Preparing Your Plumbing for Winter and Spring
As we turn the page of our calendar from September to October, we start to move our thoughts towards winter as the leaves start to fall off the trees. The kids go back to school and we shift our thoughts from summer vacation to holiday planning. If you’re among the lucky who have summer and vacation properties, there are a few more things on your to-do list as you close things up for the season. The more you prepare now, the less you’ll have to worry about when you open things up in spring.
1. Prepare the Pipes
Shut off the water supply to the home. (For more information on this, read our blog post with a video from Mr. Rooter.). Next, drain the pipes of water by turning on all the faucets in the house. Start with the lower levels like the basement. Don’t forget to also turn on the outdoor hoses to make sure those are drained as well. Pour some RV antifreeze into the toilets and down all the drains to prevent any water left in the pipes from freezing. Once that’s in place, cap the drains and cover the toilet with Saran Wrap to prevent sewer gas from coming into the house while you’re away.
2. Secure the Hot Water Heater
Turn off your gas hot water heater by rotating the valve usually found near the bottom of the unit to the “off” position. You’ll also want to turn off the supply water going to the water heater as well. The shut-off valve is usually on the top of the unit. Lastly, drain the water heater in the tank by attaching a hose to the drain valve and opening up the drain.
3. Drain the Pool
If your property has a pool, drain that as well. This is a complex process so if you haven’t done this before, you might want to check with a pool company first to make sure you’re doing the right thing for your specific pool. We’re just mentioning this now to make sure you keep it on your list of shut-down “to-do’s”.
4. Turn Down the Thermostat
You’ll want to set the temperature just to the point where things won’t freeze. For most instances, that’s around 50 or 55 degrees. Just in case, prepare things around the house to freeze should your heater fail at some point while you’re away. Since you might be gone for long stretches of time, it’s best to cover the worst case scenario.
That’s it! Following these precautions should lessen any unexpected surprises when you open your home back up in spring. On a side note – you can also follow these 4 steps when you are leaving any property vacant for a long period of time. A little bit of preparation will protect your home and everything in it!
Now – you understand what to do – what if you don’t have time to do it? Pauli Plumbing offers winterizing and de-winterizing services for you and your home(s). It’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about. We’ll put you on our schedule and when the time is right, we’ll head over to your property and get you all ready so that all you have to do is enjoy yourself.
