How To Winterize Your Home’s Plumbing ?

The cold winter is coming soon. Although it is not particularly cold in Charlotte, in the early days of 2023, when the temperature was below 20 °F, a large number of water pipes were frozen and burst, and backflow assembly was frozen and cracked. How can we prevent similar incidents from happening again? Here are some of HAPPI Plumbing’s suggestions based on our experience serving a large number of clients:

Outside

1. Remove the water pipe from the faucet, the water in the pipe will freeze the faucet;
2. Remove the timer and dispenser on the faucet and take them back to the room. The timer and dispenser will be frozen after freezing;
3. Cover the water faucet with protective cover;
4. Close doors, windows and vents of basement and crawl spaces ;
5. In unheated areas such as garages, all exposed water pipes should be covered with insulation materials;
6. Anti-freezing treatment of irrigation system, including backflow preventer..

Backflow Preventer Winterization Steps

1. Close the inlet shutoff valve of the backflow preventer.
2. Open the test cocks on the backflow preventer and discharge all the water on the backflow preventer;
3. Once the water has been drained, adjust the test cocks and outlet shutoff valve to a position 1/4 open;
4. Cover the water pipes with insulation materials;
5. If there are holes on the cover, fill them in time or replace them with new covers.

Inside

1. In the cold winter, keep kitchen and bathroom pipes in a warm environment at all times. When it is extremely cold, you need to open the cabinet door to let warm air in;
2. When traveling or not at home for a long time, do not turn off the air conditioner, and the temperature can be set at the normal night setting. The indoor plumbing system has no insulation protection, if the indoor temperature drops below zero, many water pipes will be frozen and burst, flooding the house;
3. Locate your main water shut-off valve, label it, and make sure everyone in your home knows where it is. The main water shut-off valve is most often located at the water pipe that enters the house from the street, possibly near the water heater or washing machine. If a water pipe bursts anywhere in the house, turn off the main water shut-off valve promptly to minimize damage.
4. If you are away from home for a long time, turn off the main water shut-off valve and set the water heater to vacation model.

Take these precautions and you won’t have to worry about cold weather any more.