Preparing Plumbing For Winter

Preparing for the next Big Freeze.

Water pipes are particularly vulnerable to freezing in the colder months of the year. Pipes tend to freeze up in loft spaces, under floors, pipework in outhouses or even your outside tap. If you want to prepare yourself and your water pipes before the big freeze comes around again, your first step should be to check the lagging on all pipes and cisterns in unheated areas like your loft.

Pre-formed tubular insulating material is the best material to use to insulate the pipes and is readily available at most DIY stores. Isolate your outside tap if you can from inside and make sure no water is left in the tap. If you cannot isolate your outside tap then Mint Heating & Plumbing will quite happily come and have a look to see if isolation could be fitted, or another alternative is to wrap the outside tap in pipe lagging and keep it as warm as possible.

If the worst should happen, it is important that you are familiar with the location of your stop cock and that it is in correct working order and easy to turn on and off. Typically your stop cock will be located under a sink and there should also be one on your hot water tank (if you have one).

Any dripping taps should also be repaired and if you are going away for the weekend then it is a good idea to leave your central heating on low to prevent the pipes freezing.

Check your cold water storage tank and expansion tank in your loft and make sure they are insulated with a jacket  and that the pipes are fully insulated with pipe lagging especially if they are up high near the roof. Leaving the loft hatch slightly open can allow warm air to enter the loft and also prevent your pipes freezing.

If the worst does happen and a pipe bursts, or you would like your insulating doing for you or even simply worried about your system and would like it checked over, then give us a call on 01737 352962 or 07763 801818