Top Five Winterizing Hacks to Ensure Your Pipes Survive the Cold
Top Five Winterizing Hacks to Ensure Your Pipes Survive the Cold
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This post which follows about Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes is highly motivating. Don't miss it.
All house owners who live in temperate environments need to do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like frozen, split, or burst pipelines.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature decreases and also it seems as if the freezing temperature will last, it will certainly aid to turn on your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly keep the water flowing with your plumbing systems. You'll finish up throwing away gallons of water this way.
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would certainly be valuable to open up closet doors that are camouflaging your pipes when it's cold outside. For example, they could be somewhere in your kitchen or shower room. This will permit the warm air from your heating unit to circulate there. Consequently, you protect against these revealed pipelines from cold. Doing this small technique can maintain your pipes warm as well as restrict the potentially hazardous end results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Some Time to Wrap Exposed Pipes
One nifty as well as easy hack to warm up icy pipelines is to wrap them with warm towels. You can likewise use pre-soaked towels in warm water, just don't forget to put on protective gloves to safeguard your hands from the heat.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Heat Gun
When your pipes are practically freezing, your dependable hair dryer or heat weapon is a blessing. If the hot towels do not aid dislodge any working out ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them might aid. Do not make use of various other objects that create straight fires like a strike lantern. This can lead to a larger calamity that you can not control. You may wind up destructive your pipelines while trying to thaw the ice. As well as in the long run, you might also wind up melting your house. Be cautious!
Shut down Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Switch off the primary water shutoff instantly if you notice that your pipelines are entirely icy or virtually nearing that stage. You will usually discover this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Turn it off today to prevent further damage.
Don't fail to remember to shut exterior water sources, too, such as your hookup for the yard residence. Doing this will protect against additional water from filling up your plumbing system. With even more water, more ice will pile up, which will at some point lead to burst pipes. If you are not sure concerning the state of your pipes this winter months, it is best to call a professional plumber for an examination. Taking this positive technique can save you thousands of dollars in repairs.
All property owners who live in temperate climates have to do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like frozen, split, or burst pipes. If the warm towels do not assist remove any type of working out ice in your pipes, bowling warm air directly right into them might aid. Transform off the main water shutoff quickly if you see that your pipes are completely icy or practically nearing that stage. With even more water, more ice will certainly stack up, which will at some point lead to break pipelines.
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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