Preventing Frozen Pipes
Winter has stormed into Elgin and most of Illinois, bringing snow, ice and plummeting temperatures that can wreak havoc on plumbing.
A ruptured water line can cause extensive, costly damage and disrupt your life or business. Worse, floodwater can pose numerous safety and health risks, ranging from electric shock to illness from waterborne pathogens or even toxic mold.
With your family or business on the line, you want to do everything you can to prevent water from freezing inside your plumbing. But if you do think a pipe is frozen, don’t panic; frozen pipes don’t always rupture, and there are steps you can take to prevent pipes from bursting and safely thaw them.
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A frozen pipe will not necessarily burst if the faucet valve is open to release pressure moving down the pipe.
Start with prevention
We’ll go into tips for thawing pipes below, but let’s start with steps you can take right now to reduce the risk of frozen pipes. Make sure you winterize your property outdoors, draining pools and irrigation systems and hoses, insulating and covering outdoor faucets and securing doors and windows in garages and outbuildings with water supplies. Also, be sure to follow these tips from the American Red Cross:
• Check around the home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas. Look in the basement, crawl space, attic, garage, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated.
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.
• When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe, even at a trickle, helps prevent pipes from freezing.
• Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.
• If you will be going away during cold weather, leave the heat on in your home, set to a temperature no lower than 55° F.
Source: American Red Cross
Picturesque winter weather brings the risk of frozen, ruptured pipes and costly water damage.
If pipes freeze, don’t panic, do this:
If you wake up one morning and the water won’t come on in your kitchen, don’t panic. While horrifying visions of water filling crawl spaces and mold spores sprouting may be unavoidable, a frozen pipe will not necessarily burst if the faucet valve is open to release pressure moving down the pipe. Take a deep breath, then follow these American Red Cross tips to safely thaw your pipe:
• If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, suspect a frozen pipe. Likely places for frozen pipes include against exterior walls or where your water service enters your home through the foundation.
• Keep the faucet open. As you treat the frozen pipe and the frozen area begins to melt, water will begin to flow through the frozen area. Running water through the pipe will help melt ice in the pipe.
• Apply heat to the section of pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer, a portable space heater (kept away from flammable materials), or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water. Do not use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove, or other open flame device.
• Apply heat until full water pressure is restored. If you are unable to locate the frozen area, if the frozen area is not accessible, or if you can not thaw the pipe, call a licensed plumber.
• Check all other faucets in your home to find out if you have additional frozen pipes. If one pipe freezes, others may freeze, too.
These tips should help minimize the risk plumbing ruptures from frozen pipes. But sometimes nature simply shoves aside our best efforts and the worst happens. If you find yourself facing a water damage catastrophe from frozen, ruptured pipes, Call Fox Valley Plumbing & Backflow any day of the week. You’ll talk to a real person, and professional help will be on the way.
Looking For A Quality Plumber In Elgin, Illinois To Repair Your Frozen Pipes? Call (847) 624-3872
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A plumbing emergency can happen at any time.
Plan Beforehand to Avoid a Plumbing Disaster
Do your research and find out the most reputable, trained and reliable plumbing company in your area. Once you find the right plumbing company, you will have a peace of mind knowing who to call when you have a plumbing emergency.
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Talk to a Plumber not a Machine
When you call a plumber to schedule an appointment, you need to consider how the call is answered. Is your call received by an answering machine? Or, is there a person replying on the other end of the call?
After all, it is essential to get your call answered by a person during a plumbing emergency.
Avoid Over-The-Phone Plumbing Estimates
A plumber should offer the exact estimate only after assessing the plumbing problem. A plumber cannot properly analyze it over the phone. If you get an estimate over-the-phone, it is only the base price which can significantly increase after a plumber diagnosis the problem.
Go Through Online Reviews
There are many review sites available online where you get to read the real and authentic reviews written by people who have already opted for an emergency plumbing service.
Verify the Background of the Plumbing Agency
It is essential to know whether the plumbing agency conducts any background checking and drug testing before hiring their plumbers.
You will have the peace of mind knowing the plumber you allow in your home has been through all necessary precautions.
Looking For An Emergency Plumber In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872
It is true that dealing with broken or leaking pipes at home is not something that occurs everyday.
In fact, a homeowner may face such plumbing problems once or twice in a decade. Suffering from plumbing problems is a serious headache for the homeowners in Schaumburg, Illinois, especially during the winter season.
Irrespective of the causes and time of busting or leaking pipes, it is quite obvious that most of the homeowners will find themselves in a state of stress and panic as soon as they come to know about the broken pipes.
There can be various reasons behind such plumbing problem and several steps should be followed to come out from those problems.
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If you ever find yourself in such a situation, what you need to do to come out from the problem?
Signs of Busted Water Line or Leaking Pipes
Facing plumbing problems is quite common in Schaumburg, Illinois. You avoid the stress and tension of severe problems if you can find the early signs of leaking or busted pipes.
The first and foremost thing you should do is to observe the presence of any stream of water appearing through the foundation wall or on any other place in the property.
