Each person will have their private theory about How to stop pipes from freezing during the winter.
All home owners that live in pleasant environments need to do their finest to winterize their pipes. Failure to do so can spell disaster like frozen, split, or ruptured pipes.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and it appears as if the icy temperature level will last, it will certainly assist to activate your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly keep the water moving through your plumbing systems. Furthermore, the movement will slow down the freezing process. Significantly, there's no need to transform it on full force. You'll end up squandering gallons of water in this manner. Instead, go for about 5 decreases per min.
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cold outside, it would certainly be practical to open cupboard doors that are masking your pipes. Doing this little method can maintain your pipes warm as well as restrict the possibly dangerous results of freezing temperature levels.
Require Time to Cover Exposed Pipes
One clever and also very easy hack to warm up frigid pipelines is to cover them with cozy towels. You can cover them initially with towels. After securing them in place, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it slowly to let the towels take in the liquid. You can likewise utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply don't fail to remember to put on safety handwear covers to guard your hands from the warmth.
Attempt a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warmth Weapon
When your pipes are practically freezing, your trusty hair dryer or warmth gun is a godsend. Bowling warm air directly right into them may help if the hot towels do not aid remove any type of clearing up ice in your pipelines. However, do not utilize various other items that generate straight flames like a strike torch. This can cause a bigger catastrophe that you can not regulate. You may end up damaging your pipelines while attempting to thaw the ice. As well as over time, you may also wind up melting your home. Beware!
Shut Off Water When Pipelines are Frozen
If you see that your pipelines are completely frozen or practically nearing that stage, turn off the main water valve right away. You will normally discover this in your basement or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off as soon as possible to avoid additional damage.
Don't neglect to shut external water sources, also, such as your hookup for the garden residence. Doing this will prevent extra water from filling up your plumbing system. With more water, even more ice will load up, which will ultimately lead to break pipes. It is best to call a professional plumber for an inspection if you are not sure concerning the state of your pipelines this winter months. Taking this aggressive technique can save you countless bucks out of commission.
All homeowners that live in warm climates have to do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can mean disaster like frozen, split, or burst pipelines. If the warm towels do not assist dislodge any working out ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly into them might help. Transform off the main water valve right away if you notice that your pipes are completely frozen or virtually nearing that stage. With even more water, even more ice will certainly pile up, which will ultimately lead to burst pipelines.
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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