Preventing Frozen Pipes in a Whitby winter

Frozen lines almost always sit where winter air can touch them, in outside walls, crawlspaces, garage ceilings and at hose connections. Block drafts, keep the furnace steady and keep a little water flowing when the mercury plunges.

1. Disconnect hoses and shut the interior valve to each outdoor faucet in fall
2. Caulk or foam every opening where a pipe crosses the rim joist
3. Wrap bare lines in cold rooms with split foam tubing
4. On bitter nights, prop open vanity doors that back onto outside walls
5. Keep the thermostat steady overnight, even when away
6. Let a pencil-thin trickle run on vulnerable lines on the coldest nights

• Foam pipe sleeves
• Heat tape rated for water pipe
• Hair dryer for thawing
• Flashlight for crawlspaces

1. 01

   Close the indoor stop for every outside tap, then open each tap outdoors until the dribble ends

2. 02

   Sleeve every supply line on an outside wall or in a crawlspace

3. 03

   Seal drafts where pipes pass through the rim joist

4. 04

   During deep cold, open cabinet doors under exterior-wall sinks

5. 05

   If a tap stops flowing, warm the pipe with a hair dryer working back from the tap

Pipes in the rim joist area over the foundation are the most common freeze spot in Whitby houses.

Whitby Plumbing, from the job

• You see frost or a bulge on a pipe
• Water is spraying or leaking from a wall
• You cannot find which run is frozen

A faucet that stays dry on a frigid morning means shut the main valve first, then warm the line. Phone us when the frozen stretch is hidden or the pipe looks split.

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