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How do you feel about Winterizing Your Pipes?

All property owners who live in temperate environments should do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can spell calamity like icy, broken, or burst pipelines.

 

Activate the Faucets

When the temperature level declines as well as it seems as if the freezing temperature level will certainly last, it will aid to transform on your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly maintain the water flowing via your plumbing systems. You'll finish up throwing away gallons of water this method.

 

Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing

When it's chilly outside, it would certainly be helpful to open up closet doors that are concealing your pipes. They could be somewhere in your kitchen area or washroom. This will permit the warm air from your heating unit to circulate there. As a result, you protect against these exposed pipelines from cold. Doing this small method can maintain your pipelines warm as well as restrict the possibly harmful outcomes of freezing temperatures.

 

Take Some Time to Cover Exposed Pipes

One cool as well as easy hack to heat up icy pipes is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can also utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't forget to wear safety gloves to protect your hands from the warm.

 

Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warmth Gun

When your pipelines are almost freezing, your reliable hair dryer or heat gun is a godsend. Bowling hot air directly right into them might assist if the hot towels do not help displace any kind of clearing up ice in your pipes. Do not make use of various other things that generate straight flames like a strike torch. This can cause a bigger catastrophe that you can not regulate. You may wind up damaging your pipes while attempting to thaw the ice. And in the long run, you might even end up burning your residence. Be careful!

 

Turn off Water When Pipelines are Frozen

If you see that your pipelines are completely icy or nearly nearing that stage, transform off the primary water valve instantly. You will usually discover this in your cellar or laundry room near the heater or the front wall surface closest to the street. Transform it off today to prevent additional damages.
With more water, more ice will load up, which will at some point lead to break pipelines. If you are unsure about the state of your pipes this winter months, it is best to call a professional plumber for an examination.
All house owners who live in temperate climates need to do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can spell disaster like icy, split, or ruptured pipes. If the hot towels do not help displace any type of clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling warm air directly into them might assist. Transform off the main water valve quickly if you see that your pipelines are entirely icy or virtually nearing that stage. With more water, 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.

https://www.stinenichols.com/kansas-city/planning-ahead-for-winter-plumbing/

 

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