This post which follows about Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes is quite motivating. Read on and make your own personal final thoughts.
All property owners who reside in pleasant environments should do their best to winterize their pipes. It is something you should do throughout fall prior to deep winter really starts. Failing to do so can spell disaster like frozen, broken, or ruptured pipes. Below are some handy winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system shielded even if the weather outside is terrible.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature drops and also it appears as if the frigid temperature level will last, it will certainly assist to transform on your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly keep the water moving through your plumbing systems. You'll finish up squandering gallons of water this means.
Open Up Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would be useful to open cabinet doors that are concealing your pipelines when it's cool outside. For example, they could be someplace in your kitchen area or shower room. This will certainly enable the cozy air from your heater to circulate there. As a result, you prevent these exposed pipes from freezing. Doing this tiny trick can maintain your pipelines cozy as well as limit the potentially unsafe results of freezing temperatures.
Take Some Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One easy and also great hack to warm up freezing pipelines is to wrap them with warm towels. You can additionally use pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't forget to put on protective handwear covers to protect your hands from the warmth.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipelines are practically freezing, your reliable hair clothes dryer or heat weapon is a godsend. If the warm towels do not help remove any kind of working out ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight right into them might help. However, do not use other things that produce straight flames like a strike torch. This can cause a larger catastrophe that you can not manage. You may wind up destructive your pipes while trying to thaw the ice. As well as over time, you may also wind up melting your home. Beware!
When Pipes are Frozen, shut Off Water
Switch off the major water shutoff quickly if you see that your pipes are completely icy or nearly nearing that stage. You will typically discover this in your basement or utility room near the heater or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off immediately to prevent more damages.
Don't forget to close exterior water sources, too, such as your connection for the yard house. Doing this will certainly stop extra water from filling up your plumbing system. With even more water, more ice will certainly load up, which will eventually lead to break pipes. It is best to call an expert plumber for an assessment if you are uncertain regarding the state of your pipes this winter months. Taking this proactive strategy can save you hundreds of bucks out of commission.
All property owners who live in pleasant environments need to do their finest to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can mean disaster like icy, broken, or burst pipelines. If the hot towels do not aid remove any resolving ice in your pipes, bowling warm air directly right into them may assist. Turn off the primary water valve quickly if you discover that your pipelines are completely frozen or practically 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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