Winterize Your Home and Prevent Frozen Pipes

Every year I'm called to someones home where the hose bib was left un-protected from the cold and the water pipe freezes and burst open causing all kinds of damage. A burst pipe means costly repairs and potential structural damage. Yellow VAN Handyman can help with these repairs, but it is best to avoid the mess and expense. Pipes located outdoors are subject to freezing once outdoor temperatures fall below 20 degrees.  


Prevention is the key to avoiding burst pipes during the winter. Hose bibs, and other outdoor plumbing fixtures are found on most houses. Winterizing your home's hose bibs is an annual maintenance task that should be completed before the freezing temperatures roll in.


Yellow VAN Handyman can help winterize your home. If you want to do this yourself, here are a few steps to follow:


1) Disconnect any hoses from the hose bibs. Drain the water from the hoses. Store the hoses inside during the winter to prevent damage.
2) Turn off any valve inside your home or crawl space that supplies water just to the outdoor faucets. If you don't have a dedicated valve for the faucets, skip to Step 4.
3) Turn the handles to open the hose bibs. Let the water in the pipes drain. Leave the faucets open throughout the winter to release the pressure caused by the freezing of any remaining water inside the pipes.
4) Place insulating covers over all your hose bibs. Even "Frost Proof" hose bibs should be insulated and covered. I have seen many of these so called "freeze proof" hose bibs freeze and burst even though they are suposed to be "Frost Proof". 


Taking a few minutes to make sure your exterior plumbing fixtures are protected from the winter cold will save you hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars in damages and repair cost.

Hot Water Tanks

This is the time of year that hot water heaters start to fail. After being on low demand for most of the last few warmer months, they are now put into overdrive. The cold weather causes the units to work harder to produce hot water. This is when people will see their unit fail.

Look for signs of water around the water connections on the top of the tank as well as in the drip pan or on the ground. Look for rust where the pipe connections are as this will be a sign that failure is about to happen.

When a hot water tank burst, it can cause thousands of dollars in damage and repairs.

Yellow VAN Handyman can help you with installing or inspecting your existing unit, usually in an expedited fashion. There are companies out there that specialize in "same day installation" but they also specialize in draining your bank account for what they charge.

Yellow VAN Handyman can give you a free estimate before the job. We install gas and electric units and can also haul away your old tank.

Don't wait until your feet are wet, take care of a potential disaster before it's to late. Yellow VAN Handyman can help.

Prevent ice damage

The problem: Experts estimate that each winter 250,000* homes experience damage due to frozen pipes. 

Frozen pipes cause a huge amount of damage each year and these disasters are largely preventable. By taking a few simple precautions, you can help save yourself the mess, money, and aggravation frozen pipes cause.

Yellow VAN Handyman can help you with a few simple tips.

First look for places where cold air can get in. Then:

• Add insulation to pipes located on exterior walls and in crawl spaces and attics.
• Disconnect garden hoses so water won’t freeze in the faucet or pipe.
• Clean gutters and downspouts to direct winter precipitation away from foundations. Note: Cleaning gutters does not prevent ice dams.

Don't let the cold ruin your winter. Have Yellow VAN Handyman help you to keep the cold out.


*Figures provided by State Farm Insurance.

Beware of what's inside that wall.

Just came from a house where an un-named company was installing an alarm system throughout. After a couple of days the homeowner was hearing the sound of water dripping. They could not see anything , but heard the drip. After a few more days the homeowner noticed that the base molding at the bottom of one wall was starting to separate from the wall. It was getting wet and was swelling. Looking up the wall a little further they noticed that the drywall was starting to discolor and was soft to the touch.

This is where your Yellow VAN Handyman comes into play. Cutting out the bad section of drywall revealed the main drain pipe for the two upstairs bathrooms. The drain line had been accidentally drilled into by the alarm companies technician. Since it was a drain line, it only leaked when someone used the sink or shower upstairs. The tech had no idea what he did.

After the drain pipe was repaired, Yellow VAN Handyman replaced the drywall, taped the joints and applied quick drying drywall compound. Sanding, texturing and painting then commenced. The end result was invisible to the naked eye and most importantly, the homeowner. From start to finish I was there three hours. Oh, I also repaired the bad piece of base molding at the foot of the wall.

