As the temperature drops, it could end up costing you money. That's why area plumbers are reminding home owners to protect their pipes from the winter weather.
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As the temperature drops, it could end up costing you money. That's why area plumbers are reminding home owners to protect their pipes from the winter weather.
Plumbers say home owners are more likely to find frozen pipes when the temperature drops into the single digits and remains cold. They say if not treated soon enough it could lead to some major damage. With temperatures below freezing, Louis Cotton knew something was wrong when his pipes started leaking, but he wasn't sure where to turn when his water problem started to freeze.
"We were terrified, we didn't know at what time it's going to burst with the freezing water we could see it from the outside and it was already leaking inside so we knew the water froze under the house," said area resident Louis Cotton Sr.
But before the a bad situation got worse Louis turned up the furnace up to help warm the pipes and called a service technician for the leak repair.
Brent Buning from Precision Plumbing and Heating was on the job and he says calls like this are not unusual but many times homeowners wait until it's too late.
"Usually you get a panicked phone call that says I've got water flying in my basement or crawl space please help me," said Buning.
He says if your pipes do happen to burst shut off the water valve and call the plumber. But before the frozen pipes end up costing you hundreds in repairs, he says the first thing they recommend to prevent it is to look for leaks.
"Walk around the house look at where your hose bids are make sure they're not dripping," said Buning.
He says that's important when you have exposed pipes, but many homeowners also have pipes inside of the walls. In that case to prevent freezing he says leave the water running. "If you're at home run it on the cool side just run it at not quite a stream of a pencil because the moving water won't freeze," said Buning.
Plus if you're away for a few days make sure you keep tabs on your home temperature. And he says what Louis did was right, keep your pipes warm by warming your home.
For more tips information log on to www.precisiontc.com
