Get Your Plumbing Ready for the Winter
Is your home plumbing ready for the winter? The answer to that question is probably “no.” Don’t worry. You still have time to make some preparations before the season arrives. These are a few things that you can do to get your plumbing ready for winter:
Insulate Your Pipes
Before the winter weather hits, you should insulate your exposed water pipes. You’ll find these in your basement, your crawlspace and your attached garage.
Why should you insulate these pipes? These pipes are vulnerable to freezing when the outdoor temperatures drop. Giving them a layer of insulation should stop them from freezing and temporarily cutting off your access to running water.
When your pipes freeze, you will have to wait for them to thaw in order to get access to running water again. They could thaw over time as the weather outside warms up, or if the weather isn’t changing any time soon, you can call an emergency plumbing service to safely thaw them for you.
Frozen pipes are a frustrating problem in themselves, but they also present an even bigger issue: burst pipes. When the pressure builds up inside a frozen pipe, it can force the material to burst. And a burst pipe can cause water to cascade into your house and cause thousands of dollars worth of water damage — especially if you’re not there to catch the problem in time and turn off your main water valve.
Preventing a frozen pipe could save you from dealing with a burst pipe. So, get some pipe insulation from your nearest home hardware store and wrap into around your exposed pipes as soon as possible.
Do a Maintenance Check on Your Water Heater
The last thing that you’ll want to deal with is a cold shower in the middle of winter. You’ll want your water to be nice and hot. For this to happen, your home’s water heater needs to be in good condition.
So, hire a professional to run a maintenance check to see whether your water heater is running properly and doesn’t need to get any repairs. If the inspection reveals that your tank needs repairing, you’ll want to do it before the chilly weather arrives.
Do not skip essential water heater repairs for the sake of savings! This could lead to some serious problems when winter arrives.
If you don’t have enough savings sitting in your emergency fund to cover the costs, you could borrow the funds to do it. Put the expense on your credit card and pay down the balance later. Or you can look into financial resources through CreditFresh as a solution. Through this website, you can submit an application for a personal loan. With an approved personal loan, you can use borrowed funds to cover an urgent repair in a short amount of time. Then all you have to do is make repayments through a straightforward billing cycle.
Learn How to Drain Your Pipes for Vacation
Are you planning on leaving your home for a long time? Well, you will want to drain your pipes before you go.
Draining your pipes should prevent any of them from freezing or bursting while you’re gone. If you don’t do this, you could face a lot of water damage when you come back home — and that damage may not be covered by your homeowners insurance. Leaving your home unattended and unheated for an extended period of time in the winter is considered a mistake on your part, especially if you didn’t take any precautions (like draining your pipes) beforehand. Your insurance claim could be denied, leaving you to foot a huge bill all on your own.
This is also an essential tip for anyone who has a second home or cottage that will remain vacant during the winter months.
Save yourself a whole lot of plumbing trouble this winter. Follow these tips right now!
