Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing Systems

While we have fresh summer memories, before we know it our harsh, cold winter will be encompassing our treasured cottages. We need to winterize the home before closing it up for the season. Even if you will reside in the home all winter, you might still benefit from some winterization tasks. 

A failure to winterize your home before the freezes of winter begin could result in your pipes freezing and potentially bursting, which could cause catastrophic water damage. There could also be issues with damage to water-based appliances and fixtures that can be challenging and expensive to repair.

Here’s a quick look at what the winterization process should look like for your plumbing:

• Insulation: You could add some insulation to your pipes, especially pipes that run along exterior walls or in uninsulated areas, like crawl spaces. Foam insulation and electrical tape can go a long way toward preventing pipe freezes.
• Seal up air leaks: If you find any areas where air could be entering the home, make sure to seal up those leaks. Even small spaces and holes can allow cold air to flow through and potentially freeze pipes. Look around doors, windows, wall sockets and switches and areas where there might be openings into the inside of your home. Any such openings should be sealed with caulk. If the area is too large to fill with caulk, you should use expanding spray foam to seal the area.
• Keep the heat on: Even if you’re going to be away from the property for an extended period of time, you might wish to keep the heat on at least to a minimal level (think mid-50s) to make it harder for the pipes to freeze. If you live at the property all winter long, you should make sure to keep the heat on at a comfortable level.
• Keep the cold out: In addition to sealing up any air leaks, you should also take other steps to keep the air out and away from the property. This includes keeping garage doors closed and sealing up windows with sealant or plastic over the course of the winter.
• Leave taps open: You might consider leaving faucets open during the winter as well, even just slightly. If you are occupying the space and still have the water running, this will create a drip of water that will prevent it from freezing (moving water will not freeze nearly as easily). 
• Drain pipes: You should also take steps to drain your pipes to prevent them from freezing. After you shut off the main water supply, flush the toilets in your home and keep doing so until all the water in the tank is gone. Turn on all faucets, showers and tubs to drain the rest of the water.

For more tips for winterizing your home to prevent issues with frozen pipes and possible water damage, contact us at PipeMasters. Our licensed professionals can help: info@pipemasters.ca or (289) 404-9063.

PipeMasters is part of Oakridge Plumbing Ontario Ltd. and serves the East GTA, Durham Region, North to Lindsay & Peterborough, out to Cobourg and all points in between. All Rights Reserved.