Lots of snow and winter weather offers a fun day sledding down a nearby hill or snowball fights in the front yard. That being said, winter weather can be difficult on your home. Excessively cold conditions can encourage the water lines in your home to freeze and burst, which may result in significant water damage and enduring negative effects.

When your pipes are frozen solid, you may want to contact a plumber in Edmond to handle the problem. That being said, there’s several tasks you can try to keep this from happening – and even just a bit of prevention can go a long way.

What Pipes Are at More Risk of Freezing

The pipes at the highest risk of freezing are exposed water lines. Prevalent locations for uncovered pipes are inside attic crawlspaces, near exterior walls, in the basement or even running underneath a modular home. Water lines that are not appropriately insulated are at the greatest risk.

How to Prevent Pipes from Becoming Frozen in Your Home

Sufficiently insulating exposed water lines is a great first step to keeping your pipes safe. You’ll generally have access to many of these materials from your local plumbing company, and might also already have some inside your home.

Be careful not to wrap other flammable insulation materials where they can catch fire. If you don’t feel confident insulating the pipes by yourself, contact your local plumbing services professional in Edmond to get the job done right.

If you do decide to insulate the pipes on your own, common insulation materials for pipes consist of:

  • Wraps or roll insulation: Many plumbers, hardware stores and big box retailers provide insulation – typically fiberglass, foam wraps or pipe sleeves – that you can wrap or fit around your pipes. They are sold in numerous lengths and sizes to suit the needs of your home.
  • Newspaper: In a pinch, newspaper can be used as insulation. If the weather is cooling down and you aren’t able to put in more insulation soon enough, consider covering uninsulated pipes in this.
  • Towels or rags: If you miss the opportunity to install insulation and don’t have any newspaper handy, wrapping notably vulnerable pipes with towels or clean rags as a last-ditch effort may be just enough to keep the cold air from freezing the pipes.

One other preventative step you can try to keep pipes from being covered in ice is to seal any cracks that could let cold air into your home. Keep an eye on the window frames, which can draw in surprisingly strong drafts. This not only will help to stop your pipes from freezing, but it will have the extra benefit of making your home more energy efficient.

Five More Ways to Keep Your Pipes from Freezing:

  • Open the cabinet doors. Opening the cabinet doors beneath the sinks and other rooms of your home that have pipes will permit more warm air from the rest of the room to flow near the pipes.
  • Letting water drip. Keeping the water flowing by letting your faucets drip even just a little can help avoid frozen pipes.
  • Open interior doors. By opening doors for rooms or hallways, your home can be heated more equally. This is mostly important if there's a room that is frequently colder or hotter than the rest of the home.
  • Close the garage door. The exception to the open doors recommendation is the garage door, which you should keep down – namely if your water lines can be found near or under the garage.
  • Keep the heat consistent. Experts suggest setting the thermostat at a uniform temperature and leaving it alone, rather than allowing it to get cooler at night. Set it no lower than 55 degrees.

How to Keep Pipes from Freezing in a Vacant Home

When you’re at home, it’s not difficult to know when something goes wrong. But what extra steps can you attempt to prevent pipes from freezing in a vacant home or vacation home when the consequences from a frozen pipe can remain unnoticed for a while?

As with the main residence, adding insulation to any exposed water lines, opening interior doors inside the home and winterizing the vacant home are the basic steps to try at first.

Alternative Steps to Prevent Pipes from Freezing in an Unused Home:

  1. Leave the heat on. Even though you aren't currently using the home, it’s best to keep the heat on – even if you turn the thermostat down colder than you would if you were there. As with a primary home, experts suggest keeping the temperature at no lower than 55 degrees.
  2. Shut water off and drain the lines. If you’re going to be gone for a long time or are winterizing a rustic cabin or cottage, shutting the water off to the house and clearing the water out of the water lines is one way to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting. Don’t forget to clear the water out of any appliances, like the hot water heater, as well as the toilets. Make sure you get all the water from the system. If you're uncertain of how to flush the water from the pipes, or don’t feel comfortable handling it on your own, a plumber in Edmond will be happy to help.