You’ve probably noticed pipes running inside exterior walls and wondered why builders accept the winter risk. They often ...

Most plumbers don’t like heat tapes–those cables that look like extension cords but generate heat to keep pipes from freezing. They say a proper installation shouldn’t need them, and if pipes freeze ...

A: Despite its name, heat tape isn’t sticky tape in the traditional sense, rather it is an electrical heating cable that is widely used to keep at-risk plumbing piping from freezing in the winter. You ...

MY AUGUST column about winterizing plumbing systems (pg. 44) generated a number of e-mails. Several questions were asked on using electric heat tapes. A memory long tucked away in the back recesses of ...