Gather round, gather round, Landmark Home Warranty is here to tell you a tale. A tale of woe, of horror, and of incredibly expensive repairs. We know Halloween has already passed, but this scary story happens more in the winter-time. Are you ready to be frightened? Here we go:
Once upon a time, in a home not so far away, two homeowners, we’ll call them Rich and Gina, went to bed, grateful for their warm home. It had dropped to freezing temperatures outdoors that evening, and it was nice to climb into a cozy bed. Around 2 a.m. Gina awoke to a steady drip, drip, drip coming from downstairs. “Rich!” she whispered. “Rich! Do you hear that?”
She shook him awake, and a very groggy Rich rubbed the sleep from his eyes, while straining to hear the noise that had woken Gina.
“I think it’s coming from downstairs,” Gina said as Rich got out of bed and put on his slippers.
“I’m going to investigate,” said Rich, grabbing a flashlight. Gina pulled off the covers, not wanting to be alone, and ran to catch up with him.
The two tiptoed to the door that led downstairs. The noise had gotten considerably louder.
Drip, drip, drip.
Rich turned on his flashlight and slowly turned the doorknob to the stairs.
“Rich, I’m scared!” Gina whispered as he started to turn the knob.
The door slowly creaked as Rich pulled it open. He flipped the light switch, and the narrow stairs were illuminated by a dim, flickering yellow light.
Rich and Gina cautiously tiptoed down the stairs. At the bottom, Rich flicked on his flashlight and slowly moved the arc of its beam around the room.
Suddenly he reached back and grabbed his wife’s hand.
“Gina!” he said, his voice full of horror as his flashlight’s beam fell on something absolutely terrifying. “Gina! I just realized something!”
Gina and Rich looked at the frozen, leaking pipe, that had cracked and was now slowly dripping water on their basement floor.
Rich turned to Gina, with horror on his face.
“I forgot to winterize our hose!”
In all seriousness, a burst pipe can be a nightmare for homeowners. It will flood the lower level of a home, sometimes causing damage that is irreparable, and costing homeowners thousands of dollars. There are many things you can do to make sure that you won’t have to deal with a burst pipe this winter, but the one many homeowners forget is to winterize their hose.
Winterize your Hose
One of the largest culprits of burst pipes is probably hiding in your front yard right now: your hose. When homeowners do not drain hoses and remove them from their outside water spigot, the water that is still inside of the hose can back up into their home and freeze. As water freezes, it expands, which can crack the pipe, flooding the home. Many homeowners forget to do this simple winterizing task in the fall, which leads to the hose causing destruction later on in the winter or spring.
Honey, do you hear maniacal laughing?
Luckily for homeowners, it’s easy to winterize your hose!
Once you have completely turned off your hose, drain all of the water that remains inside of it. If you have a spray nozzle attached to the head, spray out all of the remaining water. Then, make sure to remove the hose from the outdoor water spigot completely. You can drain the hose more at this point by hanging the middle of the hose somewhere high and letting the two ends lay somewhere where a bit of water is needed. Once you are sure all of the water is out of the hose, you can store it for winter in a shed or garage.
A home warranty can help winterize your home.
Winterize your home! Other ways to winterize your home include installing insulation around your pipes, and checking your furnace. If you have a home warranty with Landmark Home Warranty, you can pay a service call fee once a year for a heater tune-up, to make sure your furnace will be ready to keep you warm this winter.
If you do not have a home warranty with Landmark Home Warranty and you are interested in protecting your home appliances and systems, take a look at our plans to see which works best for you and your home.