Keep Working Pipes in Your Home This Winter

One of the most stressful problems of winter is the possibility of frozen pipes. Are your pipes ready for the coming season? It's always worthwhile to review all your home's pipes every heating season to ensure that they can hold up to freezing temperatures when they occur. Let's have a look at some of the measures you may want to take to protect your pipes so you can ensure they remain working pipes during and beyond the cold spell.

Ensuring Working Pipes

The pipes most vulnerable to freezing are those located in a northern exterior wall. This could be bathroom or kitchen pipes or pipes that serve some other purpose. Pipes in basements, garages, the attic, and outside may also freeze. Here are ways to keep them from freezing.

1. When a hard freeze threatens, wrap exposed pipes in insulation. You can acquire insulation sleeves from the home store. Heat tape wrapped around the pipes is also effective. Place a protective cover on outdoor faucets.

2. Close up minute holes and cracks around pipes that travel through an exterior wall. Otherwise, cold air from even the tiniest cracks may cause pipes to freeze. Use caulk or insulation.

3. When a cold-weather event is imminent, leave open cabinet doors where pipes are located to be sure warm air gets inside.

4. Turn on faucets, allowing water to run at a slow drip. With water running through the pipes, they are less likely to freeze.

5. If you normally set the thermostat a few degrees lower overnight, it's best to change your routine and bump the thermostat setting upward to ensure the house stays warm.

6. For particularly vulnerable pipes — say, in the garage or basement — you might want to turn on a space heater.

7. Going away during the cold spell? Don't set your thermostat lower than 55 degrees. Have someone check on your home to make sure the heating is working and that no pipes have frozen.

For more on maintaining working pipes, contact Air Assurance. We serve Broken Arrow and the surrounding area to make sure homeowners have working pipes and everything else they need when it comes to their HVAC system.

What Advantages Are There to a Home Plumbing Diagram?

For most homeowners, your pipes tend to be a bit of a mystery. You know they're there, but if your plumber asked you to show them the locations of specific pipes and what they do, would you be able to do it? This is important information, especially when having extensive work done on them. That's why it's essential to have a home plumbing diagram. Here's what you need to know about them.

What Is a Home Plumbing Diagram?

A home plumbing diagram is a rough blueprint of your home, showing exactly where all of the pipes are and what they do. If you're doing work on your home, such as adding an extra bathroom, the plumbers will need to have that diagram to know how and where to connect the new pipes to the old. Likewise, if your plumbing needs major repairs, your plumbers may need to know where to access which pipes.

You can usually obtain your home plumbing diagram from your local county clerk or registrar for a nominal fee. Once you have it, keep it in a safe place with your other important documents so you're ready to show it in a plumbing emergency.

Types of Pipes on Your Home Plumbing Diagram

What will your diagram show? There are four basic types of pipes, which, on your home plumbing diagram, will be color-coded for differentiation. First is the fresh water supply. This denotes the pipes that carry water from the municipal water supply to your faucets, spigots, etc. There are also hot-water lines, which bring water from your water heater to most of the same places.

Then there are the waste pipes. They carry the water which flows down your drains and into the sewer. Finally, the venting pipe takes the sewer gases that build up in your pipes and vents them out through the roof. If your venting pipe is poorly installed, it may cause your home to smell like sewage.

For help with these and other home-plumbing needs, contact us at Air Assurance. We provide quality repair and renovation solutions to Broken Arrow.