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FROZEN WATER LINES, HOSE BIBBS AND MORE: PREPARING YOUR PIPES FOR WINTER

It’s important to take care of “winterizing” your pipes now to avoid any frozen water lines, as even one night of freezing weather can cause serious damage to your pipes. When water freezes, it expands and puts incredible force on the water lines, up to 2,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.

This winter, let’s avoid any frozen pipes in your home, what do you say? Since the water lines that you can’t see in your home are usually well-insulated, we’re going to focus on those that are unprotected: the exposed water lines within your home, and the hose bibbs outside your home.

How to Winterize Hose Bibbs to Prevent Freezing

The first thing you’ll want to do is remove any hoses that are connected, drain those of any water, and store them for the winter.

Then, if you have the ability to, you’ll want to turn off the flow to that water line.

At this point, it’d be good to do a thorough leak detection inspection. Even a small leak can cause major problems when the temperatures dip below freezing. Get any problems you find checked out by a licensed plumber to make sure you won’t have any cracked pipes this winter.

Then, if you were able to turn the water flow off to that bibb, go ahead and turn on the faucet to drain any remaining water still in that line and let it all out.

Whether or not you were able to shut the water off, it’d be smart to cover each of the hose bibbs around your home with a hose bibb cover, which is basically thick foam that insulates the pipes from freezing. Even if you have a frost-free bibb, there are conditions where it can still freeze, and it would benefit from being covered, too.

How to Winterize Your Water Lines

Avoid frozen water lines by preparing them for the season. First off, you’ll want to check for any leaks, same as with the hose bibbs. Even small leaks or damage to your water pipes will be much more significant after a freeze, and you don’t want to end up with a bigger repair that could’ve been avoided.

Do a walk-through in and around your home, looking for any visible pipes. Check the attic, the crawl space the basement and your garage. If any pipes are exposed, they should get wrapped in insulation foam to avoid freezing when the temp gets low.

If you have any questions about how to care for your water lines to keep them from freezing or any other plumbing problem, our licensed plumbers are always just a phone call away. When you need help with your home plumbing, make the BEST choice and call BEST Plumbing Service!

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