How to Prepare Residential Plumbing for the Winter Temperatures

Winter in Schaumburg Illinois often comes with chilly temperature and high wind.

That’s why the arrival of winter causes the big issues for unprotected water pipes. Fortunately, you can prepare those winter plumbing issues and prevent the pipes from bursting if you take some preventive tips beforehand.

Here you will come across some Schaumburg Illinois residential plumbing winterization tips that can save you from costly plumbing expenses.

Need Help Winterizing Your Home In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872

1. Insulating Pipes for the Unheated Places

There are certain areas in the house like attic, garage or crawl space where temperature remains few degrees lower than other places. That’s why water pipes running through those areas are more prone to freeze with the dropping of outside temperature.

However, you can prevent the problem of frozen water by adding a layer of insulation covering them up with foam sleeves, heat tapes or other stuffs. For more winter protection of your plumbing, you should keep the garage doors closed during the very cold days.

2. Winterizing the Outdoor Faucets

The outside faucets remain exposed to the natural elements all the time. Therefore, it is essential to winterize of those faucets first.

Disconnect and drain out water from the hoses and stop the water supply from the outside spigots in case your house has any separate shutoff valves. For the outside kitchen faucet, you can apply the same winterization tip.

If these faucets are left with water, it causes an increasing pressure that can make the pipes burst inside as well as underneath the home.

Need Help Winterizing Your Home In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872

3. Checking the Furnace

Damaging the residential furnace in the middle of the winter can leave your home without heat until it will be repaired. In fact, when the furnace quits working your water pipes will be left vulnerable to the freezing temperature. Therefore, it is essential to check the heating system whether it is in good condition before the winter hits.

4. Keeping the Cabinets Open

If you feel the outside weather in Schaumburg Illinois is extremely cold or certain rooms of your home get colder than other places, you should leave the cabinet doors open in order to allow the warm air circulating through the pipes. In addition, you can also allow a trickle of water running through the faucets as it may prevent them from freezing.

5. When You Are Away from Home

If you have the habit of a snowbird to migrate towards the south during the winter or just go for a casual family trip for some days, you have to avoid the temptation of shutting off the furnace when you are away. Otherwise, you may have to invest thousands of dollars for repairing your damaged pipes. Hence, you should set the thermostat to at least 55 degrees.

Along with that, shutting off the main water supply and completely draining out the water are also effective winterization tricks when you are away from home.

6. Contact a Pro

Before the arrival of winter, you should call the professional plumbers who will install heat tapes to keep the water pipes warm and replace the freeze-prone pipes from the exterior walls.

Need Help Winterizing Your Home In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872