Plumbing Tips

Winter time is the worst time of the year, especially when it comes to being unprepared, with that in mind the last thing you’ll want to be worrying about is whether it’s your turn to become the unfortunate victim of an unexpected plumbing problem, or a plumbing emergency. These issues can include anything from frozen pipework to a clogged up drain, or even a boiler breakdown. To help you steer clear of these unwanted and unwelcome scenarios, take a look at our list of top winter plumbing tips, this will help you to avoid the stresses and strains that they bring and ensure your home functions perfectly through the cold winter months.

Frozen Pipework

At the risk of starting the radiator bleeding, temperatures will drop considerably in the winter and as the mercury struggles to rise, the water inside your pipework will easily be able to freeze and cause burst pipes that can lead to massive home floods and lots of damage to your furniture. To limit this, we recommend using a jacket of foam insulation around the pipe.

Clogged Drains and Gutters

Clogged drains and gutters are a common feature of most family homes, with leaves congregating in your garden, it can be a battle to keep them clear all of the time. If your gutters start to collect too much debris when the temperature drops, ice can begin to form and this can lead to untold damage and even potential breaks to the guttering itself. We recommend clearing out your guttering before the temperature drops and invest in some gutter guards to help prevent your drains from getting clogged.

Outdoor Spigots and Hoses

Ensure that your garden hoses have been unattached before the cold weather, it’s also important that you close the shut-off valve on all of the pipes that lead to any outdoor spigots too. Though they’ll thaw out when the weather begins to improve, it’s best to drain any residual water from hose pipes and spigots, this is to protect them for when you’ll need them and don’t leave hose pipes attached to outdoor taps through winter, roll them up and stick them in the shed.

Winter Cooking

We’re all guilty of putting grease, oil and other substances down the kitchen sink, but because of the cold, all of those things are much more likely to congregate and cause blockage during the winter months. We recommend that you steer clear of pouring substances down the sink, as well as blockage, it can also cause nasty smells.

Drafts

Take the time to check around your home for areas where the water supply lines can be found in unheated places, take measures to prevent the flow of cold air into them. Some examples of spaces with drafts include basements, cellars, crawl spaces, attics, garages and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. You consider insulating hot and cold pipes in these sorts of areas as the hot water supply line can freeze just as easily as the cold one if the water isn’t running through the pipe and the temperature drops suddenly.

In case of a Plumbing Emergency

If your taps or faucets freeze

• Leave the doors of the bathroom and kitchen cabinets open, this will allow more heat to get into your pipes.
• If the temperature drops really low, run a little water from your taps everyday, let the water run into the sink slowly.
• Make sure that you heat every room of your home and don’t leave some rooms cold, allow the heat to circulate freely throughout the house this will minimise the risk of freezing pipework.

If you get a cracked or burst pipe this winter

• First things first, turn off the water at your main shut off valve, that way you won’t have problems when it ice melts.
• Keep your taps and outlets open to help relieve pressure as the ice melts.
• Use a hairdryer or a heat gun to thaw the frozen pipework out.
• Don’t use blow torches or open flames to thaw pipes, this can lead to pipes cracking.
• If your central heating is making noises that it doesn’t usually make, take a look at our blog on the main causes for central heating noise and you’ll get it back to normal.

Make sure that you stay safe and sound this winter with your plumbing, this time of year is always a busy time for plumbers and the last thing you want to do is to call one out in the middle of the night.