Essential 5 Winterizing Hacks to Prevent Your Pipes From Bursting in Cold Weather
Essential 5 Winterizing Hacks to Prevent Your Pipes From Bursting in Cold Weather
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All property owners that live in temperate environments must do their finest to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can mean catastrophe like icy, cracked, or ruptured pipelines.
Try a Hair Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipelines are practically freezing, your dependable hair dryer or warmth weapon is a blessing. If the warm towels do not help remove any kind of working out ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air straight right into them may help. Do not use other objects that create straight fires like an impact lantern. This can cause a larger calamity that you can not regulate. You might wind up destructive your pipelines while attempting to thaw the ice. And also in the future, you might also end up melting your residence. So be cautious!
Open Up Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would be handy to open up cabinet doors that are masking your pipelines. Doing this little trick can maintain your pipes cozy as well as restrict the potentially harmful end results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One very easy as well as great hack to warm up icy pipes is to wrap them with warm towels. You can likewise make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not forget to put on protective gloves to secure your hands from the heat.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and it appears as if the frigid temperature level will last, it will certainly assist to activate your water both inside your home and also outdoors. This will maintain the water streaming via your plumbing systems. Additionally, the movement will reduce the freezing process. Significantly, there's no need to transform it on full blast. You'll wind up wasting gallons of water by doing this. Rather, aim for about 5 decreases per min.
Turn off Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Switch off the main water valve promptly if you see that your pipelines are completely frozen or practically nearing that phase. You will normally find this in your cellar or utility room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off as soon as possible to stop further damage.
Don't fail to remember to shut external water sources, also, such as your connection for the yard residence. Doing this will certainly stop extra water from filling out your plumbing system. However, with even more water, even more ice will certainly pile up, which will eventually lead to burst pipes. If you are unsure regarding the state of your pipes this winter, it is best to call a professional plumber for an examination. Taking this proactive strategy can conserve you countless dollars out of commission.
All home owners that live in temperate environments need to do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can mean calamity like icy, cracked, or ruptured pipes. If the warm towels do not assist remove any clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling warm air directly into them may assist. Turn off the primary water shutoff quickly if you notice that your pipelines are totally frozen or practically nearing that phase. With even more water, even more ice will certainly load up, which will eventually 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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