Helpful Tips to Prevent Frozen Pipes and Water Damage

One of the worst things to happen to a home during the winter months are pipes that freeze, burst and create water damage. This damage can be very costly to repair and will make winter quite miserable. You can easily prevent either of these things from happening and here’s how.

Here are some quick and easy tips to share with your family to prevent your pipes from freezing this winter.

• Leave the water trickling – This is something anyone in your family can do and it will really help keep those pipes from freezing up once the temperatures drop. The key is to leave water trickling into the sink. A trickle is better than a stream, so don’t turn the faucet up too high. Leave the water running while you’re out of the house or while you’re asleep. This will give you peace of mind and keep your pipes from freezing.
• Outside faucets are important too –It’s easy to forget about those outdoor faucets that hook up to your hose. Keep them insulated by using faucet covers, trash bags or extra rags you have around the house. You also need to disconnect water hoses from your outdoor faucets. Drain the hoses and move them to your garage or basement if you can.
• Open your cabinet doors – This is another super simple way you can keep your pipes from freezing. Leave the cabinet doors under your sinks open to help warm air in your home circulate around the pipes.

So Your Pipes Froze, Now What?

As easy as it is to panic immediately, the first step is to try not to panic. Next, you need to turn off the water. If there is water leaking from thawing pipes it could cause an electrical shortage and that is very dangerous. Once the water has been shut off you need to call your local plumber. Do not use any electric appliances like space heaters or heat lamps to thaw your pipes. Again, that is extremely dangerous and could cause more damage to your home. Also, you will need to contact your insurance agency if any severe property damage has occurred. Be sure to take a lot of photos of any damage before any repairs are made. Water damage can also result from frozen pipes. If you have extensive water damage in your home you’ll want to contact Langenwalter’s Pro Dry team to rapidly dry out and clean up your home in record time.

Frozen pipes and water damage are some of the more unpleasant side effects of winter. Use some of these helpful tips to avoid frozen pipes and potential water damage. Sometimes no matter how prepared you are, Mother Nature will still wreak havoc on your home. If you end up with water damage to your home this winter give us a call at 317-876-9944 for 24 hour emergency response. Also, please visit our website for additional information regarding our water damage restoration.