Translating…
Problems with your plumbing can cause you a maintenance nightmare. Homeowners across the country have this happen to them when then have the water pipes in their home burst. When this happens and I hope not to you, people’s lives are thrown for a loop. Sometimes depending on where the pipes are located, the ceiling can actual fall down right on your head. You do not want this problem to happen to you. Plan and use some common sense and you can prevent this disaster from happening to you.
In some parts of the country winter is here, so make sure that you take the steps to winterize your plumbing in your home. As I noted earlier, you have to make sure that you protect and take care of your plumbing pipes. When the cold weather hits you might wish that you took the time to prepare.
I hope that you have never had to experience bursting water pipes in your home. It is not a pleasant site when you see the damage that all that water can cause and the amount of property damage that has to be repaired.
There are several reason’s why water pipes will freeze. This goes for colder climates as well as warmer climates.
You could have a very quick drop in temperature that you didn’t expect, you may have really poor insulation on your water pipes and finally maybe you set your thermostat to low.
One little crack in a water pipe can send two hundred to three hundred gallons of water a day into your home. And what if you’re not home to turn the water off. Oh my, this could be a big problem. The damage to the structure of your home could be impaired, and the mold that is going to occur and the smell from it might just send you out of your home until your remove all the moldy parts. What about the flooding that is going to go on in the home? This could be immense when you think about all that water pouring into your home.
How to prevent the water pipes from bursting, just a couple common sense things to remember and do:
Keep pipes warm.
Look in the attic and crawl space of your home for exposed pipes. When you find the exposed pipe, ensure you have some insulation with you and wrap that pipe with the insulation. More is better in this case. You can go to your local hardware store and ask for the foam rubber pipe insulation. This works very well to prevent the pipes from freezing and is really easy to wrap around the pipes.
One thing to consider is that if you live in a place that has very harsh winters, you might need to consider having the pipes wrapped with heat tape. This heat tape is controlled by the thermostat and will keep the pipes really warm and have almost a zero chance of freezing. When you buy the heat tape it’ll explain how to install it, so just follow those instructions.
When you are alerted to cold weather that is coming, you want to take this additional simple step. Open the cabinet doors to allow the warm air that is inside of your home to get back to the walls where your water pipes are located.
Seal all the air leaks
You would not believe but even a very small air leak that lets that very cold air in can cause your pipes to freeze and possibly burst. Make sure that you inspect your home thoroughly to ensure that you don’t have any air leaks. Some of the most common things to look for are your dryer vents, any electrical wiring that is coming in from the outside, or any outdoor to indoor pipes may have area’s for cold air to enter and cause the pipes to freeze. You can find some of these places in the attics and crawlspaces of your home. One thing that you can use to fill the voids that you find is that caulking that when you spray it into a space it expands and fills the voids itself. You can find this at most any hardware store. You can also use the expanding foam sealant to seal of the leaks from the outside.
The water system.
Running a cold water faucet during the cold weather will allow the water to continue to flow in the pipes and this will prevent them from freezing. Running hot water is a huge waste but that is what a lot of people will recommend. I’ve found that running the cold water works just fine and I’ve never had my pipes freeze and burst in the winter.
A faucet as close to an outside wall is the best one to run the water through. If there are any air leaks from the outside coming in, this will prevent the pipes from freezing and bursting. Running the hose to the garden could be a great choice, but what I found was just running the faucet in the sink works fine.
Having the water system drained and turned off coming to your home is the smart thing to do if you are going to be away for a while in the winter. This will ensure that there’s no chance of coming home to a huge water leak that is going to cost you a lot of money to fix and repair all the damage caused by the water.
Thermostat Setting
One thing that you must keep in mind is not to allow your overall house temperature to get to cold on the inside when you are not there. If you allow it to get cold on the inside and it is cold on the outside the chances of your pipes freezing increases. Make sure the thermostat to your home is not any lower than 55F degrees.
One way to look at your plumbing is that you need to make is last for a lot of years and can be a costly investment if you ignore the tips in this article. Do not take chances when it comes to your plumbing and insulation. These are things that you can’t see and something that you do not want to worry about. A trustworthy and reliable plumbing company should be the one doing all of your plumbing work. Leave it to the experts to ensure you do not have any problems that you can’t see for an extended period of time and then it is too late.