ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — As Asheville prepares for colder weather this fall, it is in the best interest for your home to take steps to prevent frozen pipes. Secure Restoration, a local housing mitigation and restoration company, has advice for doing just that.
Preparing your pipes
“We are heading into a season where we’re gonna get frozen pipes,” said Rob Franks, owner of Secure Restoration. “There’s things we see that homeowners could do to prevent having a frozen pipe that turns into a busted open pipe, which creates water damage.”
According to the restoration company, frozen pipe season typically runs from December to April, the months most likely to have numerous days in a row with sub-freezing temperatures.
Insulation
One way to prevent frozen pipes is to ensure pipes are insulated with pipe wraps. These can come in insulated fiberglass or polyiso insulation variants and can be purchased at most major hardware stores.
“Another method would be using heat tape. It’s electrified tape that you wrap around the pipe,” said Michael Mestas, mitigation manager at Secure Restoration. “It’s plugged into an outlet, or hard-wired, and when the temperature gets to a certain degree that you have set on your thermostat, the heat tape kicks on and starts heating the pipe.”…