People Flock To Hardware Stores To Prepare For Freezing Temps

The bitter cold weather can cause lots of damage to homes that haven’t been prepped to handle the temperatures. Plumbers say now is the time to get your house ready to go.

Shoppers are already starting to look for supplies to keep their homes safe at the Westlake Ace Hardware near 41st and Peoria.

“I have faucet covers,” said Garrett Gray. “I always worry about if you should drip the pipes or not.”

The staff at the hardware store have been waiting for this type of weather. It’s been a busy weekend, with people getting everything they need ahead of the Arctic blast.

“Faucet covers, heat lamps, pipe insulation, pipe wrap, lots of space heaters,” said Nate Martin, general manager.

Martin’s advice is to get ready now before it’s too late.

“Unfortunately, because we don’t get that much cold weather around, people don’t do a good enough job prepping ahead of time,” he said. “As the week goes on and as it gets colder, we’ll get a lot busier.”

Chase Boyce with Airco Services says everyone should have a game plan for protecting their home before the extreme weather moves in.

“Disconnecting those outside faucets, hoses from your faucets, getting some of those covers on and making sure we get ahead of it, not react to it when it’s here,” said Boyce.

Boyce says many homes have bathrooms on outside walls. Letting steady drips of water fall and keeping cabinets open to get some heat will help prevent bursts.

“We don’t want to react to the situation when we know it’s coming,” said Boyce. “It’ll really save you a lot of time, effort and money later on down the road.”

The staff at Westlake Ace Hardware expects more and more people to come in and shop this week. They’ve got more supplies coming in on Tuesday and Friday.