Useful Methods for Winterizing Your Pipes and Preventing Freezing in Frigid Weather
Useful Methods for Winterizing Your Pipes and Preventing Freezing in Frigid Weather
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Everyone has got their own unique assumption when it comes to Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes.
All house owners that live in warm environments need to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can lead to calamity like frozen, cracked, or ruptured pipelines.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature declines and also it appears as if the icy temperature level will certainly last, it will certainly help to turn on your water both inside as well as outdoors. This will certainly keep the water moving through your plumbing systems. On top of that, the motion will certainly slow down the freezing process. Notably, there's no requirement to transform it on full blast. You'll end up squandering gallons of water this way. Rather, aim for regarding 5 declines per min.
Open Up Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would certainly be valuable to open cupboard doors that are camouflaging your pipes when it's cool outside. For instance, they could be someplace in your kitchen or shower room. This will allow the warm air from your heating unit to flow there. As a result, you avoid these subjected pipes from freezing. Doing this little technique can keep your pipes warm and limit the possibly hazardous end results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One simple and also awesome hack to warm up icy pipes is to cover them with cozy towels. You can additionally use pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not fail to remember to wear protective handwear covers to safeguard your hands from the warm.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warmth Weapon
When your pipelines are virtually freezing, your trusty hair dryer or heat weapon is a blessing. Bowling warm air directly into them might help if the warm towels do not assist dislodge any kind of working out ice in your pipelines. Do not make use of other items that produce direct fires like an impact torch. This can lead to a larger disaster that you can not manage. You might wind up damaging your pipelines while trying to melt the ice. And also in the future, you may even wind up melting your home. So beware!
When Pipelines are Frozen, shut Off Water
Turn off the main water shutoff immediately if you see that your pipelines are completely frozen or almost nearing that stage. You will usually locate this in your basement or laundry room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off right now to avoid additional damage.
Do not fail to remember to shut exterior water sources, also, such as your hookup for the yard house. Doing this will protect against added water from filling up your plumbing system. With more water, more ice will certainly load up, which will eventually lead to rupture pipes. If you are not sure about the state of your pipelines this winter, it is best to call an expert plumber for an evaluation. Taking this positive method can save you hundreds of dollars in repairs.
All property owners that live in pleasant environments have to do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can lead to calamity like frozen, cracked, or ruptured pipes. If the hot towels do not aid remove any settling ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air straight into them might help. Transform off the main water shutoff promptly if you discover that your pipelines are completely icy or almost nearing that phase. With even more water, more ice will certainly pile up, which will ultimately 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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