Best Guide to Winterizing Pipes: 5 Hacks to Prevent Bursting in Cold Climates
Best Guide to Winterizing Pipes: 5 Hacks to Prevent Bursting in Cold Climates
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Every person is bound to have his or her own assumption when it comes to Winterizing Your Pipes.
All property owners that stay in warm environments have to do their best to winterize their pipes. It is something you need to do throughout fall prior to deep winter months really begins. Failure to do so can mean catastrophe like frozen, fractured, or burst pipelines. Here are some useful winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system safeguarded even if the climate outside is shocking.
Try a Hair Dryer or Heat Weapon
When your pipes are virtually freezing, your trusty hair dryer or warmth weapon is a godsend. If the warm towels do not aid dislodge any resolving ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight right into them might assist. You might finish up destructive your pipelines while attempting to melt the ice.
Open Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cool outside, it would be handy to open cupboard doors that are camouflaging your pipes. Doing this small technique can maintain your pipes warm and also restrict the potentially hazardous results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Wrap Exposed Water Lines
One simple and clever hack to warm up icy pipelines is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can additionally make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not neglect to use protective gloves to guard your hands from the warmth.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature level declines and it seems as if the cold temperature will last, it will help to turn on your water both indoors and outdoors. This will keep the water flowing through your plumbing systems. You'll end up squandering gallons of water this way.
When Pipes are Frozen, shut Off Water
If you observe that your pipes are completely icy or nearly nearing that stage, turn off the major water valve instantly. You will normally discover this in your cellar or laundry room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off right away to avoid additional damage.
With even more water, even more ice will stack up, which will ultimately lead to burst pipes. If you are unsure concerning the state of your pipelines this winter, it is best to call a specialist plumber for an examination.
All home owners who live in temperate environments should do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can lead to catastrophe like icy, split, or ruptured pipes. If the warm towels do not help displace any type of working out ice in your pipes, bowling hot air directly right into them may help. Transform off the main water valve immediately if you discover that your pipes are entirely icy or virtually nearing that phase. With even more water, even more ice will certainly pile up, which will at some point lead to rupture 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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