Preventing Frozen Pipes

"Frozen pipes, how did that happen?" Peter was furious as he surveyed the damage to the laundry room. The spray from the water had literally pealed the paper from the drywall. White mud a quarter of an inch deep covered the floor, and everything else in the room. What a mess.

As the temperature begins to drop, there are several things homeowners can do to protect their pipes from freezing. Even though most of these types of damage are covered by insurance, prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure. Set aside a time each fall to check the following areas of your home.

Hose bibs or exterior faucets. Make sure the hose is disconnected. Most faucets are designed to drain the water out of the pipe up to 12 inches back inside the house. When the hose
is attached, a suction is created that does not allow the water to drain and this water will freeze and split the pipe. Those faucets that are not frost free, should be covered with Styrofoam domes available at most hardware or lumber stores.

Un-insulated pipes. These are most commonly found in attics and crawl spaces. Attic pipes should have adequate insulation on the top and ideally, little or no insulation between them and the ceiling. This allows the heat from the room below to rise and be trapped around the pipe. Plumbing in crawl spaces should have insulation wrapped around them, especially if they are close to foundation vents, combustion air ducts or dryer vents.

Rooms with water lines in the outside walls. These pipes should have insulation on the outside and be exposed to the heat from the room on the inside. Unfortunately if they were not insulated properly, an owner will likely not know this until there is a frozen pipe.

Empty homes. If a building has to remain vacant for any period of time during the winter, it is best to have a plumber properly winterize it. This usually costs several hundred dollars, but will save tens of thousands of dollars. When a home is unoccupied, any leaks are usually not discovered for days or even weeks. This delay multiplies the damage caused by even a simple leak. Many insurance companies will also void the policy if a vacant structure has a loss and wasn't winterized or heated.

Ice dams on the roof. The best defense is heat cable along the eves of the house. The cable should be installed in the gutters and downspouts as well. It is also much easier to install this in the summer or fall rather than in the dead of winter with two feet of snow on the roof.

If you can follow these simple precautions each fall, you will go along way in preventing frozen pipes.