The winter months can soak you in more ways than one, from wet weather and holiday spending to frozen water pipes and costly repairs. 

When the temperature takes a nose dive, water in your pipes can freeze, causing them to burst. Water floods your home and ruins your furnishings, and you have to pay to have it all repaired and replaced. It’s costly and inconvenient. But it doesn’t have to happen if you follow these simple precautions.

Wrap up for the Winter

Wrap exposed pipes with insulating material. Pipes under kitchen sinks and in crawl spaces, near windows or in unheated basements are prime areas for pipes to freeze.

Search for the shut-off valve

Locate your inside water shut-off valve now! If pipes burst during freezing conditions, you can save valuable time and prevent water damage if you can turn the water off inside the house. The shut-off valve may be located in the basement, under the kitchen sink, in a utility closet, near the hot water heater, or even under the house in the crawl space. If you cannot locate or do not have a shut-off valve, call your plumber.

If you think you’ve found it, to be sure it’s the right one, try turning it off now. If all your faucets are without water, you’ve found the right one. If not, try again.

Once you locate the shut-off valve, place a waterproof tag over it, so it’s easy for you and your family members to find if there’s ever a problem.

Make sure you have it covered

If your house has a crawl space, cover outside vents to prevent winter winds from entering and freezing pipes.

If your house has a slab foundation, keep the garage door closed. Water pipes are often located under the concrete floors of the garage.

Keep the water running

If you’ve had problems with frozen pipes in the past, try running a small steady stream  (pencil lead size) of water from a cold water faucet in extremely cold weather. The cost of the water is small compared to dealing with the cost and inconvenience of frozen or burst pipes. Make sure you run the water from a faucet children don’t use, because they may inadvertently shut off the faucet after using it.