Helpful Methods to Winterize Your Plumbing and Stop Freezing in Frigid Conditions
Helpful Methods to Winterize Your Plumbing and Stop Freezing in Frigid Conditions
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Each person maintains their own notions with regards to How to Prevent Frozen Pipes.
All house owners who live in warm climates should do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can spell catastrophe like frozen, cracked, or burst pipelines.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Heat Weapon
When your pipes are almost freezing, your dependable hair dryer or warmth gun is a godsend. Bowling hot air directly right into them might help if the hot towels do not assist displace any resolving ice in your pipes. Nevertheless, do not utilize other things that create direct fires like a strike torch. This can lead to a bigger catastrophe that you can not regulate. You might wind up destructive your pipelines while trying to melt the ice. And also in the long run, you might also wind up shedding your residence. So be cautious!
Open Up Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cold outside, it would be helpful to open cabinet doors that are concealing your pipelines. Doing this tiny method can keep your pipelines cozy and also limit the possibly dangerous results of freezing temperatures.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Piping
One nifty and also simple hack to heat up freezing pipes is to wrap them with warm towels. You can additionally utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, just do not fail to remember to use safety gloves to secure your hands from the warm.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and also it seems as if the cold temperature will certainly last, it will certainly aid to turn on your water both inside and outdoors. This will certainly keep the water moving with your plumbing systems. You'll end up losing gallons of water this way.
Shut down Water When Pipelines are Frozen
If you discover that your pipelines are completely icy or virtually nearing that stage, transform off the main water valve instantly. You will typically locate this in your cellar or laundry room near the heater or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off as soon as possible to stop further damage.
With even more water, even more ice will stack up, which will eventually lead to rupture pipes. If you are not sure concerning the state of your pipelines this winter season, it is best to call an expert plumber for an examination.
All homeowners who live in pleasant climates have to do their finest to winterize their pipes. Failure to do so can mean disaster like frozen, broken, or ruptured pipelines. If the warm towels do not help displace any type of working out ice in your pipes, bowling hot air directly right into them may assist. Turn off the main water valve quickly if you notice that your pipelines are totally frozen or practically nearing that phase. With even more water, more ice will certainly stack up, which will ultimately lead to burst 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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I was shown that write-up about Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes from an associate on a different web blog. You should set aside a second to promote this blog posting if you enjoyed it. We value reading our article about Winterizing Your Pipes.
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