Once you find the water leaking source or fail to locate the source, you should call professional plumbing service for leaking pipe repair near Schaumburg, Illinois to make sure about the source of water leakage.
Another sign of leaking or busted pipes is the rumbling or hissing sound producing from the main point of where the pipe gets inside the house. This sound should be heard only when water is being used. Such hissing sound is a strong sign that water inside the pipe is leaking out at some place in-between the house or on the main roadway.
Experiencing the sudden loss of water pressure is also another common indication of busted pipes. Although not every water leak is necessarily linked up with the loss of water pressure, you should investigate the problem by a licensed plumber.
Do You Suffer from Busted or Leaking Pipes In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872
How to Fix the Broken Water Line or Leaking Pipe
Once you are sure enough that a problem is occurring with your household pipelines, it is time to repair the problem as soon as possible so that it cannot become a serious one.
Apart from small leaks in the pipeline that you can fix with simple plumbing materials, it is always suggested to contact a professional plumbing service in your locality.
Facts to Consider for Fixing the Leaking Pipes
When you consider hiring plumbers for leaking pipe repair near Schaumburg Illinois, you must think about a few things. Some most important facts to consider for fixing the water line leak are the age of the pipe, its material and whether it has already undergone through any repair previously.
Unless the plumber finds the problem severe, you should not go forward to repair the water main. Sometimes fixing the problem with simple steps can also lead to a leak again in the water line. In that case, you may have to invest again in the future which can increase your repairing cost. Hence, it is better to replace the entire pipeline if the plumber thinks it wise.
Do You Suffer from Busted or Leaking Pipes In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872
Kane County Residents
Fox Valley Plumbing & Backflow Plumbing Services is a full-service plumbing company in Elgin, Illinois. Our professional plumbers are available 24/7 for emergency service.
We carry a variety of top-shelf plumbing brands including Zoeller, Bradford White, Navien, and many others. We can also assist with plumbing installations, repairs, remodeling/renovation, and industrial & commercial plumbing services.
If you need help with plumbing repair in your Algonquin, Illinois business or residence, you will want to make certain you choose a top-rated plumber. Bad news, so many people out there call themselves plumbers but couldn’t begin to spell “quality work”. They are messy, uncourteous, or in the worst cases outright felons.
Locating a good plumber in Algonquin, Illinois doesn’t have to be difficult. Use these 4 simple guidelines to ensure that the plumbing repair company you hire for your next repair is professional, does awesome work, and gets the task completed in a timely manner.
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Do They Give You A Well Written Estimate?
More bad news, we don’t live in the times where a handshake and a person’s word is something we can depend on.
A professional plumber will arrive at your residence or business first, take a look at the problem and give you a well-written, easy-to-understand estimate. When consumers have a tangible estimate in writing, it’s something they can hold to.
Well-written estimates should be completely transparent. They should include the work needed for the plumbing repair, the estimate for each task, and an approximate timeline, especially if the issue is major.
Take time to interview plumbing contractors as they walk around to review the plumbing job. If they give you a good feeling about them in person, that’s very important.
Do They Have a Lot of Experience Servicing Algonquin, Illinois, Or Its Surrounding Areas?
You want to make sure that the plumbing professional you hire has plenty of experience with residents and businesses alike in and around the Algonquin, Illinois area.
The worst thing that can happen is that a fly-by-night contractor comes in after a major disaster, does a poor job, and vanishes.
We cannot stress this enough. When you hire a plumber, be certain they have a substantial amount of experience doing plumbing repair in your local area. They should be well known and have a long-term physical location in or close to the Algonquin, Illinois area.
Different geographical areas have their own specific problem problems due to weather, design, and other geographical differences.
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Do They Have a Good Reputation?
In a service business, reputation is critical. As you’re considering quality plumbers in or around the Algonquin, Illinois area are sure to get recommendations from peers and family in your local area. You can get references from specific plumbers with whom they’ve worked. Call their previous clients and make sure they had a terrific experience.
You can also find out about a company’s reputation online. Don’t put too much emphasis on one review, but if they have a lot of negative comments from different people, that’s surely a no-no!
Do They Have the Right Qualifications?
Everyone loves their family and friends, but when you need quality plumbing repair in or around Algonquin, Illinois it’s important not to call on your family or friends to do the job. Find individuals who have the appropriate qualifications and don’t be scared to call the agencies to make sure the licenses are still valid.
To verify a plumber in Algonquin, Illinois, you can use the Illinois Contractor License Directory website. A fast and easy search will save you hours in frustration and thousands of dollars in plumbing repair costs.
Finding a quality plumber in or around the Algonquin, Illinois area doesn’t have to be a stomachache or take all day. Just use these four simple guidelines: a well-written transparent estimate, local experience, a good reputation, and updated credentials to find the right plumber. When a plumbing repair company has all four in line, you’re much more likely to have a quality experience.
If you’re looking for a plumber in or around Algonquin, Illinois, you can check us out on HomeAdvisor, Yelp or Google to see what others are saying and then give us a call.
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