How to Protect Your Church’s Pipes this Winter
Your church may look beautiful with a fresh layer of snow, but winter’s freezing temperatures can cause a lot of problems! The cost of water damage from burst pipes can impact your church financially and hinder your ministry while the building is repaired.
If your church has exposed pipes, there are a few things you can do to protect them during the cold winter months:
- Identify someone from your church to inspect pipes and ensure buildings are heated at an adequate temperature. This is especially important for churches that are not occupied daily!
- Maintain the heat at a minimum temperature of at least 60 degrees.
- Leave interior doors open to allow warm air to circulate.
- Wrap exposed pipes with insulation to prevent direct exposure to freezing temperatures. This is extremely important in areas such as crawlspaces and attics where the area is not heated.
- After temperatures rise and thawing occurs, inspect the church to see if any pipes have burst as this will be the time when damage is most likely to occur.
- Know where the main water shutoff valve is located and how to turn off the water to the facility until a plumber can arrive to make repairs.
