Preparing Your Home's Plumbing for the Winter

Plumbing in the winter can be very problematic. For those of us who have just bought our first home or perhaps just moved to a region of the country that gets very cold in the winter, we can have little to no idea of what to do with our pipes and plumbing for the winter. The following is an overview look at some of the things you can do to protect your plumbing this winter and avoid exorbitant repair costs associated with winter plumbing issues.

Kitchen and Bathroom Sinks - Kitchen and some bathroom sinks are often positioned with the pipes near an outer, uninsulated and exposed part of the house, like the exterior wall of the structure. These pipes and fixtures can be the first to freeze come winter. A great, easy tip for preventing such mishaps is to simply leave the cabinet doors below the sink open- in this way, the heated air from inside your home will work to keep the pipes at a safe temperature.

Exposed Piping - For those kitchen sink pipes or any directly exposed piping, you can also insulate. If you want to attempt a DIY solution, use electrical heating tape to wrap them and then cover them with some type of foam insulation. If you're at all unsure of the process, consulting with a professional, licensed plumber to take care of this for you is always a good idea.

Exterior Fixtures - A professional plumber might call them sill-cocks, but most of us just call them good ol' 'faucets' or 'spigots'. These exterior elements are often left untreated and filled with water during the winter, leading to enormous (and costly) problems for a home. Make sure that you have drained all the water out of these exterior plumbing elements before the winter months arrive, and also consider covering them with insulation. Again, a licensed plumber can do this quickly and correctly, so consider contacting one if you're at all concerned about getting it right.

Water Shutdown - Exterior elements also need to have the water supply being sent to them from the interior of the house shut down. If you have a vacation property or second home that you are vacating for the winter, make sure to shut down the entire water supply and evacuate the whole system. Leaks and frozen pipes in an empty home are the quickest way to ratchet up your home repair costs.