Welsco's Winter Blog
January 1st 2024

Winter has finally arrived in the Northern Nevada area, and our family here at Welsco Drilling has some tips to keep you and yours stress-free during these chilling months. Winterizing your house is best done in the fall months, but if you still need to get around to it, we say better late than never. The more obvious winterizations include; disconnecting, draining, putting your hoses up for the winter, and shutting off your sprinklers, but did you know that you also need to pay special attention to your water pipes? One of the biggest problems during these cold months is pipes freezing. No one wants to wake up in the morning and turn their faucet on only to find out that their pipes froze!

Not only is it a headache to thaw them out once it happens, but there's also a concern that the pipes could have cracked from the ice expansion within them. I'm sure everyone at some point has thrown a plastic water bottle into the freezer without even thinking and, upon return, finds out that the top has busted off and the bottle itself has expanded past its limits. Now, imagine that happening to your water pipes. The worst outcome is the pipes bursting and flooding, but if there's anything you could do to try and prevent such a costly mistake, I'm sure you'd take it. Preventative maintenance is the key to trying to keep this nightmare from happening, so here's what we recommend doing to prepare for these below-freezing months.

Make sure your pump house is insulated and heated. We recommend a heat lamp for the job.

Insulate your water pipes! If you have any exposed water pipes, cover them with insulation. This helps prevent them from    freezing and cracking. You can cover it with foam or heat tape.

Sprinkler System- turn off the water and have your lines blown out. Sprinkler lines hold standing water, and if they aren't    blown out, it leaves the opportunity for them to freeze.

Keep your water dripping when the temperature dips below freezing. Running water is much less likely to freeze.

If you have any vents leading to your crawl space, place foam blocks within them to keep the cold air out.

Lastly, don't forget to check on your four-legged friends during these chilling months! That means breaking up any ice or    adding trough heaters to their water. Remember, every living thing needs high-quality H20!