Plumbing systems of the homes in Staten Island are susceptible to damage at different times of the year. For example, winter can cause considerable damage to these systems. For this reason, it’s important to know what to do when preparing your home’s plumbing for the winter. Failure to prepare the system accordingly could leave you with costly repairs. A damaged plumbing system could also inconvenience everybody in the house.

Here are a few things you can do to prepare the system for your Staten Island home.

Winterizing All Outside Faucets

All outside faucets need winterizing. The outside faucets are more vulnerable because they are the most exposed to the elements. You should not only disconnect but also drain all the water hoses. Additionally, do not forget to shut off the system that supplies water to the spigots outside your home, especially if the building has a separate shutoff valve. Otherwise, water you leave in the faucets will freeze, build up more pressure, and cause the pipes to burst.

Don’t Ignore Unheated Areas

Put more emphasis on the unheated parts of the home. Do this with the goal of insulating all water pipes found in these areas. Insulation enables the pipes to benefit from enhanced protection, which they need to withstand the biting cold in winter. The unheated parts of the house include attics, crawl spaces, and garages.

You can use different materials to insulate these parts of the home. Materials worth considering include:
a) Heat tapes
b) Newspapers
c) Foam sleeves

Pay Attention to the Furnace

It would be a huge mistake on your part to do everything else while ignoring the furnace. Invite a technician to the home to inspect the furnace thoroughly. Failure to do this could expose the entire household to serious problems during winter. For example, the furnace might stop functioning in the middle of winter thus leaving the house unheated, cold, and uncomfortable to everybody.

Ensure the heating system functions properly before the onset of this cold season.

Look at the Cabinets

What about the cabinets? As strange as may seem, cabinets can affect how your plumbing system works. Leave cabinet doors open so warm air can circulate around the pipes under the sink. This produces great results when it is extremely cold outside. Where certain rooms in the house appear colder than others, you should also leave the doors open. You can also prevent the pipes from freezing by allowing a few trickles of water to run through them. Whether it is a mobile or permanent home, minor steps such as these can help protect your home and keep hefty repair bills at bay.

Plan Your Vacations Well

It’s normal to consider going on vacation in places with warmer temperatures when winter hits Staten Island. It is good to plan well for the vacation. You still need to implement some measures that will help protect your home while you are away. Part of planning involves thinking about what to do with the furnace or heating system. Do not switch the system off as your way of saving money. The money you save will not help you at all since you will have to spend it on repairing water damages from burst pipes, which can be quite costly.

Contact Staten Island Plumber for more information.