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
Watch before you buy your next water pressure booster
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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.
Do You Suffer from Busted or Leaking Pipes In Schaumburg, Illinois? Call (847) 624-3872
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
