Dallas County Emergency Coordinator AJ Seely Gives Advice to Avoid Freezing Pipes | Raccoon Valley Radio

As temperatures continue to drop below freezing, an expert offers advice on pipe safety tips.

Dallas County Emergency Coordinator AJ Seely shares that people who have lived in their homes for years are likely familiar with the location of certain pipes that are susceptible to freezing. However, if the residents are newer residents, he acknowledges that pipes connected to exterior walls can easily freeze. Seely offers some suggestions to solve the problem.

“The first thing we need to do is isolate these exposed pipes if we can. If that is not possible, we can also use a faucet to drip. The other thing is that a lot of times, under a kitchen sink for example, you can open the cabinet doors and that allows the warm air from the kitchen to sort of circulate through the cabinet, which actually ends up touching those pipes or passing it to those pipes and keeping that warm as well . Additionally, if you have outside drains or outside hoses or spigots, you must make sure the hose is unplugged and the water is turned off and completely drained.”

Seely admits that the pipes leak not when the ice is frozen, but when the ice begins to melt. As a last resort, he cites using space heaters to warm pipes. However, be careful if the pipes are already frozen as this could cause them to break.