy temperature level will last, it will certainly help to activate your water both inside and outdoors. This will maintain the water flowing with your plumbing systems. On top of that, the movement will reduce the freezing process. Notably, there's no requirement to turn it on full force. You'll wind up squandering gallons of water this way. Rather, aim for regarding 5 drops per minute.
When Pipes are Frozen, close Off Water
If you discover that your pipelines are entirely icy or nearly nearing that phase, turn off the main water shutoff right away. You will usually locate this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Turn it off right away to prevent more damage.
Don't forget to shut exterior water resources, too, such as your connection for the garden house. Doing this will certainly prevent additional water from filling your plumbing system. However, with more water, more ice will certainly accumulate, which will eventually result in rupture pipes. It is best to call a specialist plumber for an evaluation if you are not sure concerning the state of your pipelines this wintertime. Taking this aggressive method can save you thousands of bucks out of commission.
All house owners that live in temperate climates have to do their finest to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can lead to calamity like frozen, fractured, or burst pipes. If the hot towels do not help remove any clearing up ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air directly right into them might assist. Transform off the main water valve immediately if you observe that your pipelines are entirely frozen or almost nearing that stage. With more water, more ice will pile up, which will ultimately 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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