Tips to prevent Frozen Pipes

1/25/2021 (Permalink)

A frozen pipe from a recent freeze causes damage at a customer's home.

We haven’t had many below freezing days here in Eastern Oklahoma, but temperatures can get freezing cold and the consequences of freezing temperatures is unfortunately frozen water pipes.

There are many easy ways to prevent your pipes from freezing and here are a few measures you can take to ensure you are not dealing with water damage from busted pipes this winter.

Tips to Avoid Frozen Pipes

• Pay Attention to the Weather: Pipes typically freeze during long periods of freezing temperatures.
• Drain During the Fall: Now is the time to drain any outdoor water lines. Drain your outdoor water lines to swimming pools and sprinkler systems now so that there is no moisture left over that may cause them to freeze.
• Insulate: A great preventative measure to take is investing in sleeves for your pipes. Fashioning a sleeve style pipe insulator over your plumbing in unheated exterior walls, basements, crawl spaces, or garages is the best way to help these pipes remain above freezing temperatures.
• Proper insulation in your home helps too. Check to ensure that you have properly insulated all the rooms in your home. Now is the time to take note of any unusual drafts coming from doors or windows and alleviate the problem.
• Open Cabinets and Doors: Open the doors to your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. You might not realize how cold these spaces get when the doors are closed. Leaving these doors ajar allows warm air to circulate around your pipes and prevents them from freezing in cold weather.
• Let Your Faucet Drip: This step may seem counter-intuitive and even wasteful, but the energy expense of letting a little water drip from your faucet in extreme cold is nothing compared to a large repair bill for a pipe that burst because it froze over. By letting even, a trickle of water run through your pipe, it helps prevent the pipe from freezing.
• Keep Your Home Warm: You might want to cut corners on heating your home at night or if you take a vacation this winter, but it’s incredibly important to keep your home warm at all times. Keep your home at a relatively consistent temperature throughout the day and night.
• If you’re taking a trip for the holidays, leave your thermostat set for 55°F to avoid coming home to frozen plumbing. This is particularly important in our area with Grand Lake, Grand River, Spavinaw Lake, Hudson Lake and Fort Gibson Lake with Lake Homes. Take a day and inspect your lake home and ensure everything is where it needs to be.

If you do have a problem with any plumbing issue, contact a licensed plumber or contact SERVPRO® of Mayes and Wagoner Counties and we can recommend a reputable plumbing service.

SERVPRO® of Mayes and Wagoner Counties specializes in Fire and Water Cleanup and Restoration.

If you have any questions, call your SERVPRO® of Mayes and Wagoner Counites, 918-486-1055. 24/7 Emergency Response Always FREE Estimates for any job.