Why Should I Winterize My Home’s Plumbing?

The days are getting shorter. There’s a briskness in the air that wasn’t here a month ago. If you’re an early bird, you might already be thinking about holiday presents. For the Chicago area, winter is on its way and that means it's time to winterize your home!

Even though you can procrastinate getting the perfect holiday gift (thank you, next-day shipping!), you can’t procrastinate winterizing your home. Winterizing your home or business is critical to ensuring that it remains safe, dry, cozy, and problem-free for however amount of time you leave it vacant.

Find out why professional plumbers are key to winterization and what services they provide. And if you’re wondering how you can help winterize a house or business, don’t skip the end. Though a professional plumber is necessary, there are additional actions you can take to help protect against the cold and snow.

Why You Need Help to Winterize Your Home or Business

In the Chicago suburbs, winter hits hard. That’s why you’ve got to prepare accordingly with professional winterization services. Whether you leave your Illinois home behind for the winter months (lucky you!) or your seasonal business shutters down until it warms up, you want to shield it from freezing temperatures, leaks, and beyond.

Professional plumbers are skilled in winterization. If you ignore winterization or your plumbing isn’t winterized properly, you could face burst pipes, flooding, leaky appliances, and more. Who wants to return to stressful, costly damage after a rough winter?

That’s where the professionals come in. Here are some common winterization services plumbers perform on homes and businesses alike:

• Insulating exposed pipes
• Draining pipes, toilets, water heaters, and appliances
• Using air pressure draining to ensure total drainage
• Applying antifreeze
• Ensuring the sump pump is working properly
• Winterizing your sprinkler system by disconnecting hoses, repairing leaky outside faucets and insulating them

To learn more, check out Flatley’s winterization services.

What you can do to help with winterization

In addition to having a professional plumber winterize your home or business, there are things you can do to help prepare your vacant residence:

• Open cabinet doors to allow the ventilation of warmer air around plumbing
• Shut off the main water valve
• Unplug everything—it’ll save you money on your electric bill and make it safer
• Don’t turn off the heat entirely; set it to approximately 55 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that it doesn’t get too cold
• Throw out all perishable food and seal any nonperishable items
• Stop your mail or forward your mail to another address
• Let your neighbors know how long you’ll be out of town and ask them to inform you of anything unusual

Need professional winterization experts? Call Flatley’s!

For years, Flatley’s Plumbing Express has provided the Chicago suburbs with high-quality, reliable winterization services. If you’re planning to leave your home or business for the winter months, it’s time to think about scheduling a professional plumbing winterization appointment.

Call Flatley's Plumbing Express to schedule your professional plumbing winterization appointment today!