Now that winter’s here, it time to start thinking about keeping the water pipes in your house from freezing. If you’ve ever seen the consequences of a burst water pipe, with water flooding the house and ruining furniture, books and electronics, you’ll know that even once is too much. However, simple maintenance carried out by an expert plumbing service can prevent all kinds of problems.
With experienced residential plumbing services on your side, you’re ready to go into the holiday season and beyond with confidence. Maintenance is a good idea not only for the winter, but year round. Water leaks and cracks can waste water and raise bills. They may also lead to serious problems down the line.
‘Tis the season for water pipes to be freezin’
Water pipes with little or inadequate insulation can freeze or break when outside temperatures fall below 20F, even if the pipes are indoors. And the problem actually occurs frequently, on a larger scale than you might think. On average each year, about a quarter of a million American families have to deal with the consequences of frozen or broken water pipes, in the form of ruined rooms and disrupted lives.
A three-millimeter (one-eighth of an inch) crack in the plumbing might not seem like all that much, but it can spew more than 250 gallons of water a day. That’s enough to destroy your prized floors, furniture, appliances, clothes and personal belongings.
An ounce of prevention
Year round plumbing maintenance is the key to avoiding emergency repairs. It can also identify and correct minor problems before they become emergencies. The second most common cause of homeowner loss is due to water damage resulting from plumbing failures and freezing pipes.
A residential plumbing expert can advise you on a whole range of issues – water leaks that are wasteful and costly, old sewer lines at need to be replaced, and of course, whether the water pipes are adequately insulated to withstand winter weather.
