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Tips on preventing frozen pipes in your Kingsville Maryland home before you go out of town
2/21/2018 (Permalink)
Tips on preventing frozen pipes in your Kingsville Maryland home before you go out of town
Preventing frozen pipes is essential to preventing severe water damage. Broken water pipes rank second only to hurricanes in terms of both frequency and severity in regards to annual claims resulting from water damage. If we had a nickel for every Kingsville Maryland homeowner who came back to town to a water damaged home, we wouldn’t need to work ever again. We’re going to give you tips on how to prevent frozen pipe related water damage the next time you leave town in the winter.
- Set the thermostat in your house no lower than 65°F, (some people say 55, we think 65 is a safer)
- Ask a friend or neighbor to check your house daily to make sure the heat is working, and that there are no other appliance malfunctions – 250 gallons of water that can leak from a 1/8-inch pipe crack in a day.
- Leave your kitchen cabinet doors open while you are gone to allow warm air to circulate pipes
- If you’re going to be away for a long time – such as a month or so, shut off and drain the water system. Be aware that if you have a fire protection sprinkler system in your house, it may be deactivated when you shut off the water.
- Leave your kitchen cabinet doors open while you are gone to allow warm air to circulate pipes
If your pipes do freeze
What if your pipes still freeze, despite your best preventive measures? First step: Don't panic. Just because they're frozen doesn't mean they've already burst. Here's what you can do:
- If you turn on your faucets and nothing comes out, leave the faucets turned on and call a plumber.
- If there is standing water, call SERVPRO and then a plumber. Do not enter the area or use electrical appliances in areas of standing water. You could be electrocuted.
- Never attempt to thaw a pipe with a torch or other open flame because it could cause a fire hazard. But you may be able to use a hairdryer. Start by warming the pipe as close to the faucet as possible, working toward the coldest section of pipe.
- If your water pipes have already burst, turn off the water at the main shutoff your family knows where the water shutoff valve is and how to open and close it. SERVPRO has water and gas shut off valve tags. If you need some please ask your local SERVPRO.
When storms hit Kingsville Maryland and the surrounding baltimore county area, we can scale our resources to handle a large storm or flooding disaster. We can access equipment and personnel from a network of 1,650 Franchises across the country and elite Disaster Recovery Teams that are strategically located throughout the United States.