How To Prevent Pipe Freezes
Whether you live in a single-family home or a high-rise apartment building, following these tips can help you avoid catastrophic freeze and water damages —
What Happens When A Pipe Freezes?
Pipes freeze when ice forms inside your pipes. The ice in the pipes increases the pressure inside the pipes from around 40 pounds per square inch to as high as 40,000 psi. Eventually, the pressure finds a weak point in the plumbing system and pop — the pipe bursts and released water everywhere. The water will cause damage to personal belongings, floors, walls, cabinetry, electrical, and everything else.If the pipe burst occurs on a higher floor — water can run through an entire home or apartment building —
The cost of mitigation and reconstruction can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the insurance claims process can take months.
6 Ways to Prevent Pipe Freezes
Here are 6 ways to prevent pipe freezes, which can protect your home or business from significant water damage during freezing temperatures —
Tip #1: Turn on the heat — and keep it up.
Even if you leave the property — keep the heat up. The additional heat bill expense will pale in comparison to the inconvenience of losing everything in your home or business to pipe freezes and water damage.
Tip #2: Open your faucets —
Opening your faucets helps relieve the pressure that may build up inside the pipes, thereby reducing the likelihood of a burst!
Tip #3: Insulate the pipes that are most exposed to the elements
Pipes that are exposed to the elements are at the greatest risk of freezing. For instance, if you have a sink or baseboard heating system installed against an exterior wall — pay close attention to these areas because those are the areas where pipe freezes are most likely to occur.
Also, If you have exposed piping in any high risk areas, you can go to your local hardware store to buy some pipe insulation. It can be as cheap as $.50 per foot.
Tip #4: Warm enclosed pipes with ambient heat
Open any cabinet doors that enclose piping. This will give those pipes access to warmer room air to prevent freezing.
Tip #5: Know where your water main cut off is.
If a burst occurs, you’ll know where to cut the water off for your home. If you live in an apartment building, make sure you know how to reach your super, maintenance personnel or front desk in the event of a water damage emergency.
Tip #6: Winterize your property
If you have plans to be away from your property for an exteneded period during the cold months, you may want to consider winterization to remove water from the pipes and plumbing fixtures in your home. The cost to winterize the property starts at a few hundred dollars and well worth the price as a major water damage claim could easily reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even worse, freeze damage claims generate special scruity from insurance carriers and they will do everything in their power to deny your claim if it happens.
Get Help With A Claim
If you have recently sustained major fire or water damage, click the button to schedule a free call with a Public Adjuster from our firm. On the call, we’ll take time to understand your situation and provide valuable advice to help you achieve Claim Success. If you’re a good fit for our services, we’ll also discuss working together and what that would look like.
