Everyone seems to have their private assumption in relation to Winterizing Your Pipes.
All house owners that live in warm climates should do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like frozen, cracked, or ruptured pipelines.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature declines as well as it seems as if the frigid temperature will last, it will certainly aid to transform on your water both indoors and outdoors. This will keep the water streaming with your plumbing systems. You'll finish up throwing away gallons of water this means.
Open Closet Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would certainly be handy to open cabinet doors that are concealing your pipelines when it's cool outside. As an example, they could be somewhere in your kitchen or restroom. This will certainly enable the warm air from your heating unit to circulate there. As a result, you prevent these exposed pipelines from cold. Doing this little trick can maintain your pipelines cozy and also limit the possibly dangerous results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Wrap Exposed Pipes
One simple as well as clever hack to heat up icy pipes is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can cover them first with towels. After protecting them in position, you can pour boiling water on the towels. Do it gradually to let the towels take in the fluid. You can also utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply don't fail to remember to put on protective gloves to secure your hands from the heat.
Attempt a Hair Clothes Dryer or Heat Weapon
When your pipelines are virtually freezing, your dependable hair clothes dryer or heat gun is a blessing. Bowling hot air straight into them might help if the warm towels do not help displace any type of resolving ice in your pipes. Do not utilize various other objects that generate straight flames like a blow lantern. This can cause a bigger disaster that you can not manage. You might end up damaging your pipes while trying to thaw the ice. And over time, you may even end up shedding your house. So beware!
When Pipelines are Frozen, close Off Water
If you discover that your pipelines are totally icy or nearly nearing that stage, transform off the main water valve immediately. You will typically discover this in your basement or laundry room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off immediately to stop more damages.
With more water, even more ice will certainly load up, which will at some point lead to break pipelines. If you are unclear regarding the state of your pipes this wintertime, it is best to call a professional plumber for an assessment.
All home owners that live in temperate climates must do their best to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like icy, fractured, or ruptured pipelines. If the hot towels do not aid dislodge any type of clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight into them might help. Transform off the main water shutoff right away if you notice that your pipes are entirely frozen or nearly nearing that phase. With more water, more ice will certainly load 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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