Do I really need to winterize my home?
There is a strong misconception among home owners that winterizing your home’s water pipes when you leave your home vacant is unnecessary and a waste of time. While the winterizing process might seem like extra time and money, in reality it isn’t that difficult or expensive, and the results could save you thousands of dollars in wasted water or repairs. The repair of frozen, busted pipes are certainly more work and expense than a winterizing appointment.
In the winter, it’s also important to winterize your outdoor shower to prevent the pipes from freezing. Repairing the damage from frozen pipes can be expensive and cause costly water damage as well.
Let Action Plumbing take the worry out of winterizing!
We make it easy. Here’s a snapshot of the process:
Turn the Water Off
- The first step for us is to locate the main water shut off valve to your home and turn off all running water.
Drain the Water Heater
- Next stop is the water heater. Once you have the water to the house shut off, we will turn off the water heater and drain the tank.
Drain the Supply Lines
- Now it’s time to get all the water out, we will drain all the supply lines, and open all faucets and fixtures and blow out the supply lines. This is a process that requires an air compressor to push out any left behind water within the pipes.
Drain All Appliances
- Anything in your home that stores water needs to be turned off and drained of all water.
Other Winterization Services
- Once all the water has been removed, we will go a step further to winterize toilets and other drains with a special antifreeze solution. The antifreeze is usually pink and will go an extra step into making sure none of your home’s plumbing lines will freeze.
- We also will turn off the main circuit breaker unless owner requests heat to be left on.
- We will winterize the plumbing on the outside of your house, since these are often the source of frozen pipes due to outdoor showers and foot-washing stations. If you have a separate shut-off for external faucets, our technician will turn that off as well. We will then drain the outdoor faucets, which will release the pressure in your pipes and prevent problems during the winter.
For questions about our winterization service, or to schedule an appointment, please contact us.
