Tips to Keep Your Pipes From Freezing

I was recently walking through a home with some clients of mine. The home, by the way, was perfect inside. And then we came across this:

This accumulation of ice was the perfect combination of freezing temperatures and a leaky faucet. Luckily, the frost was limited to the exterior of the property and we caught it just in time to let the Seller know they needed to fix it.

Frozen pipes can be catastrophic because your pipes could burst, potentially allowing hundreds of gallons of water to pour through the newly created hole in your pipe inside of your home. So, it’s ciritical to do some preventative maintenance to keep this very common issue from happening to you.

To illustrate why this is near and dear to me, let me tell you a sad, sad story.

My wife and I had moved into a new home and I neglected to address my exterior faucets before a frost and my pipe burst after freezing, damaging some very important cardinal memorabilia that was on the wall.  See the painful reminder I have now to take frozen faucets seriously.  Lesson painfully learned!

The point is it’s easy to forget this type of maintenance. So, I’m here to remind you to take care of it before you have problems!

 

Avoid your own sad story – follow these tips:

1. Turn off the water supply to your exterior water faucet.  It’s highly unlikely you’re going to be watering anything outside and allowing water to be available to any exterior faucets gives you a much higher likelihood of your pipes freezing.
   

   Turn off the water to your exterior faucets. Remember righty tighty (to turn off), lefty loosey to open.

2. Insulate your pipes with foam insulation, especially if any are exposed on the exterior of your home.
   

   No zipper needed on your foam insulation.  Just get the cheap ones that have the slit that easily slides over your pipes.

3. Consider covering the exterior faucet with an insulation boot.  This effectively keeps precipitation (like freezing rain) and blisteringly cold wind from further cooling your faucet.
4. If you know one of your pipes has frozen, add a space heater to the area or use a hair dryer to slowly warm the pipe. This will be a tedious task but is much more efficient than letting the pipe burst and having to clean up the resulting mess. It’s also important to note that you should keep your faucet open if your pipe does freeze.
5. If you are going to be gone for a few days or are worried about your indoor faucets freezing, open the cabinet doors beneath the faucet to allow the warm air to heat the pipes. Also, allow the faucet to slowly drip.

In Conclusion

Don’t be like me and let your pipes burst and ruin your home (or Cardinals memorabilia). Obviously, I’m not a plumber so you should consult one if you have any questions about your pipes or are having difficulty locating potential issues.  Stay warm (and dry) St. Louis!