This news item expired on Sunday, December 31, 2017 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
Extreme cold weather can be hard on both you and your home. Here are some tips to put into practice when freezing weather, snow, and ice hit your area. One of the main things people forget to do is...
- Close or cover foundation vents under house and windows to basements. This keeps the winds during extreme cold from quickly freezing your pipes.
Here are some other helpful tips:
- Open cabinet doors under sinks.
- Drip hot and cold faucets in kitchen and bath. Drip single control faucets with lever set in middle.
- Set icemaker to make ice if the water line to it runs under the house.
- Don’t forget to check on pipes to your washing machine in the laundry room
- Disconnect and drain garden hoses.
- Cover outside faucets with insulating foam covers.
- Turn off water to outside faucets, if available, and open valves on faucets to allow them to drain.
- Insulate exposed pipes (both hot and cold) under house with foam pipe insulation.
- Locate water main cut-off valve, and have a cut-off key handy.
- Use a hair dryer, heat lamp, electric heat tape, or a portable space heater to thaw frozen pipes that have not burst.
- Keep the faucet open when thawing frozen pipes to allow water to begin flowing through it.
- After the weather has warmed above freezing and any frozen pipes have thawed, monitor your water meter to check for unseen leaks.
Learn more...
Source: Danny Lipford, www.todayshomeowner.com