What can I do to prevent damage to pipes during freezing temperatures?

If you live in a home with an unheated basement, or in a slab home with a crawl space underneath, extremely cold weather may cause your water lines to freeze or your internal plumbing lines to burst. You can take several steps to minimize the risk:

• Keep areas with exposed pipes warm.
• Wrap water pipes in unheated areas with pipe insulation or blankets.
• Open a tap and let the water run in a continuous stream about the thickness of a pencil.

The amount of money you spend taking these precaution will be relatively small compared to the cost of repairing damaged lines.