Winterizing your homes plumbing.
Washington winters can be difficult to judge, just how cold they are going to be no matter what the farmers almanac says , most of us get caught off guard and the problems that accompany it. These are often busy times for most plumbing outfits no matter if you need the help in heavily populated area from Seattle plumbers or a smaller community like Seatac plumbers do to frozen and burst pipes.
The problem for those in the midst of this occurrence is that when it happens plumbing services are overpowered with demands and may not be able to responded quickly or worse you may find yourself in such a despairing situation that you don’t take the time and caution to check out if the plumber you contacted is a trusted professional in the community that will do the job correctly and not quote an unreasonable rate that a quality service would never consider even during a high demand time like a cold winters morn when hundreds of home owners are calling in a panic because water is pouring into the basement .
Here are some steps you can take and its a good idea to plan to follow a few of these tips I’m about to suggest in the Summer or Fall before “Old Man Winter” arrives .
- Wrap pipes and valves in exposed and unheated areas with heat tape or cover with pipe insulating material. You can find these at your local hardware store. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t have time or the ability to handle this job which can sometimes mean try to access difficult to reach areas under your house then its going be less expensive to call a plumber for this work than to call them to thaw and replace pipes and still take time to insulate your plumbing during a cold snap and that’s going to cost you and deprive some other poor unprepared sole of a plumber who’s going to be busy trying to get your home back in working order.
- When you know a cold spell is coming, turn off your irrigation system and drain water from the lines. Water left in the system can freeze and break pipes. If your garden hoses are attached to you home disconnect them and cover taps with insulated covers that can be picked cheaply at home improvement stores.
- Know where your main water valve is. When a problem comes along turning this valve off will help keep water from running into your house . You can usually find this valve located near your water meter, near the street, front of the home, or in your basement or a room where utilities are located.
- If your home is going to be vacant for for a length of time in the winter time, like with a rental home or a home your trying to sell or maybe you have just decided to move south for the winter you should consider turning the main valve off and getting a hold of a plumbing company to drain your pipes. That way if there is power outage or heating problem then you have now water in the pipes that can freeze.
These few tips should make your home a winner in most battles with winter .
