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Busted Pipes

January 09, 2018

5 Tricks to Keep Your Pipes from Exploding

 

Ideally you should winterize your pipes in the fall but if you have forgotten and in the middle of a deep freeze there is still time to prevent disaster:

#1) Turn on your faucets. If the temperatures have dropped into freezing and intent to stay there, turning on your faucets both indoors and out can keep water moving through your system and slow down the freezing process. Aim for about five drips per minute

#2) Open Cabinet Doors. During cold weather open any cabinet doors covering plumbing in the kitchen and bathroom. This allows the homes warm air to better circulate which can help prevent the exposed piping from freezing. While this won't help much with pipes hidden in walls.

#3)Wrap your pipes. If your pipes are already on their merry way towards freezing, wrapping them with warm towels might do the trick. You can cover them with the towels first and then pour boiling water on top or use already wet towels

#4) Pull out the hairdryer. Blowing hot air directly on the pipes if hot rags aren't doing the trick

#5) Shut off the water if pipes are frozen. Have your pipes already frozen, then turn off the water imediately. Make sure to close off any external water sources, like garden hose hookups. This will prevent more water from filling the system, adding more ice to the pile and eventually bursting your pipes-the worst case scenario


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