Living in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin means breathtaking snowy landscapes, sunny ski days, and some pretty notorious winter nights.
The beauty that winter brings is always accompanied by the responsibility to keep your pipes safe from freezing. It only takes one mishap to realize how important this step is in your yearly maintenance.
If issues are not noticed or left untreated, a burst pipe is not only a pain in the neck, it’s costly and darn inconvenient.
Proper winter care can spare your investment from one of the most common and destructive winter-related disasters.
Attached, please find this critical 5-step winterization checklist to prevent you from falling victim to winter’s deep freeze.
Your Quick & Easy 5-Step Winterization Guide
Here are a few easy-to-follow steps on how to ‘winterize’ everything.
Drain All Water Sources You’ve Got Outside
What you can do here is to shut off the interior valve that supplies all the outdoor faucets, hose bibs, irrigation systems – things like that. Also, don’t forget to open the outdoor spigot so that the remaining water gets drained.
Another pro tip is to store garden hoses indoors.
Now this part is for the northern area. Since the Upper Peninsula oftentimes gets early frost, it’s best to do all the above by mid-October (just to be sure).
Also, try installing \frost-free; sill cocks; these bad boys can drain automatically, plus they’re highly resistant to freeze-thaw cycles.
All Vulnerable Pipes Should Be Insulated
So basically, what you should do is to check for any piping in your basement, in various crawl spaces, in the attic, the garage, and any other unheated area of the house.
Nothing major, or too big an investment. All you have to do is cover these pipes in foam insulation (it’s like sleeves that you cut to size and completely envelop the piping; it’s easy to shape with a knife). Secure them with zipties, and you’re good to go.
For that bit of ‘extra protection’ in extremely vulnerable sections, add some thermostatically-controlled heat tape. A bit overkill, but if you get freezing temps during winter (like we do here), this actually might be a great idea.
In our northern homes, the pipes that usually freeze first are the ones that run alongside the exterior walls.
Inside Temperature Should be Warm AND Steady
Basically, what this means is that you don’t want to lose too much heat. You want to minimize heat dissipation.
Keep your thermostat at 55°F (13°C). This’ll provide a buffer in case any sudden temp drops. So you’re making sure the inside is (at least) constant, which is what you want during the wintertime.
That’s because a constant temperature is safer than keeping the heat down and then attempting to reheat the space. This option takes more energy and can leave the pipes vulnerable to freezing.
If you are heading down to Arizona or Florida for the cold months, keep your heat on as advised above.
Let Faucets Drip (This is Pure Strategical)
If you do experience sudden temp drops, it’s a good idea to open up cabinet doors under the sinks. This way, you’re letting warm air circulate around the piping.
Also – the strategic part – allow a slow, constant drip to run from faucets connected to pipes on exterior walls, just enough to relieve pressure inside the pipes, as this is what causes them to burst when ice builds up.
Remember, the drip doesn’t have to be a stream. A trickle is more than enough.
Know Your Water Shut-off Valve
Find and label your main water shut-off valve. Do it today, BEFORE you need to go hunting for it. Then, make sure each adult in the house knows where it is and how to shut it off.
Also, if a pipe does freeze and burst, closing off the main valve immediately is the most important action to prevent flooding and damage.
When to Call a Professional (And Why It’s Worth It)
Sure, there’s a bit more that you could do, like sealing up the air leaks, and deep-winterizing your outside cabin or summer home (if you have one), but you get the point.
DIY winterization works well in most homes, but for some situations, it’s best to get a licensed plumber in.
If you’ve got a complex heating system, a deep well system, a boiler, or an old house with awkward access to pipes, professional winterization provides peace of mind.
The basics of a successful winterization must include proper drainage, insulation standards, and fixture protection. These are based on the Michigan plumbing CE for staying compliant with state rules. These codes in extreme climates like Michigan and the like are constantly changing, and it is important to keep up with the codes.
Approved courses that cover these critical, region-specific applications are available for anyone wishing to meet their state plumbing continuing education requirements, but most importantly for the professionals in the field to be on top of things.
Conclusion
If you’ve lived in the north your whole life, then you already know most of these things. It has likely been passed down to you through your grandparents and/or parents.
And you already know that winterization is no joke. And if it isn’t taken seriously, you could easily end up with burst/cracked pipes and a massive repair bill. Also, you could end up without drinkable water, which isn’t ideal if there’s lots of snow/ice on the road, preventing you from going to the store. Or even if you do, it might be straight-up dangerous.
-30 F is definitely too cold to be trying to fix a burst pipe. So, the moral of the story is, be prepared well ahead of schedule, and then, you can enjoy the northern winter in a dry, warm home for the whole season.
Recent Comments