Dripping faucet saves pipes during freeze

It’s December 21, 2022, and our Greater Houston service area is due for a hard freeze, so we want to pass along a few things you can do to try and avoid expensive damage to your home. A hard freeze goes beyond dipping below 32F for a few hours and covering your outdoor plants. Hard freeze means the outdoor temperature remains below freezing for 24 or more hours. That’s when bad things happen like water pipes bursting resulting in disruptive and expensive water damage. So, here’s how to avoid costly damage by a hard freeze.

Avoid Frozen Pipes

Dripping faucet saves pipes during freeze
Dripping faucet saves pipes during freeze.

The Red Cross has the following recommendations to avoid frozen pipes:

  • Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.
  • Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals out of the reach of children.
  • When the weather is freezing outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the lines and pipes—even at a trickle—helps prevent pipes from freezing.
  • Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature during the day and night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.
  • If you will be traveling during cold weather, leave the heater on in your home, and set it to a temperature of 55 F degrees or above.

Will Hard Freeze Damage My Siding or Replacement Windows?

The good news is that Brick, and James Hardie siding, both perform exceptionally well in freezing weather. Also, our replacement windows like Andersen, Pella, and Simonton are designed to beat back the extreme heat and cold and keep things comfortable inside. Of course, if you haven’t upgraded your siding or windows yet, there’s no better time than right now to give Home Exterior Systems (HES) a call and discuss your options before the coming new year mfg price increases.

Be safe out there!

How To Avoid Costly Damage By Hard Freeze

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