How to Prevent Frozen Pipes

11/29/2018 (Permalink)

Frozen pipes can lead to significant water damage, so they should be taken care of immediately!

Most winters, when temperatures are at their lowest, we get calls from Mooresville-area customers whose pipes have frozen and burst. These incidents can cause a lot of damage and are often expensive to clean up if you don’t have insurance coverage. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to help prevent your pipes from freezing!

What Causes Frozen Pipes?

The water inside your pipes can freeze when they are exposed to below-freezing temperatures. Pipes that are exposed or aren’t well-insulated are more at risk than their counterparts. As the freezing water expands, it causes the pressure inside the pipes to increase, possibly leading to bursting pipes.

Preventing Frozen Pipes

Frozen pipes can lead to significant water damage, but they’re not unpreventable. There are a few steps you can take to mitigate your home’s risk.

• Insulate your pipes, especially those close to outside walls, attics or crawl spaces where the chance of freezing is greatest
• Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing
• During a cold spell turn on both hot and cold faucets near outside walls to allow a small trickle of water to run during the night
• If you are going out of town, leave the heat on and drain your water system before you go

What to Do When Pipes Freeze or Burst

Unfortunately, despite your best efforts, accidents can still happen. If your pipes do freeze or burst, you should take action. Depending on the situation, there are a few steps you can take.

If your pipes freeze:

• Open all the faucets
• Remove the insulation and wrap the pipes in rags
• If all else fails, call your plumber

If pipes burst:

• Shut off the water immediately to prevent additional damage
• Contact SERVPRO of Iredell County so we can properly dry out the damaged areas
• Call a plumber to repair the damaged pipes
• Avoid standing water to prevent electrical shock
• Take inventory of any damaged property or possessions

Cleaning Up After Burst Pipes

Water damage incidents can be costly to clean up and restore. And if you’ve never experienced a similar situation before, it can be stressful and confusing to navigate. Fortunately, SERVPRO of Iredell County has more than a decade of experience cleaning and restoring water damaged homes and businesses. If you live in the Mooresville, NC area and have a burst pipe, call our team today at (704) 872-7466!