Billings, Montana – You can winterize your pipes if you intend to travel or be away from home over the holidays to prevent damage to your house when you return.
Simple solutions include closing the main water valve and cutting any external hoses.
Andy Pirami, the owner of Billings Water Damage Restoration, has witnessed the damage that broken water pipes can cause to a home. He wants people to remember to take care of their house while they are away when they travel.
He said that if “a lot of us is we are going to friends and families, make sure someone is monitoring your house while you are gone Because furnaces do pop, breakers do fails. And all of a sudden if we had a little time, we could get in there and get the house heated back up before any damage occurs. ”
Pirami is well aware of the importance of minor details, particularly in mobile or modular homes.
He cautioned that “we have some extremely cold weather coming in wind is not our friend when it gets this cold, so you want to make sure that if you have any gaps around pipes or entrances into the home that you got through with some spray foam and fill those in.”
Pirami continued, “for everybody with modular homes make sure the skirting around the home is intact and there is no air leaks around it. because if there is it just takes a tiny bit of air coming in to freeze a pipe especially when we are getting down to negative fourteen this next week. So, it doesn’t take much.”
You may take precautions to prevent your pipes from freezing even if you’re staying home during the holidays.
To do this, open cupboards and doors to expose plumbing to the warmth of the home, leave the heat on all day and all night, and regularly let the water drip or run.
According to Pirami, a broken line can leak 8 to 12 gallons of water every minute, which might be quite expensive and stressful for you.
You may avoid the headache and be safe this winter by being prepared.