Bellingham plumber snowed in!

The tom cat was raising heck last night and I responded with the usual empty threat. Empty because it's already neutered.  Its whole complaint was about the 5 inches of snow, which is a very valid complaint.

It's going to be a rough winter. Prepare now by reading the last blog on 10/31/2017.

Hey Bellingham! Winter is Coming! Protect Your Plumbing!

Halloween is the bookmark in the calendar to winterize your buildings. 

1. Disconnect all garden hoses.

2. Turn off lawn sprinklers.

3. Close up crawlspace vents.

4. Set thermostat to a minimum of 60f.

During Freeze Warnings:

5. Monitor winter weather warnings.

6. At a bathroom faucet, turn on a cold water to the smallest stream possible. WARNING: Make sure the drain is working at the sink. Turn the water off at the end of freeze. I don't like this method, as it wastes water, but it's effective.

7. If your water heater is in the garage, try to keep garage door closed and the garage warm. Water heater blankets aren't recommended by most models.

Frozen Pipe Break

The weather changes quickly here and can drop below 32 real quick. Last weekend, the temperature dropped below 32 twice.

The biggest problem is hose bibs freezing and splitting. Fortunately, Ball Plumbing uses frost-free bibs. Frost-free does not mean you can abuse them--you still need to take the hose off each winter---but it does mean that if the bib does freeze break, it minimizes water damage.

This is a hose bib with a freeze break: