December 2, 2013

Frozen Pipes: Help Avoid an Expensive Mistake

Frozen pipes can create a huge mess and plumbing expenses running into thousands of dollars.  Resulting property damage often makes the cost much higher –$50,000 in property damage isn’t unrealistic. A 1-inch pipe can lose 30-60 gallons of water per minute at 30-40 psi.

You can avoid frozen pipes with a little preventive maintenance.  And if a pipe does freeze, a person may be able to keep it from bursting or reduce damages if they act quickly.

Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric tips for preventing frozen pipes:

• During severe cold weather, resist the urge to lower your thermostat to save money while you are gone for the day or vacation.  Instead, turn your heat up a bit and open all the doors to interior rooms to allow the heat to circulate throughout your home.  Next open the doors to kitchen and bathroom cabinets under your sinks so heat from the room will help warm the pipes.
• Know where your main water emergency shut-off valve is located to reduce property damage if a pipe should freeze and burst in your home.
• Pipes that have frozen in the past deserve special attention.  So do outside hose connections, indoor pipes close to an outside wall, pipes in a cold part of your house and pipes exposed to the cold from below – a crawl space under your house, for example.  Make sure all these pipes are protected from the cold.
• Insulate areas where vulnerable pipes are located, such as crawl spaces and outside walls.
• When insulation isn’t enough, consider pipe wrappings embedded with electrical coils (heat tape) that provide an outside source of heat.
• Remove hoses from outside yard faucets.  The faucets can’t drain properly with a hose attached and will freeze and break if the hose is left attached.
• During severe cold weather, keep a stream of water trickling out of faucets or spouts attached to vulnerable pipes.  Running water doesn’t freeze very readily.

Call Applewood today at (303) 232-6611 or schedule online at www.ApplewoodFixIt.com.