Being prepared to defend your home's plumbing system against cold winter temperatures can prevent heartache and save money. Water and sewer-line leaks occur year round, regardless of the temperature. But, chilling winter freezes add to the problem. You needn't be a plumber to be properly prepared. As a matter of fact, in some cases, all you might need is a roll of duct tape.

Think of these quick fixes that just about anyone can perform as plumbing first aid. The procedures we suggest will slow or stop a leak long enough to give you time to enlist the services of a qualified plumber during regular working hours. Remember, they charge more at night and during weekends.

The trick to temporarily stopping a pinhole leak is to apply pressure to the opening. If you were strong enough you could simply grab the pipe and hold on. Not very practical though. A better approach would be to wrap duct tape around the pipe. No kidding. In many instances duct tape is all that is needed. Unfortunately, it doesn't work in every case. Another trick involves the use of a c-clamp, block of wood and piece of rubber. The rubber is used as a gasket. The block of wood applies pressure over a wider area than the end of the c-clamp and the clamp holds the gasket and the wood block in place. Since the block of wood is flat, it can only be used to create pressure along a very narrow area of the pipe.

When there are several pinholes traversing around the pipe, we suggest a hose clamp and a piece of rubber. A single universal hose clamp can be purchased that will fit every water pipe in your home. A junk yard is filled with rubber that can be had for pennies. Old radiator and heater hoses are just what the doctor ordered. A friend who works on cars will probably be glad to give you all you need. Or, how about the place where you have your car worked on.

Last, but not least, there is the super leak stopper better known as the sleeve clamp. Although it is ideal for stopping pinhole leaks, it also can be used for larger leaks (forget searching for a piece of rubber for this one - it comes with its own gasket). Each sleeve clamp must be purchased for use with a specific pipe size. That is, a sleeve clamp made to repair a half-inch pipe will be a different size than one needed to repair a three-quarter inch one. With both the hose clamp and the sleeve clamp, only a screwdriver is needed for installation. Not at all complicated.

A couple of safety tips: if the leak is in a basement and electrical wires are present, turn off the power before working in the area. The same holds true in under-floor subareas. Finding electrical wiring in a subarea is rare, but why take the chance. Also, it isn't much fun to crawl a subarea when the area is dry let alone when it is partially flooded by a leaking pipe. So, be prepared to wear protective clothing. Let the plumber do it you say. However, many plumbers will not crawl into a flooded subarea.

Leaks in joints of threaded pipe often can be repaired with a pair of pipe wrenches. Be careful though. Old galvanized iron pipe (20 years and older) should be left to a plumber or an experienced do-it-yourselfer. We have seen iron pipe crumble under the force of a pipe wrench.

Use the main shutoff valve to turn the water off to the house until the leak can be temporarily stopped.