How to maintain pipes and faucets in your home during the winter
PITTSBURGH, PA (KDKA) - Every year it's good to check and maintain the pipes and faucets in your home. It can be tricky, but there are ways to make sure you don't run into any problems.
Right now in January it's prime frozen pipe time and there's ways to stay on top of the maintenance.
"Just turn your faucets on to make sure that you do have water that's flowing through them, both the hot as well as the cold," said Mike Ferrance from Greater Pittsburgh Plumbing.
If the faucets are running freely that's a good sign. Ferrance said that if you notice a bit of trickle coming through, then there's a good chance it's too late, the pipes are most likely frozen or starting to freeze.
If that's the case, try to locate where the pipe is freezing up it's most likely going to be in the garage or in the basement. If possible, warm the area up with your heating system or you could even apply heat directly to it with a hair dryer or heater. Never use an open flame.
It could take hours to see the results, and when it thaws it's not unusual to discover a pinhole sized leak at that spot. Wherever that is, it will help you to know where to turn off the water.
Be sure to disconnect your hose and turn off the hose bib inside the house.
"Those are generally the first things we know that freeze, and then they break and then when they break we normally find that you know those breaks are behind walls, or in a wall where it's not accessible."
The more inaccessible the damage is the more it will cost to repair it.
