Winter is here with cold windy days causing pipes to freeze and resulting in serious damage to your home. We can’t control the weather however we can take precautions to prevent water from freezing and causing pipes to rupture and leak into your home. Here are a few simple tips that will prevent a lot of trouble and expense:
- Allow water to trickle from hot and cold faucets throughout the house. Flowing water is slow to freeze.
- Open doors in cabinets under sinks. This allows warm air in room to circulate underneath faucets.
- Keep doors open in all rooms including bathrooms and bedrooms. This allows warm air to circulate.
- Know where your main water valve is to your home. Test to make sure it opens and closes properly. In emergency this is the first valve you will close.
- If a pipe should freeze use a hair dryer to warm and thaw. Do not use a torch.
- Insulate water pipes in unheated and exposed areas of home. Especially crawls spaces, basements, and garages.
- Purchase and use heat tape for pipes exposed in crawl spaces, basements, and garages.
- Shut off and drain outside hose bibs and faucets.
- Have a local plumber’s contact information handy to call in emergency.
That old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” really applies when dealing with plumbing in cold weather.
Use this list as a guide and if you need assistance with any of the above then give us a call at (631)-423-2211, click here, or you may email us at irrigationspecialist@rainrich.com. There are certain plumbing items that require special skills such as heating, gas, and sewage. I recommend calling an expert in each field to examine their respective services and equipment.
Rain Rich Sprinklers has been serving Long Island for 40 years and prides itself on providing outstanding service and the best value.
