WEST MICHIGAN — With extreme weather conditions come the potential for the water lines in your home to freeze and, in some cases, burst.
Now, nobody is hoping to deal with a burst pipe while several inches of snow sit on the ground, so what to do? There are several steps you can take to alleviate the potential for frozen pipes.
Turn Your Faucets On—
You hear this tip a lot, but pay attention to the specifics.
You are supposed to find your faucet farthest from the main source of water coming into your home.
Once you figure out which one that is, turn the cold water on to a small trickle. The stream should only be about the width of a toothpick.
Keep the Area Warm—
Keep your home warm, particularly your basement where there are water lines. Use fans to route warmer air towards your lines if possible.
Never use a torch or anything with a flame to heat your lines. This is a massive fire hazard.
Already Frozen?—
If your lines are already frozen, you want to shut off the main water line coming into your home, and turn on all of your sink faucets. This is so once the water unfreezes, it has somewhere to expand and flow towards.
Joe Bergsma, the owner of Bergsma Plumbing, says there isn't much a commercial plumber can do for most frozen lines that a homeowner or renter couldn't do themselves.
You want to get as much warm air towards those lines.
If you believe the water is beginning to thaw, you want to turn that main line on slowly so you can better control the flow.
You will want to call a licensed plumber immediately if those pipes do burst.
The city of Kalamazoo's Department of Public Services shared the following list of additional tips to help prevent your pipes from freezing:
- Replace missing or broken basement windows to retain heat.
- Board up or place insulation in any gaps in the foundation or walls, including broken or missing windows.
- Insulate pipes with pipe insulation.
- Heat basement areas to at least 40 degrees.
- Open cabinets and allow warm room air to circulate around pipes.
- Use fans to direct warm room air to colder areas.
- Use UL-listed space heaters in accordance with manufacturers' recommended uses and instructions.
- Never use an extension cord rated below the circuit breaker rating for the circuit it is plugged in to.
- Run the cold water at a pencil-lead diameter flow from the kitchen faucet or the faucet that is prone to freeze.
