As you get your home ready for winter, make sure that winterizing your pipes is on your list. If a pipe that is full of water and exposed to freezing temperatures bursts, the damage will be quite expensive to repair. It is also capable of causing significant harm to your residence. According to estimates, the costs associated with water damage and repairs may range anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 if one of your pipes were to burst.

According to Christian Fiore, an instructor at Granite State Trade School in Raymond, New Hampshire, which specializes in plumbing and HVAC instruction, the best time to take care of your pipes is in the autumn, before the temperatures begin to drop. This is the recommended time to perform maintenance on your pipes.

How to wrap water pipes for winter

Winterizing your pipes to keep your home safe isn’t particularly difficult, but it does take some planning and perhaps some practice. In this article, we will look at “How to wrap water pipes for winter?”

Ahead of the impending temperature drop make sure to do the following steps:

• It is important to insulate any pipes that are located in the crawl areas, attic, or garage of your home. These exposed pipes are especially vulnerable to freezing temperatures. The greater the amount of insulation you utilize, the better your pipes are protected.
• Insulate plumbing using heat tape or heat cables that are thermostatically regulated. Always ensure that the installation and operation instructions provided by the manufacturer are adhered to.
• Caulk or insulate any areas where air can leak in from the outside, such as around pipes, dryer vents, or electrical equipment. Even a little hole can let in sufficient cold air to cause a pipe to freeze if the temperature outside is sufficiently low.
• If possible, turn off the water supply to outdoor fixtures including faucets, drip irrigation systems, sprinklers, and evaporative (swamp) coolers from an inside valve, and empty the system.

Empty the water from the faucets outside your house:

If you have outdoor faucets, you will need to remove the water from them to prevent any harm from being caused by the water. According to Fiore, “people don’t comprehend that once ice expands in a limited space, it actually takes up more than its original space and volume,” and this is a misconception that exists among the general public. 

This indicates that if a pipe is full of water and the temperature drops to 32 degrees or lower for an extended period of time, the water will freeze, causing the pipe to break and produce a leak in the supply of water.

Step 1: Firstly, turn off the water supply to your outdoor faucet by closing the shut-off valve that is located in the pipe leading to the faucet.

Step 2: You should go outdoors, unplug and drain your garden hose (if you have one), and bring it back inside so that it does not freeze and break.

Step 3: Turn off the outdoor faucet after turning it on, then wait for all of the water to completely drain out of the line before closing the faucet.

Step 4: The final step is to go back inside to the shut-off valve, position a bucket or container below the drain plug (a little cap situated on the side of the shut-off valve), and then empty the remaining water from the pipe into the bucket or container.

According to Fiore, if this sounds like a lot of maintenance that needs to be done every year, you might want to consider purchasing a frost-free spigot as an alternative.

The outside of a frost-proof faucet is designed to seem identical to that of a standard faucet. On the other hand, the water shutdown valve for a frost-proof faucet is mounted on a long pipe that is located far deeper within the walls of your home. 

As a consequence of this, there is a reduced risk that the pipe may freeze because the valve that shuts off the water supply is located closer to the interior of your home, where it is warmer.