Ways to Insulate Your Water Pipes for Winter
When the weather gets cold in New Jersey, one of the biggest problems you can have is for a water pipe to freeze and burst. Water can cause a lot of damage to the inside of your home. It can ruin sheetrock, warp wooden flooring, cause mold to grow, and destroy carpet. You will have to spend money to repair the pipe, but you will also need to the several thousand dollars in cash to fix everything else. The best way to avoid costly repairs from water damage is bring on the insulation.
Exterior winter preparation
Before the first frost, you need to detach any garden houses from exterior spigots. The water in a garden house can freeze. When water freezes it expands, this expansion puts pressure on your interior plumbing and can cause a breach. Next, if you spigots are not frost free, you will need to purchase a spigot insulator. You can find them from any home and garden center. The insulated covering will protect the spigot. If the weather gets really cold you might need to take the added precaution of turning the water off to the exterior spigot.
Interior winter preparation
Before you begin with insulating, you need to identify areas in your home that do not have heat. If you have water pipes running through a crawlspace, attic or garage, this is where you need to put your focus. Take a drive over to your hardware store and purchase some foam rubber pipe insulation. This will do for most of the cold weather we experience in Manalapan.
If you have water pipes on the northern side of your home and a cold winter is expected, the pipe insulation might not be enough. For this type of problem, you might need to invest in some heating tape. Pay particular attention to the installation instructions, because each brand might be a bit different. Some heating tapes need to be wrapped around the pipe, while other types can be run along one side of pipe. Heating tape is nice because it comes with a thermostat. When the temperature drops below a threshold, the heating element kicks on and keeps your pipes safe from freezing.
Under-insulated interior preparation
Sometimes you will have problem in areas of your home that you know are insulated. Sometimes this can be a due to inadequate insulation. If it is in an area of you home that is unfinished, all you have to do is add in more insulation and your problem will be solved. If the area is finished, you are going to need to cut into the wall. This route is more expensive because you are going to need to repair the drywall or plaster board once you are done. Still though spending several hundred dollars in wall repair, is a lot better than spending several thousand in water damage repair.
Team Electric Plumbing & Air
When you need a New Jersey plumber that will help you with all of your winter pipe preparation needs, Team Electric is your local source for anything that deals with plumbing. If you are having an emergency, give us a call and we can be there within the hour.
