12/21/2022
FREEZE TIPS FOR YOUR PIPES
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Please do your best to prepare. Area Plumbers will be overwhelmedļæ¼
**Turn the heat up in your house when it gets below freezing, especially when it is in the 20ās or lower, or low 30ās with a strong wind chill.
**You can decrease the heat in your bedroom by adjusting the vent there, so you can still sleep comfortably with the heat turned up.
**Open a 1 foot gap in your attic stairway to let the heat into your attic. Even the insulated pipes in attics and in walls froze and busted (in prior freezes). š§Many homeowners didnāt realize it until their pipes unfroze and flooded their homes.
*Inside your š home, open the cabinet doors to any kitchen sink or lavatory on an outside wall to allow heat in, many pipes busted in the wall in the last huge freeze, despite having insulation.
** Insulation to outside faucets and water lines to the house may not be enough, install extra insulation or cover the insulation with plastic bags, anything that can provide more cover from the wind and hard freeze.
**Donāt run a steady stream on your faucets to prevent freezing, it decreases the water pressure for firemen and others. Instead use one faucet to drip every couple seconds on the HOT side which allows water to move very slowly on both hot and cold.
**The best method of protecting your pipes is by providing added insulation and heat in your attic, under your house, and in the cabinets of fixtures in your home.
**know how to cut your š water off and DO NOT leave your home unattended if your pipes freeze.
** Donāt use a blow dryer to unfreeze your pipes without it being plugged to a ground fault electrical cord or receptacle, and donāt use it at all if you find the pipe has a crack or break.
** To any wannabe plumbers, donāt use a solder torch outside close to any opening in the brick like the tiny gap beside an outside faucet pipe, thatās an easy way for a fire to start in the wall.
**If your house is off the ground, cut a 3 ft wide roll of plastic sheet and wrap all around the bottom of your house.
** If you have an outside washer or hot water heater, place a work lamp light high up or electric heater away from all of the plumbing just to provide some heat in the room. It's important that you use an electrical cord or receptacle for the heater or lamp light that has a ground fault breaker.
**For a vacant house or house left unattended, donāt just cut the water off, use air pressure to blow existing water out of the hot and cold lines.
What is most heartbreaking about a massive hard freeze and having many pipes busting is not just seeing the damage that occurs, itās also being forced to pick which customers we cant get to in a day or week out of the thousands affected.
Sincerely,
Danny Griffin with Pipes "R" Us Plumbing inc.
