This holiday season, take some extra stress off by ensuring that your pipes are prepped for the upcoming colder weather. Frozen pipes can cause a lot of problems and aren’t cheap to fix! Here at Jack Ward & Sons Plumbing Co., we want to help ensure that you have the best holiday season possible without worrying about pipes freezing. 

It’s important to know how and why pipes freeze, and how you can take steps to prevent freezing pipes this winter season. It’s most common for pipes to freeze in December and January when the temperature in Middle Tennessee is typically around 20 degrees outside.

Reasons Why Pipes Freeze In the Winter

There are three most common reasons why your pipes might freeze in the winter, and all are preventable!

Setting the thermostat too low

This can be a big reason why your pipes would freeze. We recommend keeping your thermostat at the same temperature throughout the day and night. Even though you might want to lower the thermostat temperature, it could cause you to pay more in water damage and plumbing fees if your pipes freeze over and burst.

Not having insulation

While insulation may be a pain to get installed, it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run! Adding insulation to your basement, attic, and crawl space will help you keep your house warmer in those specific areas. This is not just beneficial for your pipes, but it can also help you prevent drafts and your seals cracking.

A frequent drop in temperature

This could really affect your pipes, and it is hard to know what to do as this is not something you can control. We recommend that you call one of our professional plumbers for more assistance on the issue!

What You Can Do To Prevent Your Pipes From Freezing

There are ways you can take matters into your own hands and try to prevent your pipes from freezing.

We recommend:

Set your thermostat to the same temperature.

This is important so that you can regulate how your pipes are holding up through the winter. It may be tempting to lower the temperature of your thermostat, but it could cause your pipes to build pressure and break. This could leave you with water damage around your house and plumbing fees to fix the broken pipe. 

Look into installing insulation this winter.

Insulation will not only help regulate the temperature of your house, but will help in preventing your pipes from freezing.

Let cold water drip from a faucet that you know is connected to the exposed pipe. This may seem odd, but it can help prevent your pipes from freezing.

Know When Your Pipes Have Frozen Over & How To Thaw Them

One of the most common signs that one of your pipes are frozen over is if you turn your faucet on and nothing or only small drops of water are coming out. 

Luckily, one of the ways you can thaw your frozen pipes is by letting the corresponding faucet run, speeding up the thawing process! Another method to try is heating your pipes with heating pads or by placing a space heater nearby the frozen pipe.

Another sign of frozen pipes is if you hear water running while the valve is completely off. This could be a sign of a water leak, which could be extremely serious. We recommend calling our experienced plumbers at Jack Ward & Sons immediately to resolve this issue.

What You Should Do About Frozen Pipes

If one of your pipes is frozen, try to prevent the pipe from bursting so it doesn’t damage your home. While we have provided guidance on how to handle, prevent, and thaw frozen pipes, we still recommend that you hire a certified plumber in Nashville. Jack Ward & Sons Plumbing Company can help you figure out the best way to take care of your frozen pipe! 

At Jack Ward & Sons Plumbing Company, our plumbers are available 24/7 for your emergency plumbing services. We can help you with any questions about frozen pipes and how to prevent them or service them if they’re frozen. Give us a call for any and all frozen pipe issues!