Protect Your Pipes
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
As the temperature drops, insurance experts recommend that you take safeguards to protect your pipes.
- Cover your outside faucets with an insulating material, such as faucet covers or wrap rags, paper, trash bags or plastic foam.
- Detatch water hoses and store them indoors prior to the first freeze.
- Seal cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations.
- Open kitchen and bathroom cabinets that border outside walls to expose pipes to warmer air.
- Keep a slow trickle of water flowing through faucets connected to pipes that run through an unheated space. Alternatively, consider turning off the shut-off valve while the faucets are running in order to drain the pipes and help avoid freezing.
- If you leave town for more than a few days in winter, don`t turn the indoor thermostat too low.
- In the event your pipes do freeze, turn off your water at the shut-off valve.
- Don`t leave electrical appliances near frozen pipes.
- Don`t use high-risk techniques attempting to thaw frozen pipes. This can result in more substantial damage. If you try to thaw your own pipes, be careful. You may need to call a professional plumber for assistance.
