Wise Winterizing Solutions: A Handful of Techniques to Prevent Pipe Bursts
Wise Winterizing Solutions: A Handful of Techniques to Prevent Pipe Bursts
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How do you really feel on the subject of How to stop pipes from freezing during the winter?
All home owners who stay in warm environments must do their finest to winterize their pipelines. It is something you have to do throughout autumn before deep wintertime absolutely starts. Failing to do so can spell disaster like frozen, cracked, or burst pipes. If the weather condition outside is terrible, below are some convenient winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system protected even.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature declines and also it appears as if the frigid temperature level will certainly last, it will certainly assist to activate your water both indoors and also outdoors. This will certainly maintain the water flowing through your plumbing systems. On top of that, the movement will certainly slow down the freezing procedure. Especially, there's no need to transform it on full blast. You'll wind up losing gallons of water by doing this. Rather, go for regarding 5 decreases per min.
Open Up Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would be handy to open up closet doors that are camouflaging your pipes when it's cool outside. For instance, they could be somewhere in your kitchen area or restroom. This will enable the warm air from your heater to circulate there. Therefore, you avoid these revealed pipelines from cold. Doing this small method can maintain your pipes warm as well as restrict the possibly dangerous end results of freezing temperatures.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One easy and also clever hack to heat up cold pipelines is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can likewise utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't neglect to use protective gloves to protect your hands from the heat.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Heat Gun
When your pipes are almost freezing, your dependable hair dryer or heat gun is a godsend. If the warm towels do not assist remove any resolving ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them may help. Nonetheless, do not make use of other objects that generate straight flames like an impact torch. This can result in a bigger disaster that you can not control. You might wind up harmful your pipes while attempting to thaw the ice. And also over time, you may also wind up melting your house. Beware!
When Pipes are Frozen, shut Off Water
If you discover that your pipes are entirely icy or practically nearing that phase, turn off the major water valve instantly. You will usually find this in your cellar or utility room near the heater or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off today to avoid more damage.
With even more water, more ice will certainly load up, which will eventually lead to rupture pipelines. If you are unsure about the state of your pipes this winter, it is best to call a professional plumber for an assessment.
All property owners that live in temperate environments need to do their finest to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can spell disaster like frozen, cracked, or burst pipes. If the warm towels do not help dislodge any working out ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air straight into them may help. Turn off the primary water shutoff right away if you notice that your pipes are totally frozen or nearly nearing that phase. With more water, more ice will certainly load up, which will at some point 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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