Holiday Safety Tips to Prevent Fires and Frozen Pipes for Your Aberdeen Home

12/21/2022 (Permalink)

‘Tis the season for mistletoes, holiday music, and mall madness. However, ‘tis also the season for house fires and water damage.

Keep your holiday celebrations safe and worry-free with Aberdeen/Holmdel’s SERVPRO, providing you with holiday safety tips to prevent fires and frozen pipes for your Aberdeen home.

Preventing Holiday Home Fires:

Space Heaters
Whether you have a space heater from the 90s that is still kicking or a new, visually appealing fireplace heater, here are some tips to help you avoid a fire due to your heater.

• Never turn on a heater you suspect is damaged.
• Before use, inspect the heater, power cord, and plug for any defects.
• Never leave the heater operating while unattended, or while you’re sleeping.
• Keep materials such as beds, sofas, curtains, papers, and clothes at least 3 feet from the front, top, sides, and back of the heater.
• Make sure the heater plug fits tightly into the outlet - if not, don’t use this outlet. Poor electrical connections are another leading cause of fires.
• Ensure that the heater is placed on a stable, level surface and located where it will not be knocked over.

Christmas Trees
One of the deadliest types of fires that occurs during the holiday season involves live Christmas trees. Here are some tips to help you avoid Christmas tree fires.

• Keep your tree properly watered
• Check for electrical issues and broken bulbs when hanging lights on the tree.
• Remove heat sources in close proximity to the tree.
• Unplug your tree when you’re not home and overnight.

Fireplaces
There’s nothing like sitting in front of a fire, sipping cocoa, and watching a holiday movie. Keep fires from reaching outside the fireplace with these safety tips:

• Clean up build-up and ash before lighting a new fire.
• Schedule an annual chimney inspection before the season.
• Use safe fire starters - this includes well-seasoned hardwood or CSIA-approved logs.
• For kindling, stick to fired twigs or branches
• Ensure all of the embers are completely burnt out before heading to bed.

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes
Did you know that burst pipes are one of the most common causes of property damage during the winter? When temperatures plummet, your house pies can freeze and burst, causing thousands in water damage. Do the following to help prevent this:

• Keep garage doors closed, especially if there are water supply lines in there.
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing, especially if your sinks are on exterior walls.
• Let cold water drip from the faucets.
  Keep your thermostat set to the same temperature during the day and at night.
• If you’re going away, make sure you leave the heat on in your home no lower than 55 degrees fahrenheit.

What if My Pipes Are Already Frozen?
There’s a few things you can do if you notice your pipes are already frozen.

• Turn on the faucet - as you heat the pipe and the ice begins to melt, you want the water to be able to flow through. Doing this will help the ice melt.
• Apply heat to the section of the pipe using an electric heating pad, hair dryer, space heater, or wrap pipes with towels soaked in hot water.
• Call a licensed plumber.

What if The Damage Has Already Been Done?
If you had a house fire or water damage, give SERVPRO of Aberdeen/Holmdel a call. We specialize in disaster restoration and can help with fire damage restoration, water damage restoration, mold remediation, and much more.

Reach out with any and all of your questions and inquiries: (732) 290-3170

About SERVPRO Team Harvey
SERVPRO of Holmdel/Aberdeen is proudly owned by Lance and Jennifer Harvey - a husband and wife duo that owns three other SERVPRO locations, including SERVPRO of West Somerset County, SERVPRO of Hoboken/Union City, and SERVPRO of Lower Manhattan.

We understand the stress and worry that comes with a fire or water damage and the disruption it causes your home or business. Our goal is to help minimize the interruption to your life and quickly make it “like it never even happened.”