Why bother
Newmarket winters regularly drop well below minus twenty with wind. Pipes in outside walls, over garages and near rim joists are most at risk. A frozen pipe that splits can release hundreds of litres an hour once it thaws.
Doing it, in order
- Disconnect garden hoses and drain them.
- Close indoor valves to outside taps and open the taps outside.
- Seal gaps around lines where they pass through outside walls.
- Add foam pipe sleeves on lines in unheated spaces.
- Insulate the garage ceiling under bathrooms.
- Know where your main shut-off is and test that it turns.
- Set the thermostat no lower than roughly 15°C if you go away.
A cheap plug-in temperature sensor with a phone alert can warn you if the house gets too cold while you are away.
When the job becomes ours
Call us if a line freezes every winter, if you find a pipe running through an unheated space, or if your outdoor tap leaked last spring. Rerouting a pipe once is cheaper than thawing it every year.
Your bucket-and-rag checklist
- Disconnect hoses
- Close outdoor valves
- Insulate pipes on outside walls
Stop line: If a pipe has already split, shut the main and call. Ring (365) 517-0032.
Questions people ask us
Should I drip my taps?
On the coldest nights, a slow drip at a vulnerable tap helps.