01/19/2025
5 Tips To Protect Pipes During The Big Freeze!
It is forecasted that we are going to have four nights of pipe bursting cold, please protect you pipes and if you do have an issue, please give us a call C If I Do Handy Service LLC!
1. Insulate pipes
What to do: Wrap exposed pipes with foam pipe insulation, especially under houses if you can and any other exposed pipes. CPVC plastic water lines (off white, tan looking) are notorious for busting during a freeze, so insulate them.
2. Allow a very small stream of water to flow out of one of your faucets during the freeze
What to do: Turn on the hot and cold handles of a faucet furthest away from the front of your house or water meter, allowing a very small mix of warm and cold water to flow out of the faucet. Only one faucet is necessary. Moving water is less likely to freeze, reducing the risk of frozen pipes. Water pressure may go down temporarily, but it will go down for a long time if everyone’s pipes burst.
3. Open cabinet doors and your attic door.
What to do: Open cabinet doors along outside walls to allow the warm air of your home to circulate inside the cabinets where water lines are located. Crack open your inside attic door to allow the warm air of your home to circulate in the attic to help protect the pipes up there. Every little bit of warmth touching the pipes helps.
4. Disconnect outdoor hoses
What to do: Remove garden hoses from outdoor hose bibbs and cover the hose bibbs with insulated covers. This prevents water in the hoses and hose bibbs from freezing and building up pressure that can cause burst pipes.
5. Block the wind as best as possible from hitting your exposed pipes under raised houses
What to do: Place a barrier between the ground and your raised house to block the wind. Use wood, metal, tarps or even heavy bed sheets. Metal pipes have a wind-chill factor much like human skin. The outside air temperature might be 32 degrees, but with a wind chill factor the temperature of the metal pipes can be significantly lower.
***Locate your water meter or water shut off valve for your house. Figure out how to turn the water off in case you do have a busted pipe.
