Snow-covered winter weather brings things like sledding down the highest hill or snowball fights in the neighbor's yard. At the same time, winter weather can be hard on your home. Severely cold conditions can encourage the water lines in your house's plumbing system to freeze and burst, which may lead to significant water damage and lasting negative effects.

Once your pipes are frozen solid, you might need to contact a plumber in Mission Viejo to resolve the issue. However, there’s several tasks you can perform on your own to stop this from happening – and even just a bit of prevention can go a long way.

What Pipes Are at a Higher Chance of Freezing

The pipes at the greatest risk of freezing are exposed water lines. Frequent locations for exposed pipes are inside attic crawlspaces, near exterior walls, in the basement or even running underneath a modular home. Water lines that are not properly insulated are at the highest risk.

How to Prevent Pipes from Becoming Frozen in Your Home

Thoroughly insulating exposed water lines is a great first step to keeping your pipes ice free. You’ll likely locate lots of these materials from your local plumbing company, and may also already have some inside your home.

Be careful not to wrap up other flammable insulation materials where they may light on fire. If you don’t feel confident insulating the pipes by yourself, call your local plumbing services professional in Mission Viejo to do the job.

If you do choose to insulate the pipes yourself, common insulation materials for pipes include:

  • Wraps or roll insulation: Most plumbers, hardware stores and national retailers offer insulation – usually fiberglass, foam wraps or pipe sleeves – that you can wrap or fit around your pipes. They are supplied in various lengths and sizes to satisfy the needs of your home.
  • Newspaper: To a decent degree, newspaper can be used for insulation. If the weather is getting colder and you aren’t able to add insulation soon enough, wrap uninsulated pipes in this.
  • Towels or rags: If you aren’t able to buy insulation and don’t have any newspaper handy, wrapping especially vulnerable pipes with towels or clean rags as a last-ditch effort can be just enough to keep the cold air from freezing the pipes.

One other preventative step you can attempt to stop pipes from being covered in ice is to fill any cracks that can allow cold air into your home. Pay close attention to window frames, which can let in surprisingly strong drafts. Not only should this help to keep your pipes from freezing, but it will have the additional benefit of making your home more energy efficient.

Five More Ways to Keep Your Pipes from Freezing:

  • Open the cabinet doors. Opening the cabinet doors under the sinks and other areas of your home with plumbing will enable more warm air from the rest of the room to reach the pipes.
  • Letting water drip. Letting water flow by letting your faucets trickle even just a little can help avoid frozen pipes.
  • Open interior doors. By opening doors between rooms or hallways, your home can be heated more consistently. This is especially important if there's a room that tends to be colder or hotter than other rooms.
  • Close the garage door. The exception to the open doors tip is the garage door, which you should keep closed – especially if your water lines are installed under the garage.
  • Keep the heat consistent. Experts suggest setting the thermostat at a uniform temperature and leaving it alone, rather than permitting it to get colder at night. Set it no cooler than 55 degrees.

How to Prevent Pipes from Freezing in an Unused Home

When you’re inside a house, it’s easy to recognize when something isn't right. But what added steps can you take to keep pipes from freezing in a vacant home or vacation home when the consequences from a frozen pipe may not be discovered for some time?

As with your primary residence, placing extra insulation around any exposed water lines, opening interior doors throughout the home and winterizing the vacant home are the basic steps to try at first.

Added Steps to Prevent Pipes from Freezing in an Empty Home:

  1. Leave the heat on. Even though you aren't currently using the home, it’s best to keep the heat on – even if you turn the thermostat down colder than you would if you were there. As with a primary residence, experts recommend keeping the temperature at no lower than 55 degrees.
  2. Shut water off and drain the lines. If you’re going to be away for several weeks or are winterizing a seasonal cabin or cottage, switching the water off to the house and clearing the water out of the water lines is one way to keep pipes from freezing and breaking. Try not to forget to clear the water out of any appliances, like the hot water heater, and the toilets. Confirm you empty all the water from the plumbing. If you are not sure of how to drain the water from the pipes, or don’t feel confident doing it on your own, a plumber in Mission Viejo will be happy to step in.