How to Prevent Frozen Pipes?

Preventing Frozen Pipes

The best way to stop frozen pipes is to take preventive measures.

A good idea would be to go around the house and see where could be the potential trouble areas for freezing pipes. Some pipes are more prone to freezing based on location.

Try to keep all water-supply piping away from outside walls. These are the walls that get exposed to cold weather. If the pipes are on the outside wall, make sure they are insulated. You can use pipe insulators to help you.

Even if the pipes are along inside walls, insulate the pipes which aren’t in unheated areas whether it is the basement, the attic, the garage, or even the crawl spaces.

If you are dealing with freezing temperatures, keep the garage doors and outside doors closed. Also, plug up any drafts if you can. Then, keep inside doors open to allow heat to flow to all the interior rooms. Occasionally open the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, so that warmer air can reach the pipes underneath the sinks.

Try to open all faucets, both hot and cold water, every now and then to make sure water still steadily moves. Pipes become frozen through inaction as well.

Disconnect garden hoses and install covers on the outside faucets, especially if you won’t need them until the spring. Even a frozen garden hose could end up causing your interior pipes to burst. Frozen water in the hoses expand and winds up putting more pressure on the entire plumbing system. Also, insulating domes are options at outside faucets if a cold winter is a major concern.

Set the thermostat to at least 55 degrees no matter what. If your home isn’t well insulated then move it several degrees higher. Also, keep the temperature up even if you are leaving the house for an extended period of time.

In the event that electricity is lost, let the water run no faster a drip in order to keep the water moving through the pipes. It is better to have a slightly larger water bill rather than having to make expensive repairs later.

Occasionally, you may want to shut off the main water supply and drain the system by opening all faucets and flushing all the toilets. This will prevent water for staying in pipes where it would be more susceptible to getting frozen. Doing this if you are leaving on vacation for a few weeks.

It may be worth it to insulate some walls that seem to be particularly vulnerable. Insulated walls would keep the temperature from dropping to the point where pipes are vulnerable to freezing.

In taking precautions before cold temperatures hit, you can avoid having to deal with frozen pipes altogether. Get a contractor for frozen pipes in downriver Michigan.