Snow-covered winter weather presents a great opportunity for fun activities like sledding down the highest hill or snowball fights in the neighbor's yard. However, winter weather can be tough on your home. Excessively cold conditions can encourage the water lines in your house's plumbing system to freeze and burst, which may result in serious water damage and long-lasting negative effects.

Once your pipes are frozen, you should contact a plumber in Mason City to fix them. However, there’s several tasks you can try to keep this from happening – and even just a bit of prevention can go a long way.

What Pipes Are at Risk of Freezing

The pipes at the largest risk of freezing are uninsulated water lines. Frequent locations for uncovered pipes are in attic crawlspaces, near exterior walls, in the basement or even running beneath a modular home. Water lines that are not correctly insulated are at the greatest risk.

How to Stop Pipes from Freezing Over in Your Home

Thoroughly insulating uncovered water lines is a good first step to keeping your pipes ice free. You’ll generally find lots of these materials from your local plumbing company, and may also already have some someplace in your home.

Be mindful not to wrap other flammable insulation materials where they can light on fire. If you don’t feel safe insulating the pipes on your own, call your local plumbing services professional in Mason City to get the job done right.

If you do choose to insulate the pipes on your own, good insulation materials for pipes consist of:

  • Wraps or roll insulation: Many plumbers, hardware stores and big box retailers sell insulation – typically fiberglass, foam wraps or pipe sleeves – that you can use to wrap or fit around your pipes. They are supplied in numerous lengths and sizes to fit the needs of your home.
  • Newspaper: To some degree, newspaper can be used as insulation. If the weather is getting colder and you aren’t able to add insulation before then, consider covering uninsulated pipes in this.
  • Towels or rags: If you aren’t able to buy insulation and don’t have any newspaper to use, wrapping particularly vulnerable pipes with towels or clean rags as a final effort may be just enough to keep the cold air away from the pipes.

One other preventative step you can attempt to stop pipes from being covered in ice is to seal up any cracks that may permit cold air in your home. Focus on the window frames, which can allow in surprisingly strong drafts. This not only will help to stop your pipes from freezing, but it will have the extra benefit of making your home more energy efficient.

Five More Ways to Keep Your Pipes from Freezing:

  • Open the cabinet doors. Opening the cabinet doors underneath the sinks and other areas of your home with plumbing will permit more warm air from the rest of the room to get to the pipes.
  • Letting water drip. Letting water flow by letting your faucets trickle even a small amount can help avoid frozen pipes.
  • Open interior doors. By opening doors between rooms or hallways, your home can be heated more equally. This is especially important if there's a room that tends to be colder or hotter than the remainder of your home.
  • Close the garage door. The exception to the open doors recommendation is the garage door, which you should keep shut – particularly if your water lines are installed under the garage.
  • Keep the heat steady. Experts recommend setting the thermostat at a uniform temperature and leaving it in place, rather than letting it get cooler at night. Set it no colder than 55 degrees.

How to Keep Pipes from Freezing in an Empty Home

When you’re at home, it’s easier to realize when something breaks down. But what extra steps can you try to prevent pipes from freezing in an empty home or vacation home when the damages from a frozen pipe can remain unnoticed for a while?

As with a primary residence, adding insulation to any exposed water lines, opening interior doors throughout the home and winterizing the vacant home are the first steps to take.

Additional Steps to Keep Pipes from Freezing in a Vacant Home:

  1. Leave the heat on. Even though you won't always be home, it’s best to keep the heat on – even if you switch the thermostat down lower than you would if you were there. As with a primary home, experts suggest keeping the temperature at no colder than 55 degrees.
  2. Shut water off and drain the lines. If you’re going to be gone for a long time or are winterizing a seasonal cabin or cottage, shutting the water off to the house and draining the water out of the water lines is an easy way to keep pipes from freezing and breaking. Try not to forget to drain the water out of your appliances, like the hot water heater, as well as the toilets. See to it that you empty all the water from the pipes. If you're uncertain of how to drain the water from the pipes, or don’t feel secure handling it without any help, a plumber in Mason City will be delighted to offer support.