Clever Approaches to Guard Your Plumbing in Chilly Temperatures
Clever Approaches to Guard Your Plumbing in Chilly Temperatures
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Nearly everybody has their private beliefs in relation to How to stop pipes from freezing during the winter.
All homeowners who stay in temperate climates have to do their finest to winterize their pipes. It is something you have to do throughout autumn prior to deep winter absolutely starts. Failing to do so can mean calamity like icy, cracked, or burst pipes. Here are some handy winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system protected even if the weather outside is shocking.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipes are practically freezing, your dependable hair dryer or warm weapon is a godsend. If the warm towels do not assist remove any kind of resolving ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly into them may assist. However, do not utilize other items that generate straight fires like an impact torch. This can lead to a bigger disaster that you can not control. You might wind up harmful your pipes while attempting to thaw the ice. And in the future, you may also end up burning your house. Be careful!
Open Up Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would be practical to open up closet doors that are concealing your pipelines. Doing this little method can maintain your pipes cozy and restrict the potentially unsafe results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Some Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One nifty as well as very easy hack to heat up freezing pipelines is to cover them with cozy towels. You can cover them initially with towels. After securing them in place, you can pour boiling water on the towels. Do it slowly to let the towels take in the fluid. You can additionally make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not neglect to put on safety handwear covers to secure your hands from the heat.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and it appears as if the freezing temperature will certainly last, it will assist to turn on your water both inside and also outdoors. This will keep the water moving through your plumbing systems. You'll end up losing gallons of water this means.
Shut down Water When Pipes are Frozen
Shut off the main water valve immediately if you see that your pipelines are totally frozen or almost nearing that phase. You will usually find this in your basement or utility room near the heater or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off right now to avoid further damage.
With even more water, more ice will certainly pile up, which will ultimately lead to rupture pipelines. If you are not sure concerning the state of your pipelines this wintertime, it is best to call a specialist plumber for an examination.
All homeowners that live in warm climates must do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can spell calamity 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 aid. Turn off the major water valve immediately if you observe that your pipes are totally icy or practically nearing that phase. With more water, even more ice will stack up, which will ultimately lead to rupture 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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