![\"\"](\"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Frozen-Pipes-300x200-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dear South Texas Friends,<\/p>\n
With a harsh cold front moving across Texas, we want to share some helpful tips and resources that you and your friends can use to help protect your home from any impending freeze.\u00a0 Check out this Q&A section, along with the links below, to discover more about preventing frozen pipes and preparing your home for winter storms.<\/p>\n
Q: Should we just drip the cold water\u2026 Is it important to drip the hot, too?<\/strong><\/p>\n A: Yes, run both.\u00a0 Most plumbers who repair pipes following a freeze say 70% of the pipes they repair are the hot water pipes.\u00a0 \u00a0If the pipe is surrounded by cold air, especially cold wind, it will start ice growth.\u00a0 The ice grows from the wall of the pipe inward until it creates a blockage, then ice grows along the length of the pipe. That growth along the length of the pipe acts like a piston that elevates the water pressure in the pipe. It\u2019s the pressure that causes the rupture.<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0So why does that mean hot water pipes are more likely to burst?<\/strong><\/p>\n A: It\u2019s the toilet.\u00a0 Often you have one line that feeds a bathroom: the tub, toilet, lavatory all coming off the same line.\u00a0 If you imagine pressure building up in the waterline, all it has to do is force the ball float to go down a little (in the toilet tank), allowing water to dribble into the tank, relieving the pressure on the cold water pipe (The hot water pipe doesn\u2019t have that relief).<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0Do you need to keep the water running in a pencil-thin stream? Or will just a drip work?<\/strong><\/p>\n A: It doesn\u2019t matter how fast the drip is. The slower the drip, the less water wasted.\u00a0 The rupture is due to pressure.\u00a0 If you have some kind of pressure relief (by leaving the faucet open), the (ice) piston can keep on pushing, but nothing will rupture.<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0Should you still run the water if you\u2019ve insulated your pipes?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0An incomplete insulation job is probably worse than no insulation. If you\u2019re using the foam tubes, you have to look very closely at what\u2019s happening at the plumbing fittings, the elbow, or tee. Lots of times, people will put the tube on the straight section and leave the fittings exposed. You really want to protect the whole pipe and fittings.<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0Our weather reports always talk about hard freezes and light freezes. When should you worry about your pipes?<\/strong><\/p>\n A: It\u2019s not just cold temperatures, but cold temperatures blowing on the pipe. The wind is the real kicker. Protecting against drafts is really the key.\u00a0 And we know how hard the breezy it is in South Texas.<\/p>\n We hope you find these tips helpful and that will take action to prevent your home from water damage after the freeze.\u00a0 Our office is here to help you and now is a good time to allow us to review your protection!\u00a0 Call us today at (361) 991-1493 for a free, no obligation insurance protection review!<\/p>\n Because We Care<\/p>\n Ed<\/strong><\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Ed Cantu Insurance Agency<\/p>\n Dear South Texas Friends, With a harsh cold front moving across Texas, we want to share some helpful tips and resources that you and your friends can use to help protect your home from any impending freeze.\u00a0 Check out this Q&A section, along with the links below, to discover more about preventing frozen pipes and … Continue reading “Is Your Home Ready for The FREEZE?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edcantuinsurance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"