After fielding more than 50 calls Monday regarding frozen pipes — in homes, apartments and commercial properties from Lawrence to Baldwin City — plumber Howard Kastl doesn’t mind sharing a bit of his 35 years of experience in preventing such frigid soakings.

“We don’t mind the work,” says Kastl, president of Kastl Plumbing, 4920 Legends Drive. “It keeps our guys real busy, but …”

Yes, frozen pipes can be averted. His suggestions:

• Keep cold air out. If you have a master bathroom above the garage, be sure the garage door is completely closed. Disconnect garden hoses. Most important: Be sure the lid to your dryer vent — the one that flaps on the outside of your house — isn’t propped open by lint buildup. “Then it’s a wide-open, direct air pipe from the outside to the inside, and it’s near plumbing,” Kastl says. “It literally can make your lines freeze — and they can burst — inside the home. To me, it’s like leaving the door open in your house.” If the vent won’t close, wipe away the lint.

• Leave cabinets cracked open overnight, especially along exterior walls. That allows warm air to circulate around pipes.

• Go with the flow. “If you have an area that’s prone to freezing, open the faucet and let it drip a little bit,” Kastl says. “Running water doesn’t freeze.” But be warned: “If you have a drain that’s running slow, the last thing you want to do is let it overflow.”

• Travel with care. Leaving home for the holidays? Keep the heat on, and don’t turn the thermostat below 60 degrees. “And if I’m going to leave town for more than just a few days, I find the main water cutoff and I cut it off,” he says. “The most water that can leak from one of those pipes is what water is in it.”