If your pipes freeze or break, follow this advice from experts
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Freezing temps can wreak havoc on your pipes.
If your pipes burst during a hard freeze, you may be wondering what you should do.
Broken, frozen, and leaking pipes can leave many people without water for days. Virginia Moore has been living in Augusta for six months now. She says she and her family went without hot water for days after the Christmas weekend freeze.
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Danny Friedman has been with Garden City Plumbers for 40 years and says he’d never seen anything like this. He tells us there is one thing you need to do immediately before you call a plumber if your pipes burst.
“If it’s a hot or a cold pipe makes a difference. If it’s a hot pipe, you can cut it off at the water heater, and you’ll have cold water in your house for the rest of the time,” he said.
He says if you have damage to a cold pipe, you’ll be out of water and will have to call a plumber. If your pipes haven’t burst, you still have time to make sure they don’t.
“Once nighttime comes around, leave the water not dripping, but a very slight, small stream. If you can get close to where your hose bibs are, a faucet close to there, that’s the one you want to keep open,” he said.
Friedman tells us there are also Styrofoam heat boxes you can buy and attach to your faucet. He also says letting a small stream of water run all night when temperatures drop may sound like a hit to your wallet, but that solution will be much cheaper than a plumbing repair.
Can you fix it yourself?
After a winter freeze, homeowners flock to hardware stores trying to find supplies to fix their damaged and broken pipes.
Plumbers get busier than ever, so some people are forced to take the frustrating situation into their own hands, but that may not be a good idea.
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Plumbers say practicing patience could protect your wallet.
People like Floyd Haynes couldn’t wait after a winter freeze.
He says he took the proper precautions and covered his pipes, but they still burst.
“They’re talking about maybe a week or two out before they come repair my pipes. So, I can’t be without water for a week or two,” he said.
Tony Mariano with Flow-Pro Plumbing tells us while repairing your pipes yourself isn’t a terrible idea, it certainly isn’t recommended.
He says if you’re out shopping for plumbing supplies and you can’t find what you need, there’s a reason. That’s because the local plumbers have probably bought all the supplies so they can take care of their customers.
Mariano also says DIY repairs if anything will only be a temporary fix and could cost you more money in the long run.
“Out of all the calls that we do, I can almost guarantee you that more than a quarter of them are people who tried to fix things themselves and it didn’t work out,” he said.
Mariano tells us if you aren’t confident in your ability to fix your pipes, you may want to leave it to the professionals. Even if you are confident, you’ll still want to call a plumber to come out. He says most at-home repairs are only temporary fixes.
Battling mold
Broken pipes are a situation Bill Welsh with PuroClean has dealt with over and over.
“There’s been a lot of breaks of lines and people’s attics, especially because they’re uninsulated areas. And what happens is when the pipes are installed, they might be, you know, almost 99% insulated, but there’s one gap of pipe that’s exposed to the elements,” said Welsh.
The first thing to do if there’s a leak is to turn off the waterline in your house.
“I would be more concerned with electrical issues, and heating, the cooling to be able to heat and cool that house and stay in it. Rather than being really concerned about the mold. I’m not saying the mold isn’t the worst thing, but you really need to look at the other safety issues first,” he said.
PuroClean owner Richard Sassnet says if your ceiling is discolored, you can expect some mold growth, but professionals can help.
“You can expect that there’s going to be some instances where you’ll see microbial growth. In the instances where you do see discoloration, you start to notice different smells that are out there, it’s probably good to have a professional come out and do an inspection,” he said.
Safety should be your top priority. Taking the steps of calling your insurance company, getting up as much water as you can, removing the wet materials, and making sure your electrical wires are not exposed to the water. They do not recommend you try and fix this on your own as it will likely cost you more in the end.
Jeremiah Rutledge with Jerry’s All American Cleaning says it takes 72 hours for mold to build in your home. You may still have time to take precautions and prevent any water damage or mold.
“Definitely want to get that water off of your carpet or your walls as quickly as possible. Because the longer it stays there, the longer or the more damage and mold can do. And once you get that water off, then you will try to get it dry as quickly as possible with fans or any type of circulation devices in your home,” he said.
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