The weather next week will be frightfully cold in Northwest Arkansas. A few years ago at our home, we had pipes freeze and burst, flooding our living room floor once they thawed. It was a huge mess and is now something I try so hard to avoid every winter! I reached out to our plumber, Tyler Laswell, the owner of Pride Plumbing here in Northwest Arkansas, for tips to share on ways to help prevent your water pipes from freezing:
- Disconnect outdoor water hoses. Go outside & check all faucets to make sure your garden hoses are unhooked.
- Know the location of your home's main water shut off in case of emergency. Most houses will have 2 valves, if you are on city water you will have one in the meter can and will also have another one inside your home.
- Keep garage door closed.
- If your house is on a crawlspace, be sure to close those crawlspace vents and secure your access door.
- Shut off outdoor water sources and drain those drain lines.
- Open cabinet doors to allow warm air to circulate around the pipes. (I always make it a habit when it's below freezing to open up the cabinet doors below my kitchen sink and bathroom sink)
- Drip faucets. When the temperature drops below freezing, allow your faucets to drip slightly to keep water moving and prevent freezing. (In our experience, we needed to drip both hot and cold faucet on the bathtub on the north side of our house. Yes, it makes your water bill a little higher, but it's still cheaper than replacing busted pipes!)
- If pipes freeze: if possible, place a safe space heater in the room where the busted pipes are and close the door to heat up the room as much as possible. You can also use a hair dryer to try to thaw the pipes. Avoid direct flame or extreme heat that could damage pipes. Turn on the faucets connected to frozen pipes to relieve pressure. Faucets should be open but not fully open.
Thanks to Tyler Laswell, owner of Pride Plumbing for these helpful tips! We hope you don't need help with busted pipes, but if you find yourself in need of help with that or any other plumbing problem, reach out to Tyler and schedule service today. He can be reached at (479) 305-0511. Offering same day service and 24/7 emergency service.
