Just about everyone may have their own individual perception when it comes to Winterizing Your Pipes.
All home owners who live in warm climates should do their best to winterize their pipelines. It is something you should do throughout autumn prior to deep winter months genuinely begins. Failing to do so can spell catastrophe like frozen, split, or ruptured pipes. Right here are some handy winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system protected even if the weather condition exterior is frightful.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warm Gun
When your pipelines are almost freezing, your trusty hair dryer or heat gun is a blessing. If the warm towels do not aid displace any type of clearing up ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air straight into them may help. You may end up damaging your pipelines while attempting to thaw the ice.
Open Up Closet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cool outside, it would certainly be helpful to open up closet doors that are concealing your pipelines. As an example, they could be someplace in your kitchen area or shower room. This will permit the warm air from your heater to circulate there. Therefore, you protect against these revealed pipes from freezing. Doing this little method can maintain your pipes warm and also restrict the potentially dangerous end results of freezing temperature levels.
Require Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One awesome and also simple hack to heat up frigid pipelines is to wrap them with warm towels. You can likewise make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply don't neglect to wear safety handwear covers to secure your hands from the warmth.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and also it seems as if the frigid temperature level will certainly last, it will aid to turn on your water both inside your home and also outdoors. This will keep the water moving through your plumbing systems. On top of that, the movement will reduce the freezing process. Notably, there's no need to transform it on full blast. You'll end up throwing away gallons of water this way. Instead, go for concerning 5 drops per minute.
Shut down Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Shut off the main water valve promptly if you see that your pipes are completely frozen or practically nearing that stage. You will generally locate this in your basement or laundry room near the heating unit or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off today to prevent more damages.
Don't forget to close external water sources, too, such as your hookup for the garden home. Doing this will certainly stop extra water from filling your plumbing system. With more water, more ice will stack up, which will ultimately lead to burst pipes. It is best to call an expert plumber for an evaluation if you are uncertain about the state of your pipelines this winter months. Taking this positive method can save you hundreds of bucks in repairs.
All homeowners that live in warm climates need to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can spell calamity like icy, split, or burst pipelines. If the hot towels do not aid remove any settling ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air straight into them might help. Transform off the major water valve instantly if you see that your pipes are completely frozen or almost nearing that phase. With more water, even more ice will load up, which will eventually 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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