Frozen pipes threaten to flood local homes

SANDERS COUNTY – The bitter cold left many members of the community in need of professional assistance this past week. Pipes were freezing left and right, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. Luckily, local handyman Bill Newman was ready to help.

Newman kept very busy making house calls throughout the negative degree days. In one day he had four customers with frozen pipes and two with broken water lines.

According to Newman, PVC pipes are one of the main sources of the problems people have been having with the cold weather.

“When [PVC] cracks, it shatters,” Newman said. “It is nice when it is put together right but it will not tolerate the cold at all.”

Newman said he sees many of the same customers from year to year because they do not address the problem.

Sometimes it is PVC pipes because of their incompatibility with extremely cold temperatures. But mostly Newman said people do not take the proper precautions when the temperature drops.

“People living in this part of the country should know better,” Newman said.

By doing simple things, according to Newman, one can usually save the water pipes from freezing. If the pipes do not freeze then they will not burst or cause water damage.

Letting the water run is an easy precaution everyone should take. Newman said keeping a trickle going will work a lot of the time because it is harder for moving water to freeze than stationary water.

Newman emphasized that both hot and cold water need to run at the same time because just running cold water will not help the hot water line and vice versa. Some people might think the hot water will not freeze because it is hot but that is not the case.

“Hot water actually freezes quicker than cold water because of the difference in molecules,” Newman said.

Letting the water run will prevent the pipes from freezing a lot of the time -- but not every time. According to Newman, if the temperature drops low enough and quickly enough, moving water will still freeze so other precautions need to be taken as well.

In addition to running the water, people should leave the cabinet doors open to further expose the pipes to warm air. Newman also recommends turning the heat in the house up high. Many people are weary of the extra cost to do this, but Newman believes the cost is worth it.

Heating the home well is beneficial, but it needs to be heated the right way and in the right areas in order for it to be effective.

“People will have either electric or propane heat with all the heating ducts in the floor. They will put a wood stove in to save the cost of the propane bill,” Newman said. “So when it gets cold like this the trailer might be nice and warm but the floor is ice cold as well as the pipelines.”

So no matter how warm the home might feel, the pipes could still be at risk of freezing. It is important to heat the area properly so that the heat reaches the pipelines.

Newman was certain the house calls would continue to flood in.

“I am sure I will have more, just hopefully not from the same customers,” he said.