Stop Pipe Bursts in Cold Weather: 5 Effective Winterizing Hacks
Stop Pipe Bursts in Cold Weather: 5 Effective Winterizing Hacks
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What are your thoughts and feelings about How to stop pipes from freezing during the winter?
All homeowners who reside in pleasant climates need to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. It is something you must do during autumn prior to deep winter season absolutely starts. Failure to do so can spell catastrophe like frozen, fractured, or burst pipes. Below are some helpful winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system protected even if the weather exterior is shocking.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipes are almost freezing, your dependable hair clothes dryer or warm weapon is a godsend. If the warm towels do not assist dislodge any kind of resolving ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them may aid. Do not use other objects that produce direct flames like a blow torch. This can result in a bigger catastrophe that you can not manage. You might wind up destructive your pipelines while attempting to thaw the ice. As well as in the long run, you may even end up shedding your home. So beware!
Open Up Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would be practical to open cabinet doors that are concealing your pipelines when it's cool outside. For example, they could be somewhere in your kitchen area or washroom. This will allow the warm air from your heater to circulate there. Consequently, you stop these revealed pipelines from cold. Doing this tiny method can maintain your pipes warm and limit the potentially harmful results of freezing temperatures.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One easy and also clever hack to warm up cold pipes is to cover them with warm towels. You can cover them first with towels. After safeguarding them in place, you can pour boiling water on the towels. Do it slowly to allow the towels take in the fluid. You can also make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't fail to remember to put on protective gloves to secure your hands from the warm.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and also it seems as if the frigid temperature will last, it will certainly assist to switch on your water both indoors and also outdoors. This will certainly keep the water moving via your plumbing systems. In addition, the motion will decrease the freezing procedure. Notably, there's no demand to turn it on full force. You'll end up throwing away gallons of water by doing this. Instead, go for about 5 decreases per min.
Shut Off Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Turn off the main water shutoff promptly if you discover that your pipelines are entirely frozen or practically nearing that stage. You will normally find this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Turn it off right away to prevent additional damages.
Do not neglect to close outside water sources, as well, such as your connection for the garden home. Doing this will certainly prevent extra water from filling your plumbing system. Unfortunately, with more water, more ice will certainly accumulate, which will eventually bring about break pipelines. If you are unclear concerning the state of your pipelines this winter, it is best to call a professional plumber for an assessment. Taking this positive strategy can conserve you countless dollars in repairs.
All property owners who live in warm environments should do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can spell catastrophe like icy, cracked, or burst pipelines. If the warm towels do not help remove any type of settling ice in your pipes, bowling hot air directly right into them may aid. Turn off the major water valve quickly if you discover that your pipes are entirely icy or nearly nearing that stage. With more water, even more ice will certainly pile up, which will eventually lead to break 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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