Frozen pipes lead many homeowners to deal with flooded homes. Jake Buckingham was working from home on Tuesday when he heard a loud noise. “I knew that couldn’t be a good thing and then I saw the water come down the ceiling and the air conditioner come down in my bedroom,” Buckingham said. It came from a broken frozen pipe. “I was just running around trying to unplug it and not get electrocuted. That was scary,” Buckingham said. He is not alone in his ordeal. “We saw a lot of pipes frozen with hose valves and people forgot to take their hoses off,” said Dan Fay. Fay has been a plumber for decades – he’s seen many pipes fail in freezing temperatures year round. “If the area where the water can’t expand when it freezes, that place will split up and that would relieve the pressure,” Fay said. Fay said that when it heats up, the pipes burst because the ice starts moving, but it has nowhere to go – like a cork in a bottle. His advice to homeowners is to think beyond the plumbing work. “If you’re really just making sure your siding is patched up, you have adequate exterior insulation on the siding,” said Fay.
OMAHA, Neb .–
Frozen pipes lead many homeowners to deal with flooded homes.
Jake Buckingham was working from home on Tuesday when he heard a loud noise.
“I knew that couldn’t be a good thing and then I saw the water come down the ceiling, the air conditioner in my bedroom,” said Buckingham.
It came from a broken frozen pipe.
“I was just running around trying to unplug it and not get electrocuted. That was scary,” Buckingham said.
He is not alone in his ordeal.
“We saw a lot of pipes frozen with hose valves and people forgot to take their hoses off,” said Dan Fay.
Fay has been a plumber for decades – he’s seen many pipes fail in the freezing temperatures this year.
“If the area where the water can’t expand when it freezes, that place will split up and that would relieve the pressure,” Fay said.
Fay said that when it heats up, pipes burst because the ice starts moving, but it has nowhere to go – like a cork in a bottle. His advice to homeowners is to think beyond the plumbing work.
“If you’re really just making sure your siding is patched up, you have proper outside insulation for the siding,” said Fay.
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