

Should My Pipes Be Insulated? | Insight from Your Trusted Katy, TX Plumber

Do you have family or friends that live in colder parts of the country? If you do then you probably know all about insulating your pipes, right? You've probably been told about having to do it multiple times. But you may be wondering if this is something that you should be doing. Or maybe you have friends and family who have told you that you should call a professional about insulating your pipes in Katy, TX. Well, then you're probably going to want to read through this article to find out a little bit more.

Why People Insulate Their Pipes

If you've lived in a warm climate all your life you may not even understand why people need to insulate their pipes. After all, what could be so important about it? There's nothing to insulate, right? Well, the truth is that in colder climates a lot of people have trouble with their pipes freezing. This happens when the weather outside gets too cold and the temperatures inside the house aren't able to keep the pipes warm enough. As a result, the water in the lines freezes.

When the water in the line freezes it causes the water to swell, which pushes against the sides of the pipe and results in some serious damage. That damage could be just the swelling in the pipes, but if the water swells too much or there's too much of it then the pipe can actually burst open. And then you end up with a whole lot of water pouring throughout the house and causing flooding and a lot of water damage. Even worse, this sometimes happens inside the walls where you don't even know that it's happened.

When pipes burst and water damage occurs it can result in rot and breaking down of the overall structure of the house. That's why people who live in colder climates are so concerned about it. Especially when those pipes burst on the inside of the walls and then water continues to run through the pipes. Since no one knows that a problem has occurred it can continue to get worse and worse without anyone ever knowing that it's happened at all. At least, until it gets too big to ignore and suddenly water is seeping out of everywhere.

One of the ways that people counter this problem is by insulating their pipes. Now, in many cases pipes have enough insulation because of where they're placed in the walls. In colder areas this is something that's even more important and most plumbers will take care of it right away. But if the pipes are on outside walls and there's not enough insulation a professional may need to come in and add additional insulation to make sure that the pipes aren't going to freeze. This is why your friends from the north might be telling you to call a plumber about insulation.

Can Your Pipes Freeze?

The truth is that your pipes could freeze, if the temperatures got low enough. But the chances of that happening in and around Katy, TX are relatively low. You'll want to talk to your plumber about your concerns if you have any, but in most cases they're going to tell you that this isn't something you need to be concerned about. Instead, you can tell your friends from the north that it's just not something that really happens in the southern states. The temperatures tend to not get cold enough and even when they do, they don't stay that way for very long.

If you do happen to notice temperatures that are cold enough to be considered freezing in Katy, TX and other areas in the south you probably notice them for a couple hours at the most. Maybe a day if it's a really cold period. In the north these temperatures can hit for several days or even weeks at a time and that's why it's so important to check into insulating pipes and calling plumbers to get the problem taken care of before it becomes something major.

You should definitely be calling a plumber for problems that you do notice with your plumbing and you should absolutely not assume that your pipes can't burst. Just because they can't freeze doesn't mean that other things can't happen to your pipes. You may find yourself with a great deal of trouble if the pipes do burst because whether it's caused by freezing or something else it causes the same type of damage. If not caught quickly and contained it's only going to continue to make a bigger and bigger mess inside your walls.

Make sure that you talk with a plumber about anything that might be happening with your plumbing or if you happen to notice changes to the way that your water is running. It could be a sign that something serious is happening inside the walls or somewhere else. A plumber is going to be able to work with you to find out the problem and to take care of it. All you need to do is make sure that you let them know exactly what you're noticing and experiencing. Before you know it, you could have a serious problem that you never even knew was going on if you're not paying attention.

If you've been warned a lot about freezing pipes and burst pipes you likely don't need to call a professional about that. Instead, you need to call a plumber for some more general maintenance and care that needs to be done around your home. Whether you've been putting it off for a little while or a long time, a professional can make sure that anything that's going on in and around your home is going to be taken care of right away. There's no reason that you should be dealing with plumbing problems. Even if you're sure your pipes aren't going to freeze, there are still plenty of other things that could be going on that you need a plumber for. Be sure to contact Benjamin Franklin Plumbing for all your plumbing needs!