If you have an unfortunate accident at your house, contact Yellow VAN Handyman to help you with repairing your most valued possession, your home.

Getting your home ready for winter

A good thing to check at your home is the caulking around the doors and windows. Be sure that the caulk around windows and door frames is in good shape. This is to prevent heat from escaping and water from entering. Caulking and sealing openings is one of the least expensive maintenance jobs a home owner can do. Yellow VAN Handyman can help you with inspecting your existing caulked joints and re-caulking the areas that are suspect. Have Yellow VAN Handyman help save you money on your winter utility bills by keeping the heat inside the home where it belongs.

Popcorn Ceiling?

Oh the 70's. Every contractor in the world loved to spray on the big thick texture that many call "Popcorn" on the ceilings of the homes they were building. Most of those ceilings are now dis-colored or at the very least out dated.

Yellow VAN Handyman just spent the last two days removing the "Popcorn" from the ceiling of a small condo. It is a messy job, but the end result will give your home a nice updated look. It actually makes a room feel like it has higher ceilings when its gone.

There is more to the job than just removing the texture. The ceiling will need at the minimum some drywall touch up work as well as primer and paint. All can be done by Yellow VAN Handyman. This is a great face lift for your home and a good job to do in the winter months.

Don't let the water hit the floor.

The Yellow VAN Handyman spent half the day yesterday repairing a couples bathroom sub-floor because their shower doors seal was worn out. Every time they would take a shower, water would drip down on to the floor and over several years it had rotted out a 14" x 18" section of the rooms sub-floor. This means all new flooring will be needed. 

If you notice your bathrooms vinyl flooring has a bump, is lifting or curling up, this could be the first signs of water getting under the flooring. Your Yellow VAN Handyman can check this out and recommend any repairs that will be needed.  If caught early, a major job can be averted.

New Kitchen Sink?

Did you know that you don't need a plumber to replace a sink or faucet. Yellow VAN Handyman can install that new kitchen or bathroom sink or faucet for you and save you a bundle.

With all the new styles of sinks and faucets available, it is a relatively inexpensive way to give your bathroom or kitchen a face lift. Call Yellow VAN Handyman and set up a free consultation visit to discuss how you can upgrade the look of your kitchen or bathroom.

Bathroom fans

One of the most important things a homeowner needs to know is that moisture is the enemy. Having an exhaust fan in the bathroom, that is in good working order, is of great importance.  The fan is an important aspect of keeping moisture related problems like mildew and mold from starting to grow on and in your walls.

Making sure the fans vent is free of obstruction and as straight a shot to the outside as possible is important.  Note: This is true for dryer and range hood vents as well. I have actually removed a birds nest out of a dryer vent.

Are you experiencing a fan that was once quiet but now loud and noisy? Does the bathrooms fan make a strange grinding sound? Do you have fan that is no longer working?

Let Yellow VAN Handyman repair or replace it. There are some fantastic new fan designs out their that are whisper quiet. There is no need to wake everyone in the house up at 6:00 AM when you are in the shower.

A general rule is to let the bathroom fan run at least 20 minutes after you get out of the shower to evacuate all the rooms moisture. If you need a timer put in to control the fan, Yellow VAN Handyman can do that too.

Pest Control

Spent the day installing screen over crawl space vents. Turns out that hornets and wasps like to enter the crawl space and make a nice nest. Have your Yellow VAN Handyman check over you vent to see if they are susceptible to pest entering. It only take getting stung once to make you wish you checked earlier.

Wasting water

Leaky toilets are a huge reason for large water bills. Does your toilet continually run? Do you hear water running then shut off every few minutes? If so, you have a toilet that is wasting water and ultimately your hard earned money.

Yellow VAN Handyman can repair the toilet and put you back on budget. Simple plumbing jobs are not a problem and will save you from spending more money than necessary.

HD TV?

I'm surprised that a lot of people who own flat screen HD tv's don't have a HD cable box or satellite hooked to them. They are watching SD TV and not realizing the true potential of their set. With a little help from Yellow VAN Handyman, you too can be watching true and spectacular High Definition television.