{"id":912,"date":"2019-09-30T11:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/?p=912"},"modified":"2019-09-27T12:47:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T16:47:21","slug":"avoid-winter-plumbing-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/plumbing-service\/avoid-winter-plumbing-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid This Winter Plumbing Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-914\" src=\"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Avoid-This-Winter-Plumbing-Problem-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"icicles-hanging-off-pipe\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Avoid-This-Winter-Plumbing-Problem-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Avoid-This-Winter-Plumbing-Problem-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Avoid-This-Winter-Plumbing-Problem.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u201cWait, what?\u201d you might be wondering, \u201cWhy are we already talking about winter? Didn\u2019t Fall <em>just <\/em>start?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, yes. But honestly, this is an important topic, and we\u2019d rather you be safe than sorry by planning ahead. Once our temperatures <em>do <\/em>drop to a point below freezing, your pipes are in danger. This may not seem like an urgent need, but if you\u2019ve reached the middle of January to all of the sudden find yourself with a burst pipe or similar plumbing problem, you\u2019ll be sorry if you <em>didn\u2019t <\/em>take precautionary measures.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to talk about today. We want to help you take the appropriate steps to make sure that frozen\u2014or worse, burst\u2014pipes won\u2019t become an issue for your living space. We\u2019d like you to take warning now, so that it won\u2019t even be a concern later. Frozen pipes are a problem enough, but what they lead to when they thaw\u2014<em>burst <\/em>pipes\u2014is even worse. Of course, if you do run into any sort of plumbing problem, you can reach a trusted <a href=\"\/service-areas\/evanston-il-plumbing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plumber in Evanston, IL<\/a> just by dialing our number. In the meantime, read on to learn how to avoid this common winter plumbing problem.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Shut Off Your Outdoor Faucets<\/h2>\n<p>The first step here is to open your outdoor faucets in order to let any water drain out. Then, you\u2019ll shut off these faucets at the valve. This prevents those faucets from freezing, and cracking as a result. If you still notice water dripping from the faucet after you\u2019ve shut off the valve, then you may need a new valve altogether.<\/p>\n<h2>Disconnect Your Hoses and Drain Them<\/h2>\n<p>If you leave your hoses sitting out all winter long with water inside, you can\u2019t expect to <em>not <\/em>deal with freezing. True, this won\u2019t necessarily lead to frozen pipes (though, if the hoses are still connected and your faucets aren\u2019t shut off at the valve it can), but you do risk frozen and degraded hoses. Disconnect them, drain them, and store them in a location where they won\u2019t be susceptible to moisture, like a garage or shed area.<\/p>\n<h2>Keep Your Bathroom and Kitchen Sink Cabinets Cracked Open<\/h2>\n<p>Think about the pipes that run beneath your kitchen and bathroom sinks. These pipes are connected to the rest of your plumbing system, which can be in outdoor-facing walls. This makes them prone to freezing and subsequent issues. However, if you leave the cabinet doors open where these pipes are located, you allow in the heat form your heating system, which will prevent this issue.<\/p>\n<h2>Use Pipe Insulating Sleeves<\/h2>\n<p>Are there pipes in your home that are more susceptible to freezing than others? If you have an unfinished basement, we\u2019re going to guess the answer to this is \u201cyes.\u201d Fortunately, you can purchase insulating sleeves at pretty much any hardware store. These are designed to protect your pipes. If you don\u2019t want to purchase these sleeves, then you can instead use towels to wrap around the pipes\u2014anything to protect them from freezing weather.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>For expert plumbing service, installations, or maintenance <a href=\"\/contact\/send-message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact Reliance Plumbing Sewer &amp; Drainage, Inc.<\/a> Our knowledgeable plumbers serve the North Shore and Northwest Chicago suburbs. Rely on Reliance!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once our temperatures do drop to a point below freezing, your pipes are in danger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[135,127],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":915,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions\/915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}