Winter is coming to a close, but there are still many parts of the country that are getting snow and cold weather. The cold is in full force this year, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. This can no doubt put a damper on things if you’re already making plans for the spring.
If you’re unfortunate enough to have been the victim of a frozen pipe, there are a few important steps you should take now to keep your pipes from bursting. If your pipes haven’t frozen yet but you’re expecting freezing weather in your area soon, we also have some tips on keeping your kitchen pipes from freezing.
First Moves
There are a few things you should do to minimize damage when your pipes freeze. The main goal of these steps is to keep your pipes from bursting. When pipes freeze and thaw, pressure can build up inside the pipes and eventually cause them to burst. This will leave you with a puddle for a kitchen and a hefty bill for kitchen plumbing repairs.
If you go to turn your faucet on one morning and nothing comes out, the first thing you should do is leave the faucet on. This helps relieve some of the pressure that’s building up in the faucet, which is the main cause of burst pipes.
Provided a pipe does burst and there’s a pool of water on the floor, you shouldn’t use any of your major electrical appliances. You can actually electrocute yourself by doing this, not to mention it’s a good way to cause serious damage to the appliance. You can instead hire a Plumbing service provider in your neighborhood to fix the pipe as well as suggest a few measures to avoid frozen pipe issues.
Thinking about trying to thaw out your pipes? Don’t use an open flame. While the heat will help melt some of the ice, relieve some pressure and get water flowing back through your pipes, the open flame is a fire hazard and shouldn’t be used in your home.
You can try using a hair dryer to thaw frozen pipes. Hair dryers give off a mild amount of heat and there’s no open flame, so you may be able to simply melt the ice inside the pipe and get things working again.
If your pipe bursts, you should leave the faucet turned on and turn off the main water shutoff valve. This will prevent costly damage that may occur as a result of a leak.
Preventing Frozen Pipes
The best way to keep your pipes from bursting is to keep them from getting frozen in the first place. You can connect the sink pipes to your water heater so that warm water can keep flowing in them which in turn can prevent them from freezing. Additionally, with hot water in the sink pipes, it would be comfortable for anyone doing dishes as they won’t have to suffer the chilliness from the cold water. Also, you may need to ensure that the water heater remains in good working condition. Therefore, regular check-ups from a professional from water heater services (check this water heater services in Arizona as an example) is advisable. Ideally, this sort of checkup should be done before the winter arrives so that the water heater does not breaks down in the middle of the season. You can also buy insulation that will help your pipes keep some of their heat in the cool weather, although it’s only designed to work in mildly cold temperatures.
If you live in a place where it gets really cold, you’ll want to step your protection up with heat cables. This cable plugs into the wall and wraps around the pipe, heating the entire cable up and, as a result, thawing your frozen pipes. This is the best way to go if you want guaranteed protection, although you will have to remember to plug it back in each winter.
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