Now that winter is almost upon us, it’s important to take some precautions to prevent the cold elements from doing any damage to your home. When the temperatures start to drop, this can especially be bad news for your plumbing system, as freezing water naturally expands, which means that a pipe that is already full of liquid water is likely to burst, if it freezes. The worst part is that you might not even realize it until winter, when your entire basement floods and destroys a bunch of your belongings. Here is how to conduct some pre-winter maintenance on your water lines before winter arrives to prevent this…
Turn off central water valve
First of all, you need to turn off the central water valve of your home, which disconnect it, temporarily from the main water lines in your city. This means that you have now isolated your internal water system so that it won’t continuously fill up with water. If you are having difficulty finding or turning off your central water valve, then you can contact the local water services in your area to figure out where it is located.
Drain the pipes
After you have turned off the main valve, you need to empty all of the excess water throughout your home. To do this, turn on all of the faucets in your home and flush all of the toilets. When going through your home, it’s important to start with the top floor, and then continue down to the bottom floor, since water will naturally drift downwards. Keep doing this until there is no water left in any sink or toilet.
Push remaining water out
At this point, there is still water that has settled in your pipes that isn’t being forced out by turning on the faucets. To get rid of this water, put an air compressor in your pipes and allow the air to push any remaining water droplets out for a few seconds at a time, until no more water comes out.
Clear the appliances
Even though you have cleared out your sinks, toilets, and pipes, there is still going to be excess water that is sitting in your dishwasher and washing machine, as well as any other water-based appliances that you have. For this reason, turn on each of the appliances for a few minutes to push through some water, and then use the air compressor to blow the water out of each of the pipes, again.
Add anti-freeze
At this point, you may be wondering how you are going to get through the winter with no plumbing system running through your home. Well, the next step is to add anti-freeze by pouring a little bit of it into each drain and toilet throughout your home. After this, turn on the main water valve again and then turn on all of the sinks until water is flowing freely again, and then you’re all set!
