NEW ORLEANS — Temperatures are expected to drop early next week. Now's the time to prepare to protect your plants and pipes.
Pipes R Us Owner Danny Griffin said his team is bracing for a busy week.
“We try to tell all our customers to get a head start, because again, plumbers are going to be busy, and if you wait until the day of the freeze, you’re kind of out of luck," Griffin said.
Griffin recommends insulating your pipes before the freeze hits.
“You can get it from Home Depot. You can get it from a plumbing supply house. It’s just basically cutting the insulation, and it has stick tape on it to where you can just put it together yourself," Griffin said.
Griffin also recommends running water in one of your sinks. He said it's not necessary to run every sink. In fact, if everyone does this, it could potentially drop water pressure.
“A pencil stream, and it has to be the furthest fixture away from your water service," Griffin said.
Griffin said running water will also protect tankless gas water heaters.
If you have a pool, Griffin said you should also protect those pipes.
“If you have a fill valve for the pool, turn it off, but run your pool the entire time. Because if not, all those pipes are going to freeze also," Griffin said.
Perino's Home and Garden Center in Metairie is already preparing as well. General Manager Tucker Bantom said most plants will be fine, but there are some to watch out for.
"We have to bring in all the tropical plants. All the citrus plants," Bantom said.
Bantom said you may notice that the weather impacts flowers.
The best thing you can do to protect tropical and citrus plants is to cover them. You should use a sheet or frost cloth blanket first, then cover the plant with plastic, Bantom said.
"You want to get it all the way down to the ground and tuck them under," Bantom said, “If you just use plastic, you’re going to burn the foliage, and the plant will die.”
You can also staple the plastic to the ground, Bantom said.
Bantom also recommends watering your plants before the freeze comes.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.