Effective Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing and Protecting Against Freezing Temperatures
Effective Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing and Protecting Against Freezing Temperatures
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How do you really feel in relation to How to stop pipes from freezing during the winter?
All homeowners that reside in pleasant environments must do their best to winterize their pipelines. It is something you have to do throughout fall prior to deep winter genuinely starts. Failing to do so can lead to disaster like frozen, cracked, or ruptured pipelines. If the weather condition outside is shocking, here are some handy winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system safeguarded even.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warm Weapon
When your pipes are virtually freezing, your reliable hair dryer or warm weapon is a godsend. If the warm towels do not assist displace any type of settling ice in your pipes, bowling hot air directly right into them might help. You might end up harmful your pipes while trying to thaw the ice.
Open Up Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cold outside, it would be handy to open cabinet doors that are masking your pipes. Doing this little trick can keep your pipes warm as well as limit the potentially dangerous outcomes of freezing temperature levels.
Require Time to Wrap Exposed Pipes
One awesome and easy hack to heat up freezing pipelines is to cover them with warm towels. You can additionally make use of pre-soaked towels in warm water, simply do not forget to put on protective gloves to protect your hands from the heat.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature drops as well as it appears as if the frigid temperature level will certainly last, it will aid to activate your water both inside and also outdoors. This will keep the water streaming with your plumbing systems. Additionally, the motion will decrease the cold procedure. Significantly, there's no requirement to turn it on full blast. You'll wind up squandering gallons of water this way. Instead, aim for about 5 declines per minute.
Turn off Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Shut off the main water valve promptly if you discover that your pipelines are totally frozen or practically nearing that phase. You will usually find this in your basement or laundry room near the heater or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off immediately to avoid more damages.
With even more water, even more ice will certainly pile up, which will at some point lead to rupture pipelines. If you are unsure regarding the state of your pipelines this winter, it is best to call a professional plumber for an assessment.
All homeowners who live in warm environments have to do their finest to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can mean disaster like frozen, cracked, or burst pipes. If the warm towels do not assist displace any type of clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight right into them may help. Transform off the major water valve instantly if you see that your pipes are entirely icy or practically nearing that phase. With even more water, more ice will stack up, which will at some point lead to burst 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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