Winter is quickly approaching and as you can imagine, with the cold weather this can lead to many plumbing issues, which is why we are giving you some of our Autumn plumbing tips to avoid those costly bills over the Christmas break.
Pipe Thawing
One of the main tips we suggest is should your water pipes ever freeze up, do not use open flame appliances on the pipe, as this is an extremely common cause for home fires.
Pipe Repairs
As the saying goes, “A stitch in time can save nine” which is why we advise you to get any damaged pipes repaired sooner rather than later to save the risk of it being a much bigger job.
Circulation
Any pipes that you have under sinks or that are in cabinets beside an outside wall may be in need of circulation which is why simply opening the cabinet doors to let the air get through could help.
We also suggest opening up rooms with damp problems, keeping cupboard doors, windows and bedroom doors open, to dry the room out, or/and use a dehumidifier.
Heat Pipes
To help prevent the pipes from freezing up, we have a number of options to help with this problem:
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- Use electrical heat tape round the pipes.
- Cover the pipes with foam insulation wraps.
- Place a small portable heater nearby, however should you use this option we deeply recommend you take consideration of the risk of a fire along with electrical hazards.
- Another suggestion is to leave your heating on a low setting while you are out of the house.
Autumn Waste
Over the Autumn months, we recommend you to keep an eye on your gutters and drains as they can be easily blocked with twigs, leaves and rubbish. Noticing the problem earlier on can save more problems later.
Valves
For any houses with interior shut off valves, which are connected to outdoor faucets, we recommend before the winter weather kicks in that you close and drain them as any water that is still in the lines, could cause major damage if it freezes.
Sump Pump
One of the biggest problems that could happen is when your sump pump malfunctions. When this happens it causes a major water leak and your basement floods.
To avoid this costly and unnecessary scenario from happening before the winter weather arrives take a look and clean out your sump pump.
Water Heater
An important job to always remember, is to drain your water heater. It no doubt can easily be forgotten, but we need to remind ourselves of how easy it is for the water heater to get rust inside which can quickly develop. Should this happen, then the rust will quickly contaminate the water that we’re not only washing ourselves in, but that we also use when cooking and drinking.
Another option, is should your water heater already be old or rusty, then now is the perfect time to get a new one fitted.
Hoses
A job easy to neglect is disconnecting the garden hose. It is easy to forget, as we abandon to go into the garden much in the chilly months ahead, but like all of the jobs on this page, it is still important. Should you fail to remember this simple task then any remaining water inside will freeze also causing the faucets and pipes in you home to freeze which means you will have a much bigger and pricey job to fix in the future. So don’t forget to disconnect that hose!
Drip, Drip, Drip
Leaky faucets are one of those annoying things that we can never be bothered to fix, but we all know we really should, which is why we are reminding you. It is another pipe related job that is better to fix now rather than when it gets colder and the pipes risk freezing. They are a really simple job to fix – if you don’t know how to then a friend or family member is bound to know.
Those were our Autumn plumbing tips to prepare your plumbing for the winter months. If for any reason you face any kind of problem BDS emergency plumbers are here to help you 24 / 7.