Smart Winterizing Solutions: Several Approaches to Protect Your Pipes in Cold Weather

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Everyone has their unique rationale about Winterizing Your Pipes.

All home owners who live in temperate environments should do their finest to winterize their pipes. It is something you must do during autumn prior to deep winter season really begins. Failure to do so can spell catastrophe like frozen, broken, or burst pipes. If the weather condition exterior is terrible, here are some handy winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system protected even.

Activate the Faucets

When the temperature level declines and also it seems as if the cold temperature will certainly last, it will assist to switch on your water both indoors and outdoors. This will maintain the water streaming with your plumbing systems. On top of that, the motion will decrease the cold process. Especially, there's no demand to transform it on full blast. You'll wind up wasting gallons of water in this manner. Rather, go for about 5 decreases per minute.

Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing

When it's chilly outside, it would be valuable to open up cupboard doors that are concealing your pipelines. Doing this small method can maintain your pipelines warm as well as restrict the possibly harmful outcomes of freezing temperatures.

Take Time to Wrap Exposed Pipes

One very easy and nifty hack to heat up cold pipes is to cover them with cozy towels. You can cover them initially with towels. After securing them in position, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it gradually to let the towels take in the liquid. You can also use pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not fail to remember to wear protective handwear covers to protect your hands from the warm.

Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warmth Weapon

When your pipes are nearly freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or warm weapon is a blessing. If the hot towels do not aid remove any working out ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them might assist. You may end up harmful your pipelines while attempting to melt the ice.

Shut Off Water When Pipes are Frozen

If you discover that your pipelines are completely frozen or nearly nearing that stage, transform off the major water shutoff immediately. You will typically locate this in your cellar or utility room near the heating system or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off as soon as possible to stop further damage.
Don't fail to remember to close exterior water sources, as well, such as your hookup for the yard house. Doing this will stop additional water from filling out your plumbing system. With more water, even more ice will certainly stack up, which will at some point lead to rupture pipes. If you are unsure regarding the state of your pipelines this winter, it is best to call an expert plumber for an assessment. Taking this proactive approach can conserve you thousands of dollars out of commission.
All house owners who live in pleasant environments have to do their finest to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can spell catastrophe like frozen, broken, or ruptured pipelines. If the hot towels do not help remove any resolving ice in your pipes, bowling hot air directly into them may help. Turn off the major water valve instantly if you see that your pipelines are entirely icy or virtually nearing that phase. With more water, more ice will stack 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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