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Winterizing Your Plumbing Pipes

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By : Boruch Fishman 9 or more times read

Submitted 2011-11-08 09:29:30

The cold weather is coming in for sure, and it's time to make certain that your home and especially your exposed plumbing pipes are protected from the expected freezing temperatures. Because frozen water expands, a pipe that is full of frozen water runs the risk of cracking or breaking. Not only will your water flow be reduced or shut off when the pipe freezes, but after the thaw, you might develop a plumbing leak as water pours out from the crack in the pipe.

Protecting your home's plumbing is doubly important for people who will be out of town during the frigidmonths, or those who have unoccupied floors in the upper part of the home. In order to conserve on the fuel costs, most people turn down the thermostat in unoccupied rooms. This makes plumbing pipes in those areas especially vulnerable to freezing. Just imagine returning from a vacation and finding your precious rugs ruined by a major flood caused by a burst pipe and you can understand the importance of winterizing your domicile.

The good news is, most all purpose plumbing companies have a special winterizing plan, which can be specifically tailored to your needs. While every home and every situation is different, here's what you can expect a plumbing company to do for you.

Plumbing companies will begin by putting insulation around exposed plumbing pipes, especially pipes around outside walls, which are the ones most likely to bring cold into the domicile. People who will be out of town for an extended stay usually leave their thermostat set at 40 degrees. Now comes the real preparation. When winterizing a home for people who will be away for a long stay, the plumbing company will drain all the plumbing pipes in the domicile. To do this safely, they will shut the power to the water heater and boiler, and shut off the gas flow to gas heaters. Once they have safely finished this step, they will add anti-freeze to the pipes, to protect them from bursting, even in the coldest weather. Anti-freeze will be added to the toilets as well.

When winterizing dwelling with unoccupieid upper floors, a plumbing company can install, as needed, shut off valves to the plumbing pipes leading to the upstairs. For easy use, the plumber will change the valves from gate valves to ball valves, which necessitates an easy 1/4 turn to close the water flow.

All types of exposed pipes need to be covered as plastic pipes are just as susceptible to freezing as metal pipes. According to Byron Graham, a Baltimore plumber with A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore, galvanized pipes that break are the hardest to fix, so he does not recommend installing galvanized pipes in locations in the home vulnerable to freezing.

The cost for winterization varies from location to location and abode to abode, but it is money well worth spending. Recent winters have been among the harshest on record, and the newspapers and Internet carried reports of record numbers of frozen pipe. Winterizing your plumbing pipes willgive you the peace of mind of knowing that your pipes will safely last through the winter.

Author Resource:- A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore provides Baltimore plumbers and Baltimore County plumbers, with the knowledge and experience to tackle all plumbing problems.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'> <html><head><title>Article Directory - My Articles World | Winterizing Your Plumbing Pipes</title></head><body><h3>Winterizing Your Plumbing Pipes</h3> By: Boruch Fishman The cold weather is coming in for sure, and it's time to make certain that your home and especially your exposed plumbing pipes are protected from the expected freezing temperatures. Because frozen water expands, a pipe that is full of frozen water runs the risk of cracking or breaking. Not only will your water flow be reduced or shut off when the pipe freezes, but after the thaw, you might develop a plumbing leak as water pours out from the crack in the pipe. Protecting your home's plumbing is doubly important for people who will be out of town during the frigidmonths, or those who have unoccupied floors in the upper part of the home. In order to conserve on the fuel costs, most people turn down the thermostat in unoccupied rooms. This makes plumbing pipes in those areas especially vulnerable to freezing. Just imagine returning from a vacation and finding your precious rugs ruined by a major flood caused by a burst pipe and you can understand the importance of winterizing your domicile. The good news is, most all purpose plumbing companies have a special winterizing plan, which can be specifically tailored to your needs. While every home and every situation is different, here's what you can expect a plumbing company to do for you. Plumbing companies will begin by putting insulation around exposed plumbing pipes, especially pipes around outside walls, which are the ones most likely to bring cold into the domicile. People who will be out of town for an extended stay usually leave their thermostat set at 40 degrees. Now comes the real preparation. When winterizing a home for people who will be away for a long stay, the plumbing company will drain all the plumbing pipes in the domicile. To do this safely, they will shut the power to the water heater and boiler, and shut off the gas flow to gas heaters. Once they have safely finished this step, they will add anti-freeze to the pipes, to protect them from bursting, even in the coldest weather. Anti-freeze will be added to the toilets as well. When winterizing dwelling with unoccupieid upper floors, a plumbing company can install, as needed, shut off valves to the plumbing pipes leading to the upstairs. For easy use, the plumber will change the valves from gate valves to ball valves, which necessitates an easy 1/4 turn to close the water flow. All types of exposed pipes need to be covered as plastic pipes are just as susceptible to freezing as metal pipes. According to Byron Graham, a Baltimore plumber with A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore, galvanized pipes that break are the hardest to fix, so he does not recommend installing galvanized pipes in locations in the home vulnerable to freezing. The cost for winterization varies from location to location and abode to abode, but it is money well worth spending. Recent winters have been among the harshest on record, and the newspapers and Internet carried reports of record numbers of frozen pipe. Winterizing your plumbing pipes willgive you the peace of mind of knowing that your pipes will safely last through the winter. Author Resource:-> A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore provides <a href="http://www.a-1plumbingofbaltimore.com/northwest_baltimore.htm">Baltimore plumbers</a> and <a href="http://www.a-1plumbingofbaltimore.com/baltimore%20county%20plumbing.htm"> Baltimore County plumbers</a>, with the knowledge and experience to tackle all plumbing problems. Article From <a href='http://myarticlesworld.com/'>Article Directory - My Articles World</a> </body></html>

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