With freezing weather bearing down on most of the country this week, it's a great time to make sure you're ready for cold weather. Winter can be unpredictable as temperatures drop quickly and it is important to remember to protect your home. Burst pipes and the subsequent water damage that follows can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your most prized and expensive investment. Please take this opportunity to protect that investment and hopefully to avoid costly water damage. Here are a few tips that can help:
- Disconnect and drain garden hoses.
- Cover outside faucets with insulating foam covers.
- Turn off water to outside faucets, if available, and open valves on faucets to allow them to drain.
- Turn off sprinkler system and blow compressed air through the lines to drain them.
- Close or cover foundation vents under house and windows to basements.
- Close garage doors.
- Insulate exposed pipes (both hot and cold) under house with foam pipe insulation.
- Open cabinet doors under sinks.
- Drip hot and cold faucets in kitchen and bath. Drip single control faucets with lever set in middle.
- Set ice maker to make ice if the water line to it runs under the house.
- Don't forget to check on pipes to your washing machine in the laundry room
- Locate water main cut-off valve and have a cut-off key handy.
- Keep the faucet open when thawing frozen pipes to allow water to begin flowing through it.
- After the weather has warmed above freezing and any frozen pipes have thawed, turn off dripping faucets and monitor your water meter to check for unseen leaks.
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