Winterize Your Pipes: A Little Prevention Can Save Time and Trouble

Have your water pipes ever froze solid. Water expands when it freezes usually bursting your plumbing then when the ice thaws water leaks possibly doing property damage and driving up your utility bill if your not at home to shut the water off. When the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit water is going to freeze. If you're faced with days of freezing temperature you may run a big risk frozen pipes. Here are a host of things a home owner can do to prevent water from freezing in your pipes.

The old mountain trick is to let your faucet drip this will let the water in your lines flow adding enough energy in many cases to keep your pipes from freezing. A pipe heating wire is a great device they cost $30.00 to $50.00 and use little electricity. You wrap the wire around your plumbing in exposed areas usually underneath your house where the water line runs from the ground into your floor. The heating wire usually has a thermostat in it so it's only on when needed. The heating coil works great as long as the power is but if the power goes out which is likely in the middle of a deep freeze resort to the dripping faucet trick.

When my plumbing froze solid I had leaks all over the place. I took this opportunity to insulate my plumbing all the way to the ground as I replaced everything. From the ground up here is how I did it. First put in a shut off valve right were the water line comes out of the ground then a valve to drain your lines if your going out of town or if the power goes out in a deep freeze. To drain your water lines you close the shut off valve then open the drain valve. Inside your house you open all your valves in your sinks, showers, toilet, washer, etc this will release the pressure and allow gravity to drain your pipes. Flush the toilet to remove water from the tank, flush twice if necessary to empty tank. Plunger the toilet to push water out of the water trap that stops gasses from coming into the house. Pour a little RV antifreeze into all the drains especially the toilet to make sure sewer gas doesn't come back into the house.

Insulating from the ground to the house I ran the water line through a 8 inch piece of PVC with a door cut in it to access the shut off and drain valves. Before installing the water line put a piece off sheet metal on the ground with a hole punched in it just big enough for the water line to pass through. This will prevent rodents from moving in to the 8 inch PVC. On the upper end of PVC allow it pass through the insulation so the heat from inside your house will follow the plumbing all the way to the ground. After everything is installed open the door cut into the PVC and fill with insulation around the water line. inside the house make sure all the plumbing is insulated from the outside. I used foam board around all my water lines in case they did brake the water wouldn't leak all over fiberglass insulation ruining it.

With this system if you have wood, gas, or solar heat your pipes should never freeze as long as you can keep the inside of your house above 32 degrees. Study your plumbing system to see if you can apply any simple techniques to keep your pipes warm. If you have to redo all or some of your plumbing it's a good time to do it as smart as you can keeping it well insulated and allowing any water from leaks a way to flow without ruining your floors or insulation.