Frozen Pipes

  One of the most common problems in Alaska in the wintertime is frozen water pipes. When pipes get too frozen they burst, many times not leaking until they are thawed out.
  Of course the best way to deal with the problem is to not have it in the first place, proper inspection and maintenance is the key. On new construction where pipes are going to run under the house, make sure they are up inside the joists close to the floor. When you install insulation later they will be well inside that insulation barrier and heated by the ambient heat coming through the floor. It involves a lot of hole boring and pre-planning but is well worth it.
  Say you didn't build the house and it's your first winter there. Inspect the plumbing, look for exposed pipes under the joists or even coming up from the ground. Wrap these pipes with pipe wrap insulation or one piece foam insulation tubes made for the size pipes you are insulating.
  Some pipes are in such an exposed location they will always freeze, these pipes may need a heat tape. When installing heat tapes, tape the tape to the pipe with electrical tape every two to three feet, then wrap the pipe as well.
Whatever you do don't ever cross the heat tape over itself, it may melt and cause a fire in the event the thermostat malfunctions. Try to always use a thermostatically controlled heat tape.
  One last thing is check the skirting around your house. Make sure there are no gaps or holes and insulate that as well. Really cold areas like Fairbanks and the arctic have the plumbing under the house running in a loop with risers going up to the service points in the house. These loops are hooked to a circulation pump, much like a boiler circulation pump. These pumps need to be turned on in the fall and off in the spring, they keep the water in the pipes moving so it won't freeze.
  We will talk about what you do once the pipes do freeze in another post.

Heat Lost Around Doors and Windows

Hopefully your windows are reletively new and are made up of double panes with argon gas between them and were properly installed with the right sealant along the flanges.
In any event you need to check around the edges of both windows and doors for drafts, which means airflow and that is heat loss.
A cigarette or stick of insense will show air either coming into the house or going out of the house, just follow the smoke.
Once you have found the drafts you will need to fill them to stop that flow of air. Large gaps and cracks can be filled with foam products in a can or weatherstripping in rolls.Caulking is another good product, you will need a caulking gun and also need to match up the color of what you are sealing.
Don't forget to check under the door, there are thresholds that stick on and screw on the bottom of the door.
So chase down those drafts and save money on your heating bills.The products mentioned in this post are available at home improvement stores such as Lowes or Homedepot, hardware stores, as well as Walmart and other department stores.

Welcome to Alaskan Home Repair

This blog is dedicated to the unique maintenance and repair problems found in the extreme conditions a house faces in Alaska's northern climate.
We will post seasonal maintenance tasks that will save homeowners money by preventing costly repairs, as well as repair procedures to fix damage already done.
We will also try and answer e-mail questions from visitors to this blog. So check back regularly for updates and new features, we're just getting started and hope to build this into an interesting clearinghouse for information on building in the great State of Alaska.