They are making a few good points regarding How to Prevent Frozen Pipes in general in this post on the next paragraphs.
All homeowners that live in temperate environments should do their best to winterize their pipelines. It is something you should do throughout autumn prior to deep wintertime truly begins. Failure to do so can lead to catastrophe like icy, split, or ruptured pipelines. If the weather condition outside is terrible, here are some helpful winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system shielded even.
Try a Hair Dryer or Warm Weapon
When your pipes are practically freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or warm weapon is a godsend. Bowling hot air directly right into them might assist if the warm towels do not aid dislodge any kind of clearing up ice in your pipelines. Nevertheless, do not make use of various other things that generate straight flames like a strike lantern. This can lead to a bigger calamity that you can not regulate. You might wind up destructive your pipelines while attempting to melt the ice. As well as in the future, you might also end up shedding your house. Be cautious!
Open Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would be practical to open up closet doors that are masking your pipelines. As an example, they could be somewhere in your kitchen or restroom. This will allow the cozy air from your heating system to distribute there. Consequently, you stop these exposed pipelines from freezing. Doing this small method can maintain your pipelines warm and restrict the possibly harmful outcomes of freezing temperature levels.
Take Some Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One simple and great hack to heat up frigid pipelines is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can cover them first with towels. After protecting them in place, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it slowly to allow the towels absorb the fluid. You can likewise use pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not forget to use protective handwear covers to safeguard your hands from the heat.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature level declines as well as it seems as if the cold temperature level will last, it will aid to transform on your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly maintain the water flowing through your plumbing systems. You'll finish up wasting gallons of water this means.
When Pipes are Frozen, close Off Water
If you observe that your pipelines are totally icy or virtually nearing that phase, transform off the major water shutoff instantly. You will normally find this in your basement or laundry room near the heating system or the front wall surface closest to the street. Transform it off immediately to avoid more damages.
With more water, more ice will pile up, which will at some point lead to rupture pipes. If you are unsure about the state of your pipelines this winter season, it is best to call a specialist plumber for an inspection.
All house owners that live in temperate climates have to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can spell catastrophe like icy, broken, or ruptured pipelines. If the hot towels do not assist displace any type of settling ice in your pipes, bowling warm air straight right into them may help. Transform off the major water shutoff right away if you discover that your pipelines are completely icy or almost nearing that phase. With even more water, more ice will certainly stack up, which will at some point 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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