12 TRICKS To WINTERIZE Your Plumbing! (Easy DIY) | GOT2LEARN

what's up guys and welcome back to another video in this video I want to go through all the available methods to prevent your pipes from freezing when temperatures start to drop so let's get right into it first off what do you do if your pipe is already frozen if the pipe is already frozen you could use any available source of heat such as a hair dryer a heat gun a small portable heater or even an incandescent light if that's all you have if for whatever reason you have no electricity which is a common thing in freezing temperatures you could use a camping propane stove to heat some water up and with the hot water use a towel or rag to wrap the frozen pipe to try to thaw it out and lastly a plumbing torch some people say it's dangerous to use this method and all but if done safely it's actually the most efficient way of thawing a frozen pipe just make sure to have an extinguisher close by also when trying to thaw frozen pipe keep the water on and open a faucet nearby this will allow you to see if any progress is being made and the flowing water helps dissolve the block of ice inside the pipe making it that much quicker so with that out of the way let's go through all the 12 different methods to prevent this from happening 90% of the time a pipe will freeze where it goes from the inside of the building or home to the outside as the code from the outside leeches the heat from the fight thus freezing it nevertheless it needs to be addressed before it happens so the first method would be to shut off the valve inside the house that serves your outdoor spigot your outdoor spigot or spigots must be isolated from the cold in winter by making sure there's no water inside of them typically you'd find this valve inside a couple of feet away from where your spigot is so you just need to close it before sub-zero temperature arrived and empty of the remaining water after the valve just doing this will eliminate a lot of problems on to the next method the second preventative measure would be to install a frost proof spigot these special spigots have a long shaft in them which closes the water inside the house instead of outside keeping the water nice and toasty what's fun about these is you don't need to think of closing a valve inside the house when the cold arrives and plus there's almost no chances of it freezing if it was installed correctly these go for around fifty dollars depending on the size and it's well invested in my opinion I made a video on how to properly install one like this and I'll link it here and in the description box if you want to watch it number three is disconnecting your hoses before winter now whether you have a frost proof spigot or not you must always disconnect your garden hoses before freezing temperatures here's why by leaving your hose connected as such all the water inside of it stays trapped and if it freezes the cold will leach the heat from the pipe freeze it and crap the pipe opened however it'll only leak in spring when it starts getting hotter so always disconnect your garden hose to make sure all the water is drained out the fourth method is installing one of these these reusable devices are called outdoor faucet insulators they're made of styrofoam and use a rubber band with a sliding lock to secure it over your spigot to insulate it from the elements in winter these are cheap insurance and super effective which is why I recommend installing one as a secondary protection even if you have a frost proof Silcock what's fun about them is they cost around one or two dollars and take 10 seconds to install sometimes depending on what type of sighting you have you won't be able to install these so let's continue on with the other methods deceive there's something better suited for you the fifth way to prevent any freezing would be to insulate the pipe insulating is one of the more common solutions for this problem for do-it-yourselfers and gives some form of protection against the cold however insulation is just as good at keeping heat away from a pipe than it is from the cold so pipe insulation can't be used for every situation for example if you have a heated room with a non Frostproof spigot outside installing insulation on the pipes will actually harm instead of doing good so UV the judge for your specific situation the sixth solution is to install a heated cable like this these heated cables are a nice indoor fix that anybody can install all you need is a long enough extension and some electrical tape the way works is that the wire has a thermostat on it which needs to be in contact with the pipe as such and turns on as soon as the pipe reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit or for the resale seus to prevent it from going below freezing temperature these can be installed anywhere in the house where a freezes prone to occur as long as there's an electrical plug nearby it is suggested by the manufacturer to insulate the pipe to make sure the heat stays inside and isn't wasted in the air another great way to keep things warm is to insulate the house itself a lot of problems come from the house not being properly insulated if you own a house that was built before the 70s you most probably don't have any insulation a good non-invasive way to check is to remove an electrical switch cover and visually inspect from there if there's no insulation it might be worth having a contractor come over to insulate to have less cold air come in some things you could do yourself would be to replace or install weather stripping on doors use some expandable foam where you feel cold air coming in and to buy some fiberglass bats to block off colder areas also avoid running pipes in an exterior wall when doing projects as it'll be more prone to freezing there another good preventative tip is for when you go on vacation I personally recommend closing the main water valve and draining the system as much as possible before leaving this of course is assuming you don't have a tenant living in the same building as you this will make sure that nothing happens in the house while you're not there an alternative to this would be to install an automatic shutoff valve like this one these are designed to close the water to the building if a leak is detected I made a thorough video on this device so if you want to see more just click here or use the link in the description box number nine is to simply raise your thermostats running your thermostats higher doesn't cost you more as many may believe what costs you more is the climb from a cooler temperature to a hotter one keeping a house at 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 73 degrees Fahrenheit cost the same price so it might be worth spending the extra money to keep your pipes from freezing number 10 is something that pretty much everyone knows and it's to leave a faucet dripping the main reason why water freezes in a pipe is because it's still water in movement is a lot harder to freeze we could kind of compare it to rivers and lakes the lake will freeze way before River that's in movement this little trick is good when the temperatures decide to drop below normal and what's fun is that no materials or tools are needed number eleven applies more to a building that is left unheated for long periods of times and it's to use antifreeze your water lines are prone to freezing but so are your drains your drains have what is known as a p-trap which has a small amount of water inside to prevent sewage odors from coming inside the house this small amount of water can freeze and cause damage from it expanding so a simple thing to do is to put a very small amount of RV antifreeze in the sink toilet and toilet tank and shower or bathtub drain this is great for vacation homes swimming pools and all kinds of other things and lastly is opening your cupboards if you've already had a frozen pipe in a cupboard a pretty cool solution is to just leave the doors open and let the heat from the room circulate through them just as a precaution when it gets really cold you can also use your small heater to add some protection and there you have it 12 ways to prevent a major disaster when it starts getting cold if you want to see all kinds of other solutions to plumbing problems I left links of these videos in the description box below so you could be ahead of the game and as always if you learned something from this video go ahead and like it by clicking the thumbs up button and sharing with your friends and until the next one thanks for watching

Channel: Got2Learn

Views: 367,137

Keywords: plumbing trick, plumbing hacks, plumbing, plumbing videos, plumbing tools, plumbing basics, plumbing repair, plumbing diy, plumbing video, how to do plumbing, how to repair plumbing, how to fix plumbing, rough in plumbing, how to solder, soldering copper pipe, how to solder copper pipe, how to sweat copper pipe, how to sweat copper fittings, got2learn, How to Solder Copper Pipe The CORRECT Way, frozen pipe, frozen pipes, how to prevent frozen pipes, life hacks

Id: 6eOYsjZF_SM

Length: 10min 4sec (604 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 26 2019