HOUSTON, Texas — As an arctic air mass makes its way to Texas, homeowners have just a few days to get their homes prepared for a likely freeze.
Depending on the type of home you live in, you may be making different preparations than your neighbor.
Whatever year your house was built, whatever materials it's made of, no home is completely safe from freezing temps.
“Your general actions, you should be taking are opening up your cabinets, a little bit of dripping of your faucets, upstairs, downstairs, different areas of the home and stuff like that," said Andrew Rivera, a plumber with Met Plumbing.
Rivera said those are general precautions. Other steps you take can depend on the type of home you live in.
“A lot of older homes are sometimes on pier and beams. And a lot of the water lines are underneath the homes," Rivera said.
When a home is elevated, like with older homes, he said the pipes are usually exposed and need to be covered.
“These are actions that need to be taken to make sure you cover all the water pipes with insulation," Rivera said.
If your home is newer and built on a slab, he said your piping is likely in your attic so opening the attic door could help.
“Allowing some of that warm air to go up will help with the temperature in your attic space," Rivera said.
But he said exposed outdoor pipes on any home need to be covered, along with any water softener systems and your sprinkler’s backflow prevention device - which Rivera says should also be drained.
“Even if you take these actions, there is still no guarantee that nothing is going to happen," Rivera said.
Another difference between newer and older homes is insulation. Of course, newer homes are built with more advanced materials.
“If someone has an older home, and they are a little bit worried about the attic space, a great thing they can do for the short term is open up the attic door, allow some of that warm air going into the attic just to ensure a little more comfort for the pipes, make sure they’re in the temperature that’s needed in order for the water not to freeze," Rivera said.