Simple Things Could Save You Money & Headaches With Your Pipes

With lows dropping to the single digits in the coming days, you need to protect your home by taking care with your plumbing.

Crossville Plumber Brandon Cobb said in order to avoid major plumbing repairs there are some easy things you can do to prevent frozen and busted pipes. Cobb said disconnecting your water hose from your spigot, leaving taps dripping and ensuring your water meter is covered are basic things to prevent major plumbing issues caused by the weather.

“People need to know where their water shut off valve is in the event they do have an emergency,” Cobb said. “They need to locate that. It’s a good idea for everyone to have a meter wrench so that if they need to they can turn their water off in the event that they do have an emergency until someone can get there.”

Cobb said leaving taps dripping prevents pipes from freezing up by allowing water to flow throw it. He said it is important to leave the faucet farthest from the hot water heater dripping.

He said covering your water meter with a mat or bail of hay will prevent the meter from freezing and breaking. He said disconnecting your hose prevents your spigot from busting.

“If its a frost-free spigot, they probably won’t notice that its busted until the spring when they start using it,” Cobb said. “Then, when they open it up they will see water spraying out. It can be outside around the siding, or it could be spraying water underneath the house.”

Cobb said frozen pipes in mobile homes are the most common thing he sees this time of year.

“We see a lot of frozen pipes in mobile homes,” Cobb said. “If a person has a block foundation they need to make sure their vents are shut to keep the cold air from flowing to any exposed pipes.”

Cobb said it is also a good idea to insulate your pipes and spigots. However, he said this time of year material to do so can be hard to come by, but you can get creative with preventing your pipes from bursting.

“If everybody is sold out, you can take a coffee can and put some insulation in it and put it over your spigots,” Cobb said. “You could do that, and it would keep it from freezing. If something did happen and you see some frozen pipes you can take a hair dryer or heat gun and run it along it and sometimes get it thawed out.”

Cobb Plumbing Services is located in Crossville and services much of the Upper Cumberland.