As the song goes, “….summer time and the living is easy…” the reverse may also be true and go like this, “….winter time and the living is cold and miserable….”
Alas, winter time freezes are not fun. Nor cheap. As we are smack dab in the middle of winter, mixed in with a stay-at-home health crisis, freezing pipes could really wipe us out.
As a water damage restoration professional, here are a few things to make your life a bit safer as we move into the deepest parts of the winter of our discontent. Run a trickle of water through your pipes when temps drop below freezing….and keep the water flowing as long as it is below 32⁰. This includes outdoor sinks which you may want to keep open during the winter like we do for our chickens. Invest in frost-free hose bibs. Drain the water before turning off water to those spigots for the season and disconnect any hoses attached to them. We suggest you buy insulated faucet boots to cover those spigots for added measure.
Did you know that your thermostat for your HVAC had batteries? Yes its true. I’ll wait while you go look. Some of our customers unfortunately had no idea of needing to check the back up batteries because the systems are usually hard wired. However if the power fails, and the batteries are dead, you are going to experience a serious issue. On digital thermostats there should be a battery low indicator light, but check your thermostats and replace those batteries once a year when you change those batteries in your smoke detectors.
Hope you all mask up, drain your pipes, throw a log on the fire, stay warm, cozy and ride this winter out like the living is easy.
For more information, please contact:
Stacy Justice 252-491-2500
stacy@bluewaterrestoration.com
www.bluewaterrestoration.com
