Burst Pipes

6/1/2017 (Permalink)

Frozen or burst pipes can cause serious water damage,

When old man winter starts doing his worst, it wreaks havoc on your home. Plunging temperatures put your pipes at risk of freezing. Burst pipes cause problematic water damage requiring remediation, not to mention the risk for mold as well. As water freezes it expands putting pressure on metal and other pipes. The continuous expanding and contracting eventually weakens the integrity of your pipes, turning them into ticking time bombs. Expanding water can cause pipes to break, leaving you with a big, wet, cold, mess.

So How Do You Prevent Burst Pipes?

Ice forming in a pipe is not what causes it to break. It’s the continual freezing and expansion that causes water pressure to increase downstream, between the ice blockage and the closed faucet at the end. It’s this increase in water pressure that leads to pipe failure. Usually, the pipe will burst where little or no ice has formed.

Pipes that freeze most frequently are those that are exposed to severe cold; like outdoor hose bibs, swimming pool supply lines, water sprinkler lines, and water supply pipes in unheated interior areas like basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, or kitchen cabinets. Pipes that run against exterior walls—with little or no insulation—are also subject to freezing.

So, what should you do? Keep the water running at a trickle to keep water from settling, open cabinets, and draw heat to pipes against exterior walls and places like your basement.

If you should find yourself faced with a pipe break situation, contact your insurance company, then call us. We have 24 hour emergency services available, and will do our very best to bring your home back to its preloss condition as soon as possible.

Call SERVPRO of Southwest Brooklyn at (718) 831-6294