How to Prevent Your Pipes from Freezing and Bursting
One of the biggest concerns when the temperature drops to below freezing is water pipes freezing and bursting. Avoiding your pipes from freezing or bursting is imperative when you are stuck at home during winter weather. When water freezes in your pipes due to quick drops in outside temperatures, its volume expands and puts pressure on the pipe from inside. This can cause a burst pipe, but even a small crack or two can be the start of some devastating and expensive water and plumbing damage. Read below how to avoid this from happening.
How to Protect Pipes From Freezing
There are things you can do to prevent pipes from freezing before the cold weather hits. Some of the things you should do is drain water from swimming pool and water sprinkler supply lines following manufacturer’s or installer’s directions. You should also add insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces. Insulation will maintain higher temperatures in these areas. Check around the home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas. Look in the garage, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated.
How to Prevent Frozen Pipes
There are different steps you can take to prevent your pipes from freezing in the cold. Keeping your garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage is an important step to take. You should also open your kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children. When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent pipes from freezing. Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst. If you will be going away during cold weather, leave the heat on in your home, set to a temperature no lower than 55° F.
What to do if Your Pipes Have Burst
If you have experienced burst pipes, there are immediate steps you should take. You should immediately turn off the main valve. Then turn off the electricity to the part of the home where the pipe has burst. Contacting a water damage company to help you out is extremely important. At KIWI, we have over 34 years of experience handling all kinds of water damage issues, so do not hesitate to call us 24/7 if you have experienced pipes that have burst. Our technicians will come out as soon as possible.