PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD)- ‘Tis the season for frozen and burst plumbing. Here are some tips and tricks from a local plumbing company, you can use to avoid broken pipes.
Picture this, you go on a tropical holiday during the winter months, but when you come back, your home is flooded due to a burst pipe. Ultimately, that ruins the post-vacation bliss.
The first piece of advice given by Zach Wilson, Vice President of Dries Plumbing Incorporated, is to know where your water shut-offs are in your home.
Another tip is to keep the furnace in your home set to a minimum of 70 degrees. This allows ambient temperature around the plumbing to counteract the outside freezing temperatures. Wilson says that the main cause for concern is plumbing on the exterior walls of your home.
If you have pipes running up walls that have no internal room on the other side, insulate them. He said wrapping them in something will help keep them from freezing and ultimately breaking.
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Opening cabinets that have plumbing in them will also reduce the risk of freezing. Cabinets under sinks should be opened to allow the warm temperature from your home, to keep the plumbing warm enough.
“Typically, when pipes freeze, is when they are sitting full of water under pressure, and they’re not being used.” Wilson recommends keeping a slow drip of water running from your faucet. This keeps the water moving and doesn’t allow it to freeze.
Wilson said to remove your hoses from their spickets, regardless if you have special “anti-freezing” hoses. “People won’t know if they have a broken pipe until it warms up in the spring.” Wilson said in the spring, after a deep freeze, they had over 20 calls regarding broken hose plumbing.
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