"It's just a matter of time:" Experts say now is the time to get your home ready for winter

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A drop in temperatures is inevitable and experts say now is the time to get your home ready for winter weather. 

A local plumber says simple steps taken now could save you from a big headache later this winter. 

"Winter is coming. We've had a pretty good summer, had enough heat waves, but now we're getting to the point of the year where the weather starts dropping," said Bill Rozga with Rozga Plumbing and Heating.

Bill Rozga with Rozga Plumbing says now's the time to drain your outdoor hose and clean out the gutters. It will help make sure your pipes don't freeze.

"People tend to leave their hoses connected. If the hose is connected to the outside valve, even though the valve is open, you have not allowed anything to drain off. You're going to freeze the hose, but more importantly, you're going to freeze the plumbing."

Rozga says to pay attention to the pipes in the kitchen too. 

"Kitchens are just as susceptible. You get a kitchen with an outside wall, where the water piping has gone through the ceiling, up into the outside wall and into the cabinet, that too can freeze. For a lot of people, it's just easy to keep the cabinet doors open at night."

If homeowners wait until after temperatures drop, Rozga says repair costs could climb into the thousands.

"We had one customer in Brookfield that left in 2014 for two weeks. They came home and lost their entire house. The freeze-up had started and the furnace had failed. They had no way to warn themselves or anybody else."

That's why he says it's never too early to get your home ready for winter.

"When we get later in the season and it's consistently below freezing, it's just a matter of time."


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