As fall ushers in cooler temperatures, we recommend scheduling your home’s plumbing maintenance in preparation for the winter months ahead. Now is the perfect time to have our pipes and plumbing equipment inspected to ensure everything is in working order. Even here in the Orlando area, we experience the occasional overnight freezing temps that lead to frozen pipes. And who wants the inconvenience of the loss of water, a messy cleanup, not to mention an expensive repair bill?! Adding a few simple plumbing maintenance tasks to your fall must-do list can help prepare your home, relieve stress, and prevent costly repairs (and headaches) during the winter months ahead.
Before the first frost, go around your house and gather up all outside garden hoses, and then drain and store them for the winter. If left connected, the water in hoses can freeze, expand, and cause faucets and connecting pipes inside your home to freeze and potentially burst. Next, ensure outside faucets aren’t dripping or leaking. If they are, make necessary repairs or call a plumber now before freezing temperatures arrive. Even a tiny crack in a pipe that becomes frozen can release enough water to cause some serious damage and flooding.
Another easy maintenance tip is to walk around your home and look at faucets, inside and outside your home. Look for leaks, cracks, or any signs of damage. Look at pipes underneath your sinks. Look out for signs of leaking, such as mineral buildup around fittings or water accumulation under pipes. Leaky plumbing is a common cause of burst pipes during the winter months. It’s not a bad idea to contact a plumber and have them perform a whole house inspection of your pipes and repair any damage before the cold hits.
A third important fall maintenance tip is to clean and remove debris from your gutters. More precipitation falls in the winter than any other time of year, and clear gutters ensure easy drainage, especially as the water in your gutters will freeze and thaw throughout the winter. Clean gutters will drain properly and keep water from falling around your home’s foundation. When water ends up near your foundation, it seeps into the crawl spaces. It can cause some of the following issues: wood rot, pest infestations, wet basements, foundation damage, and more expensive complications.
Winter is when a hot shower is most appreciated, and for many of us, it may be a necessity! Your water heater should be inspected annually, and fall is the perfect time to schedule maintenance. An annual check-up will ensure the reliability of your water heater throughout the winter months. During an inspection, a plumber will check for damage and clean the tank. Cleaning involves draining and refilling the tank. Why is this done? Well, over time, minerals in your water create a build-up of sediment in the tank. This build-up reduces efficiency and lessens the amount of hot water available in your tank. An inspection will ensure you have the maximum amount of hot water available for your household (providing you with that hot shower!) and can help diagnose any problems that need to be fixed before they become major issues.
By adding a few plumbing maintenance tasks to your fall must-do list, you can prevent future costly repairs during the winter season. At Rainaldi Home Services, we can help take some of the items (and stress) off your list by checking for plumbing leaks and performing a water heater inspection. If you live in the Orlando area, give us a call us at (407) 413-9795 or contact us online.
Also, for the safety and protection of our staff and loyal customers, we are increasing handwashing and sanitizing practices, to help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Working together, we can help all of us stay safe, comfortable, and healthy!