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All homeowners that live in pleasant climates need to do their best to winterize their pipes. It is something you have to do during fall prior to deep winter genuinely starts. Failure to do so can mean calamity like icy, cracked, or burst pipelines. If the weather outside is frightful, below are some helpful winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system secured even.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature declines as well as it seems as if the frigid temperature level will last, it will certainly assist to turn on your water both inside as well as outdoors. This will certainly keep the water flowing with your plumbing systems. You'll finish up throwing away gallons of water this way.
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cool outside, it would certainly be valuable to open cupboard doors that are camouflaging your pipes. Doing this tiny method can keep your pipelines cozy and restrict the possibly hazardous end results of freezing temperatures.
Require Time to Cover Exposed Pipeline
One easy and cool hack to heat up cold pipelines is to wrap them with warm towels. You can cover them first with towels. After protecting them in position, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it gradually to allow the towels absorb the liquid. You can likewise use pre-soaked towels in hot water, just do not fail to remember to use protective handwear covers to protect your hands from the warm.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warm Weapon
When your pipes are virtually freezing, your dependable hair clothes dryer or warm gun is a godsend. If the hot towels do not aid dislodge any kind of settling ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them might assist. You may finish up harmful your pipes while attempting to thaw the ice.
Turn off Water When Pipes are Frozen
If you notice that your pipelines are entirely frozen or virtually nearing that stage, turn off the main water valve immediately. You will typically locate this in your cellar or laundry room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off today to stop more damages.
Don't neglect to shut external water sources, as well, such as your hookup for the garden house. Doing this will certainly stop extra water from filling up your plumbing system. With even more water, more ice will load up, which will at some point lead to burst pipes. It is best to call a specialist plumber for an inspection if you are unsure regarding the state of your pipes this wintertime. Taking this proactive strategy can conserve you hundreds of bucks out of commission.
All house owners who live in pleasant environments should do their best to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can spell calamity like icy, split, or ruptured pipelines. If the warm towels do not aid displace any working out ice in your pipes, bowling hot air directly right into them might assist. Transform off the major water shutoff quickly if you see that your pipelines are totally frozen or practically nearing that stage. With even more water, even more ice will pile up, which will at some point 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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