Helpful Methods for Winterizing Your Pipes and Avoiding Freezing in Frigid Weather
Helpful Methods for Winterizing Your Pipes and Avoiding Freezing in Frigid Weather
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This great article down below pertaining to Winterizing Your Pipes is pretty much attention-grabbing. Check it out for your own benefit and figure out what you think about it.
All property owners who stay in warm environments should do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. It is something you need to do throughout fall prior to deep winter season genuinely begins. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like icy, broken, or ruptured pipes. If the weather outside is shocking, below are some useful winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system secured also.
Try a Hair Dryer or Warm Gun
When your pipelines are virtually freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or warmth gun is a godsend. If the hot towels do not help remove any type of working out ice in your pipes, bowling warm air straight into them might help. You might end up damaging your pipelines while trying to melt the ice.
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would be practical to open closet doors that are masking your pipelines. Doing this tiny method can maintain your pipes cozy and limit the possibly hazardous results of freezing temperatures.
Take Time to Wrap Exposed Pipes
One very easy as well as clever hack to heat up cold pipelines is to cover them with warm towels. You can cover them initially with towels. After securing them in position, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it slowly to let the towels absorb the liquid. You can additionally utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, just do not forget to use safety gloves to protect your hands from the heat.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature declines and it seems as if the freezing temperature will last, it will certainly aid to activate your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly keep the water streaming via your plumbing systems. Furthermore, the motion will reduce the freezing process. Significantly, there's no demand to turn it on full blast. You'll wind up wasting gallons of water this way. Rather, go for about 5 decreases per minute.
Shut Off Water When Pipes are Frozen
If you discover that your pipelines are completely frozen or almost nearing that stage, turn off the primary water shutoff instantly. You will typically locate this in your cellar or utility room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off today to prevent further damage.
Don't neglect to shut outside water sources, as well, such as your hookup for the garden house. Doing this will prevent added water from filling up your plumbing system. With even more water, more ice will certainly load up, which will at some point lead to break pipelines. It is best to call a professional plumber for an evaluation if you are unclear concerning the state of your pipes this wintertime. Taking this positive method can conserve you countless bucks out of commission.
All home owners who live in warm climates must do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can mean catastrophe like icy, broken, or burst pipelines. If the warm towels do not assist dislodge any type of clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight into them may assist. Transform off the main water valve right away if you see that your pipelines are totally frozen or practically nearing that stage. With even more water, more ice will pile up, which will at some point lead to rupture 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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