How To Protect Your Pipes During Cold Weather
2/8/2021 (Permalink)
3 Tips To Avoid Freezing Pipes and Water Damage
1. Prevention
The best way to avoid extensive water damage from frozen pipes is to prevent the issue from happening in the first place. There are a few places in your home where your pipes are the most vulnerable to freezing:
- Right inside exterior walls
- Connected to exterior faucets
- Inside closed cabinets
- In unheated areas such as attics and crawl spaces
There are several things you can do to prevent pipes from freezing. Insulate your pipes, particularly the ones that are near exterior walls or in spaces cut off from the central heating in your living spaces. You can apply electrical heating tape to pipes as well. Be sure to keep your heater on, even when you are not at home, if temperatures outside are below freezing. During the coldest parts of the day, it's a good idea to open your cabinet doors or allow your water faucets to drip for reliable pipe freeze prevention.
2. Detection
If you can catch a frozen pipe before it bursts, you may be able to save the pipe and the area around it from damage. A telltale sign that you have a frozen pipe is a significantly smaller flow when you turn on a faucet. Turn the faucet off, locate the pipe and slowly warm it up, allowing the ice inside to melt. The faucet should then flow normally again.
3. Solution
A burst pipe leads to water damage that can only be properly repaired by water mitigation experts. The technicians must tear out all ruined materials and rebuild the area affected by the flooding. If your insurance doesn't cover the cost, you may be looking at a lot of out-of-pocket expenses.
These pipe freeze prevention tips can protect your home from water damage. Make pipe protection part of your regular winter maintenance plan.