“I hear people talk about frozen pipes, but I’ve never had to deal with it. Is it really that big of a deal? I just thought you called a plumber and got it fixed. What’s all the hullabaloo?”
If you’ve ever had a frozen pipe that burst, you know that it can be not only highly inconvenient, but costly and time consuming to deal with the aftermath.
Cold winter temperatures bring added strain to your plumbing system. The potential for frozen pipes that may burst increases as temperatures fall to 20 degrees fahrenheit or below. You are probably aware of the precautions that can be taken to prevent frozen pipes, and have likely put these into practice already this winter.
If you forgot to winterize your plumbing system, or if your preventative measures didn’t work, you may have found yourself with frozen pipes. This is inconvenient by itself, simply because you will experience low or no water pressure at the faucet connected to the frozen section of pipe. This can certainly make it difficult to wash dishes, take a shower, or do your laundry, depending on what part of your home was affected.
Those issues will pale in comparison if one of your frozen pipes ends up bursting. You will probably not experience a lot of problems right away, other than what has been listed above. A leak will become evident when the ice in your pipes starts to thaw and the water starts moving again. Then your burst pipe becomes a leaking pipe, and you may not even realize it is leaking if it is not a part of your plumbing that is easily visible. In fact, your first realization of the extent of your problems may not come until you have water coming through your ceiling, or puddling under the wall of your garage.
Are you aware of what these types of damage might cause? Unless you have been through it before, or know someone who has, the answer is probably no.
A leaking water pipe may lose up to several hundred gallons of water per day – or even per hour depending on the size of the leak. Think about that for a minute and the effect that would have on your water bill!
If the leak is in a visible area of your home, you may notice it quickly. If so, call Fite Plumbing right away to start and repair and clean up process! If the leaking area of your plumbing system is inside your walls or ceiling, you may not notice it until significant structural damage has been done. This could end up being very expensive as well as time-consuming to clean up and repair/replace.
Another factor of a water leak is that, depending on the amount of damage, your home insurance premium may be affected. In fact, your insurance policy could even be canceled, leaving you without coverage entirely.
Obviously, the best way to avoid these is to prevent bursting frozen pipes before they happen. But if they do, act quickly! Fite Plumbing is available 24/7/365 with the highest quality service representatives to meet your emergency plumbing issues rapidly and efficiently so that you can get your home and plumbing back in working order as soon as possible.