• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

Reporter: Justin Schecker

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - While today is the first day temperatures have flirted around the freezing mark in Tucson, you still have some time to do work around the house to prepare for winter.

9 On Your Side visited a local experienced plumber to find out what you can do to keep your pipes from freezing and possibly bursting.  

Think letting your faucets run is the way to prevent your pipes from freezing? Arizona Professional Plumbing Vice President Robert Ashton said you're sadly mistaken.  

"That doesn't really work because rivers freeze also," Ashton said. 

The pipes needing the most attention are located on your roof, Ashton said.

"Because that is something that's not going to show a leak until it thaws out," he said. "Let's say it freezes at night, they get up they go to work, they have no water, they don't worry about it, they continue and they come home and all of sudden their yard is flooded and their roof is flooded."

According to Ashton, there are two common types of insulation you can use to cover your pipes. 

The Armaflex insulation is most common in neighborhoods because "this is the most economical, approximately a dollar a foot," Ashton said.  

If you want to take it up a notch, Ashton said go with fiberglass insulation.     

"The same stuff that's in your attic, your walls and your house that's insulating your house is what this material is made of," Ashton said. "(It's the) same stuff but it doesn't stand up to water."

To keep the fiberglass from getting wet, plumbers will secure an aluminum layer around it.      

Ashton tells me businesses will pay his company to install the fiberglass insulation because it lasts longer.

If you do not fully insulate your pipes, you can always cover exposed pipes with a blanket or use a heat source like a lamp.