Walking in a Winter Nightmare-land

How to handle burst pipes. 

By Emily Clark

Photos by Emily Clark

Utah is a Winter "Wonderland"

As the weather gets colder and more snow piles up on the mountains, and in the valleys, many of us start planning vacations: a week out of state with our families, skiing or snowboarding up the canyons, or on some sunny beach far far away. It all sounds very idyllic and ends up being just the rejuvenation we needed to get us through the long winter ahead. That’s what we think anyway, until we get home. 

           

Where’s The Beautiful Sight? I’m Not Happy Tonight

Smiling and relaxed we open our front doors to find many of our precious items gone for good and our house trashed. All our residual happy feelings from our trip fly right out the window when we realize we can’t even set our bags on the floor.

           

We walk over soggy carpet, past ruined couches, furniture and walls with paint peeling off base boards. Then step in water, an inch deep at first, slowly rising until it's ankle deep. The tile and wood floors will also have to be replaced. When we finally reach the culprit, we face plant into a sweaty palm, realizing that we could have prevented all this.

           

In The Living Room We Can Build a Snowman

Burst pipes happen in over a quarter million homes every year. One eighth of an inch crack in a copper or plastic pipe, can release over 250 gallons of water a day. If you’re gone for one week, or seven days, you could be returning to 1,750 gallons of water in your home. That would be like filling up your bathtub 25 times. And let’s just hope your leak isn't any bigger than an eighth an inch, because a burst pipe is generally much bigger than that.

And Pretend That He is Parson Plumber…

You could end up needing not only a plumber, but a contractor, carpet-layer, painter, electrician and to buy all new furniture. You may even have to move out.

For lack of a better description, burst pipes are a nightmare; a nightmare that could cost you thousands of dollars and weeks of headaches while everything is being repaired. As property managers they’re the last thing we want to deal with or want you to have to deal with. So, going proactive, we have prepared a list of things you can do to help prevent it.

Later On We’ll Conspire

•  Let warm water drip in your faucets. You don’t need a heavy stream, a small dribble will do the trick.
• Set your thermostat to no lower than 55 degrees.
•  If you have pipes near outside walls open up your cabinet doors so that the warmer inside air can reach them.
• If you haven’t already, disconnect garden hoses, and if practical use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside faucets.

These tips will work for you if you go out of town, but are also practical at night. Temperatures can drop even when you're home.

But what if your pipes are already frozen?

To Face Unafraid? Yeah Right.

• Call your property manager right away and report the issue. 
•  If you’ve turned on a faucet and nothing comes out, leave it on, (if you are going to remain in your home,) until the plumber arrives.
•  If it’s already burst, turn your water off at the main shut off valve in the house, (these are usually located underneath the sink, behind toilets and in the basement,) and once again, leave your faucets turned on.
•  If your pipes are frozen, but haven’t burst yet, you can try thawing them with a blow dryer. Start by warming the pipe close to the faucet and work your way toward the coldest section of the pipe.

As We Start Our House On Fire

Whatever you do, DON'T try and thaw your pipes with a blow torch, OR use electrical devices, such as blow dryers, near standing bodies of water.

           

Sleigh Bells Ring. Are You Listening?

Pay attention to your water bill and water pressure. If your bill goes up and your water pressure goes down—you may have a leak.

Here’s Hoping For a Winter Wonderland, Everyone.