Winterizing pipes is a process meant to prevent a home’s plumbing from freezing in extremely cold temperatures and causing pipe bursts and leaks. Water expands when it freezes to ice. The rapid expansion creates an outward pressure in the pipes that can also cause the pipe damage mentioned previously.
“Winterization is important if you are away from your home for an extended period of time, such as a snowbird who leaves your primary residence and goes to a beachy vacation home during the winter,” they said.
An important aspect of properly winterizing a vacant home is eliminating the potential for water to be running through the pipes. The less water that remains in a pipe, the less chance it has to freeze and break your plumbing system apart.
How to Winterize Your Plumbing System
To help ease your mind, we have some checklists to winterize a vacant home. You don’t want to be returning to your property and have some nasty surprises. As usual, a local plumber would have the best access and insight into your situation.
Smart Strategies to Winterize Your Interior Plumbing
Interior plumbing refers to anything inside the home. Household plumbing is something you can care for to prevent an emergency repair. The following are eight steps to prevent frozen pipes and ensure the proper working of your interior plumbing:
1. First, you want to turn off the main water valve.
It is found at the point where the water supply comes into the house, typically in a basement, crawl space, or mechanical room. Seek out either a handwheel or a hand lever. Turn off the main water supply valve and open all of the faucets in the house to drain the system.
Clever Tactic: For multilayer constructions empty from the lowest floor and let gravity do the work.
On one level homes, drain from the faucet that is closest to the main shut off valve. You may also want to open a fixture at the highest point of the house, and then at the lowest, in order to prevent water from becoming air locked and draining slowly.
2. Change your thermostat settings for your water heater.
Water heaters should be set on the lowest setting. Let’s say that you have a water heater with a relatively new thermostat. If that is the case, we recommend to turn it on ‘vacation mode’, to avoid water inside the tank from freezing. Another benefit? You need not relight the pilot on your return.
3. Be sure to flush toilets.
Flush all toilets to eliminate excess water from toilet tanks after shutting off the water and draining.
Savvy Move: Use an eco-friendly antifreeze in the toilet bowl and tank. It will also help keep the flapper/seals in the toilet tank lubricated and will prevent them from dry rotting.
4. Prepare all of your drains.
Put antifreeze in all showers, tub, floor and sink drains – any fixture that has a trap. This will not only prevent water in the traps from freezing, but will also avoid evaporation as well as help the sealing of the traps.
5. Do not turn the heat off.
Keep the temperature set no lower than 55° F to prevent frozen pipes. It is always a good idea to have your heating system inspected/service as to be dependable/perform when needed.
6. Keep bathroom and kitchen sink cabinet doors open.
This enables warm air to circulate around pipes.
7. Insulate exposed pipes with pipe insulation sleeves or wrap.
This insulation is particularly helpful to your pipes against extremely cold temperatures, especially when they are located in non- insulated spaces or along an exterior wall.
8. Keep your garage door closed.
The closed garage door also avoids cold drafts to reach plumbing on the adjacent walls.
Wise Move: Use a vinyl or rubber strip on the bottom of the garage door to prevent heat from leaking out. This draft-proof product can also be helpful in preventing mold.
Four steps for winterizing outdoor plumbing:
Any openings to the outside in the home should be sealed so that cold outside air comes into contact with indoor pipes. Here are a few prevention measures you can take to protect your external plumbing:
1. Turn off ‘outdoor’ water supply valves.
These are shut-off valves on the water lines leading to the outside water source, typically found in a basement, crawl space, or mechanical room. After doing that, open all of the faucets until water has drained out of the hose bibbs on the outside of the house.
2. Disconnect garden hoses and fittings from hose bibbs.
Water in the garden hoses attached to these freezes when the temperature falls. Frozen water expands, and so ice will occupy a greater volume than the liquid water inside the pipe. This kind of expansion is not something a water pipe can usually accommodate.
Smart Strategy: If the valve is broken, use an air compressor to blow out any remaining water in the exterior lines to avoid further destruction.
3. Clean your gutters and downspouts.
This will eliminate leaves and debris that can block water flow and create ice that requires expensive repairs .
4. Seal any cracks or gaps that are visible.
Inspect for holes in the siding of exterior walls, door frames, or windows. Sealant all exterior and interior cracks to eliminate unpleasant drafts that chill pipes and raise bills.
Final Thoughts
Winterize to avoid frozen pipes.
First, identify which pipes are most susceptible to cold temperatures –– such as those running along exterior walls, uninsulated pipes, and those located in unheated areas of the structure.
Should you lack the experience or equipment to winterize your own plumbing, we advise you to contact a professional.
