How to Prevent Your Pipes from Freezing

You know what they say: “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

Well, the winter of 2015 – 2016 has been a great case in point. Except for a freakish snow storm or two, it’s been less snowy and considerably milder when compared to the past few winters.

And yet here at Your 1 Plumber, we’ve still gotten our fair share of frozen pipe phone calls, and there’s still plenty of winter left on the ol’ calendar. So from our house to yours, here’s what you can to prevent your pipes from freezing, and all the associated mess and damage burst water pipes can cause:

• Insulate all exposed water pipes, especially those in your garage, basement, crawl spaces, or any other unheated area of your home.

• Have a look at your attic insulation. If it’s curled up in spots or flattened out, it may be time to enhance or replace it.

• Open up cabinet doors at night – those that cover plumbing pipes – to allow warm air to heat them up.

• Before leaving for a winter vacation, you no doubt lower your thermostat(s). Just be sure to set them no lower than 55 F.

• When it’s especially cold outside, turn on one water faucet at just a trickle, and allow it to run overnight. That will help prevent cold water pipes from freezing.

This is not a foolproof plan, but follow it to the letter and your will prevent most if not all all future frozen pipe problems. Still, should you suffer a cracked or broken water pipe anyway, Your 1 Plumber is here to make the repair or replace damaged pipes as needed. And all you have to do is call.