Winterize now and avoid hassle later

New England winters can roll in without notice, but don’t let your outdoor plumbing get                                            stuck out in the cold! This October, take a look in your backyard and consider what needs to be winterized. If you have a cabana out by the pool it needs to have the lines blown out and non-toxic anti-freeze added to the drain traps to prevent pipes from freezing. Nothing can be worse than coming to the pool cabana in the spring to find that a pipe had frozen and burst in the winter!

              Outside sillcocks (also known as spigots) need to be winterized as well.  It’s a good idea to take a walk around your yard and see how many sillcocks your home has, and prepare to have them shut down so they don’t crack as the weather gets cold.

              Winterizing is a proactive way to ensure the lifetime of your home equipment and avoid a potential homeowners catastrophe. Call Baker Elman today and make an appointment to prepare your home.

Boston Plumbing Company’s David Elman offers expert insights on frozen pipes: Interview with 7 News WHDH.com

NEWTON, Mass. — The cold temperatures on Monday could mean problems in your home, and one of the biggest – frozen pipes.

The subfreezing temperatures have put one bathroom out of commission in Newton.

“The pipe to the bathtub is frozen, and the drain, so it’s not working,” said the homeowner. “No bathtub. No shower.”

David Elman of Baker-Elman Plumbing says he’s been responding to multiple frozen pipe calls all day long.

“No heat. No water – just typical cold weather related issues,” said Elman. “All because of frozen pipes.”

Elman says this particular pipe froze because it was in an uninsulated part of the house over the garage. He says to help prevent frozen pipes, you can insulate the pipe or the area around it, run a faucet connected to the pipe, and for houses with hot water heat, don’t turn the thermostat down at night.

“Keep it at one temperature through the cold weather because the water will circulate more often and won’t freeze,” said Elman.

But Elman says frozen pipes can’t always be prevented.

“Pray for warm weather would be the only way. In some houses there’s no way to prevent it,” said Elman.

Elman says there is one other thing homeowners can do. If the frozen pipe is inside a cabinet, he suggests that you open the cabinet doors to expose that pipe to warmer air.

Click HERE for a complete footage of the video interview with David Elman.