"Keep your pipes warm" or risk damage that could cost you thousands



OAK CREEK (WITI) -- As temperatures plummet outside, many of you are hunkering down indoors. But the brutal cold can still seep into your home and cause serious damage.

Those tanking temperatures pose a threat to your home's pipes. They could freeze or burst if you don't take care of them.

"The risk is getting higher as it's getting colder. So you want to keep your pipes warm of course," said Michael Marusic from Oak Creek Plumbing.

Not protecting those pipes could end up being pretty costly.

"We ran into a situation last year where actually a condo they turned the heat off, the whole condo, all eight units pipe froze and we're talking thousands and thousands of dollars," said Dan Callies of Oak Creek Plumbing.

Fortunately, there are some simple, proactive steps you can take to save yourself that kind of bill.

"Keep the cabinets for your kitchen sink open, disconnect your hoses from your hose bibs, just try to keep the heat on the pipes," said Marusic.

Also seek out any spots that may have holes -- and get those sealed up.

If you're worried about freezing, you can even leave your tap on a slow drop to keep water moving through the pipes.

Lastly, don't turn the thermostate down too low -- even if you're leaving for several hours. Callies recommends keeping the temp within a few degrees of where you'd set it if you were home. He thinks mid 60s is good.

"Protection of your piping system, you could have a greater problem within the whole house if you drop your temperature way down," said Callies.

Callies is an officer in the Milwaukee Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). He says NARI is a great resource for more information on protecting your home this winter.

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