Iowa, This Simple Home Winter Hack Could Save You Thousands

This is something that's on my home winter preparation list every single year. If you don't know this Iowa home winter hack, you're welcome for potentially saving you thousands in repairs.

I only learned this when we bought our home in the middle of an Iowa winter. When we moved in, I wanted to make sure water was running to all of our spigots but when I waited to finally check them in the spring, I thought my spigot was broken or something because no water was coming out. What I realized was that the previous owners did me a solid and shut off the water so the pipes didn't burst in my basement.

The Iowa Home Winter Hack You Must Know

If you own a home, you probably already have a "winter prep list" you follow to make sure everything is ready to go. List items like getting your furnace tuned up, getting your snowblower and shovels out, and making space in the garage to make sure your cars fit.

Another thing to do before the cold and winter really settle in is to make sure your hoses are disconnected from spigots and the water is shut off to those outside spigots.

The Davenport Public Works department reminded residents of this easy-to-follow hack we can all get behind.

To locate the shutoff valves to the spigots, get a general idea of where the spigot is outside of your home and locate the pipe leading to the outside. If you have a drop ceiling in your basement like I do, it may be hiding above those panels but those are especially important to shut off so you don't ruin more things in case a pipe freezes and bursts.

Davenport Public Works officials also remind us to locate where your main water shut-off valve is. Knowing where that is located to shut off water to your entire house can help prevent those frozen pipes from bursting.

For the most part, time is the best remedy for pipe thawing. There are other tips and tricks to possibly speeding up that process.