What You Need to Know About Protecting Your Plumbing from the Cold Weather

The winter brings cold weather that can put stress on your plumbing. When this happens, there is a strong possibility of plumbing disasters. Because of this, it’s important to ensure you invest in necessary plumbing services before winter really settles in. To help you prepare your plumbing for the long winter ahead, we’ve compiled a few basic tasks you can do to ensure your plumbing is ready for winter.

You should start by checking all of the faucets in your house for leaks. If you do find a leak or another problem, it’s important to call for plumbing services right away. Unfortunately, 10% of homes have leaks in their pipes that waste at least 90 gallons of water each day. With that in mind, you should ensure all leaks and other small problems are taken care of before the temperature begins to drop.

Additionally, you should ensure your water heater gets drained. Unfortunately, sediment can easily build up in your hot water heater tank, which can lead to rust developing inside. When rust forms, it can find its way into drinking, bathing, and cooking water. So its important your water heater maintenance or repair is completed before winter.

One of the most common winter plumbing problems is frozen pipes. When temperatures drop, water can easily freeze inside the pipes. If this happens, the pipes may end up bursting. This can cause further problems, like flooding, which can cause extensive damage to your property.

To avoid having your pipes freeze, you should wrap all of your uninsulated pipes in some sort of foam insulation. By wrapping unprotected pipes, you can ensure they won’t get cold enough to allow the water to freeze inside.

To further prevent frozen pipes, you should disconnect and put your garden hose away for the winter season. If you leave a hose connected, any water left inside can freeze and expand. This may lead to freezing the connected faucets and pipes. When disconnecting your hose, ensure any valves connected to outdoor faucets are shut off as well.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of plumbing incidents that could potentially occur during the winter. Because of this, it’s best to get plumbing services taken care of before or early on in the winter season. If you notice any plumbing issues, you should consider contacting an experienced plumber sooner rather than later.