Home Maintenance and Repair

Preventing your pipes from freezing

    I worked in carpet restoration for 15 years. During that time I have repair or replaced carpets that were flooded because a pipe froze and broke flooding the building.

    Lets start outside first since it would seem that outside would be the coldest area. Typically there will be a main pipe coming into the building on that pipe will be a main shutoff valve for the building. This pipe will freeze and cut of the water supply to the building and it may also rupture and while it may not cause damage in side the home it will be expensive to fix on an emergency call by a plumber. Go to the local hardware store and ask for pipe insulation and some sturdy adhesive tape ( duct tape is good for this).  Take the insulation home and wrap it around the pipe and tape down. Do this to any piping on the exterior of the home.

    There will pipe made of steel, copper, plastic, and cast iron in the walls, floors, and attics. Of these three the least to worry about is the piping in the walls. Make sure the piping under your home is insulated the same as the exterior piping.

    I worked on a man's home that had been flooded not by a roof leak, because he had replaced the roof to protect his home from rain, but buy a pipe under the house that broke and flooded his home.

    The piping in the attic is what breaks more often than any other it is typically copper and when the water in the pipe freezes it causes the pipe to split and when the pipe thaws you get rain from above and the damage to the home can be extensive. The insulation on the attic will hold its weight in water causing the ceiling to give way dropping the entire mess on the floor below causing damage to the carpet, wood, or vinyl. There are 2 ways to insulate the pipe in the attic. wrap it or cover it or both. If you were to reinsulate the attic you would protect the pipe and save money on energy at the same time.

 

 

 

Troy Dobson             Fair Oaks, California getaliving@comcast.net