It is necessary to take precautions in cold weather climates, such as Michigan, to prevent your pipes from freezing on cold Michigan winter nights. Frozen pipes lead to broken pipes which can quickly turn into costly water damage clean up. If a water emergency does happen in your home do to broken pipes call the professionals at Dreamers Inc. Restoration for quick disaster restoration.
The best advice however is to prevent broken pipes to begin with. Here are some simple and easy to follow tips to handle Michigan winters without frozen pipes.
- The first tip is to be aware of the areas in your home most susceptible for incidents with freezing pipes. Areas such as an unheated basement, crawl spaces and rooms where pipes are located on outside walls. Often times this is present within kitchens under the sink.
- Start by eliminating as much cold air as you can from getting into the home especially next to water lines. This can be done by closing off crawl spaces, better insulating walls and sealing windows with plastic.
- It is wise to also know how to shut off the water in the home in case a pipe does burst or freeze. This will help to minimize the amount of damage done to the home’s interior.
- A great tip is to insulate all pipes. This can be done with heat tape or insulated wraps that easily are placed around pipes. This is also fairly inexpensive.
- When the temp falls below freezing, especially in the low teens to sub zero temps, allow a small trickle of water to run through the faucets. This is a cheaper alternative than having your pipes freeze, break and the clean up after.
- Also keep doors to cupboards open to allow the pipes to soak in some of the heat from the rest of the home.
These are just a few tips to keep your pipes unfroze throughout cold Michigan winters. If disaster does strike call a professional water extraction team in to prepare the water damage before it becomes a bigger issue such as with mold and mildew.