With winter right around the corner, it’s important for Toronto homeowners to prepare their entire homes for the colder temperatures. This includes things like getting the garden ready, cleaning out the gutter, and, yes, getting your plumbing system ready for freezing temperatures. Since water can freeze inside of pipes and then expand, winter can be particularly hard on your plumbing system. So here are some winter plumbing preparation tips that can keep your system working at its absolute best right up to spring, and probably even beyond.
1. Start Outdoors
When getting your whole plumbing system ready for winter, it’s best to start outside. Find all of your outdoor taps and hoses. drain them completely of water. Then, bundle up the hoses and keep them somewhere out of the elements. If they’ve been drained completely, they can go somewhere that dips below the freezing point, like an unheated garage. If you have an outdoor sprinkler system, you have to drain the water as well, so that frozen water doesn’t damage the fragile sprinkler heads during the winter. It’s also a great time to consider eavestrough cleaning in order to eliminate potential problems with your eavestroughing which could also eventually lead to basement flooding problems.
2. Fix Any Leaks
Leaks can get even worse if your pipes freeze, so it’s a good idea to get them fixed before winter. Be sure to call a trained and certified plumbing expert to fix leaks, and it doesn’t hurt to get your entire plumbing system inspected for any potential leaks or other issues.
3. Wrap Up Unheated Pipes
If you live in an older home, some of your pipes are likely to be in cold spots where they’re likely to freeze during particularly cold temperatures. And if you’re in a newer home, you may have pipes that run outside or pass through unheated areas. In both instances, you should wrap up the pipes for extra insulation. Use heat tape or specially-designed pipe insulation. Some even include thermostats so you can easily check if your pipes are staying toasty warm.
4. Check out your Water Heater and Furnace
The two most important appliances you own for keeping your pipes warm are your water heater and furnace, so it pays to make sure they’ll run throughout the winter. Have both of them inspected by trained professionals and deal with any necessary maintenance or repairs as soon as possible. In the case of your furnace, it also pays to replace the filters so that it can run more efficiently.
When it comes to winter preparation, your plumbing system is probably a lot more fragile than the solid metal pipes would let on. Frozen water can expand in your pipes, bursting during particularly cold temperatures, and drown your home in water. That’s not only expensive, but the damage can affect sentimental items that your insurance can’t exactly replace. So be prepared by doing some extra chores in the fall. And be sure to know how to shut off your water, just in case an emergency happens anyways.
