Although not a common task, draining your home’s plumbing pipes is occasionally necessary. Some common reasons for doing this include fixing a water hammer problem, shutting down a seasonal property for the winter, or making major plumbing repairs, such as replacing or extending the main plumbing lines. Fortunately, though draining a home’s plumbing pipes might seem like a daunting task, it’s actually very easy. Let’s take a closer look at the reasons you might want to do this.
Water Hammer
A water hammer (also called hydraulic shock) is a situation in which plumbing pipes bang loudly when faucets are turned on and off or when an appliance suddenly starts or stops the flow of water. The problem occurs because of air in the plumbing lines, which allows the water to oscillate back and forth and bang the pipes against one another or against the wood framing. Even if your system has air chambers to absorb this shock, too much air trapped in the system will make the problem persist. The answer is to drain the system and refill it, so the air gaps are confined to the designated air chambers.
Seasonal Shutdown
Draining the plumbing pipes is one of many items on a winter preparation checklist. These are especially important when a property in a cold climate will be left unattended for the winter. Frozen pipes that burst can fill an empty home with thousands of gallons of water and cause many thousands of dollars in damages.
Major Plumbing Repairs
Although draining the entire system is not part of every major repair or addition to the home plumbing system, it can sometimes be necessary, such as when a basement bathroom is being installed and the plumbing pipes lying above the installation need to be drained when the new pipes are connected to the existing system. There can be a substantial amount of water in the supply pipes within the home. And at the moment the pipes are cut to connect the new supply pipes, this water can flow out unless they have first been drained.
Draining your home’s water supply pipes, and refilling them when the work is done, is a very easy process.
Read the full article here