"It can do a lot of damage, and I mean you're talking about, several tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, and just taking a few precautions can save you that," said Mark England, President of AdvantaClean Environmental of Cary/Apex, a home restoration company.
For example, you can:
- Insulate exposed water lines with insulated sleeves. Exposed pipes are usually found in the garage, attic, basement or outside;
- Let faucets drip to reduce pressure;
- Leave bathroom/kitchen cabinet doors open so warm air will circulate around the pipes when it gets cold.
England said that when a pipe freezes, it doesn't burst immediately.
"The pipe will start leaking and homeowners could experience a flood, a sudden rush of water, or it'll be a slow drip where they might start looking and seeing on their ceiling or around their walls or around their floors, they start noticing it's wet, it's stained," England said.
If your pipes freeze, you can:
- Turn on all faucets to find out which ones are working
- Check for leaks. If you see any, shut off your main water valve.
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