Plumbers working overtime to repair busted pipes

Manager Josh Frederick said the bushes were covered in ice as he worked. He had to call 5 plumbers to find a company to open immediately.

NEW ORLEANS – Plumbers in the New Orleans area have been busy this week and are struggling to keep up with the number of pipe repairs due to the cold weather.

At Cort Furniture Rental in Jefferson on Wednesday, a valve failure sprayed water all over the sidewalk and landscaping.

District chief Josh Frederick said the bushes were covered in ice as he worked. He said he had to call five plumbers to find a company to open immediately.

“We are not built for that. Old pipes, old valves, that’s not what they’re made for, ”said Frederick.

William Hohensee of MudBug Plumbing arrived a few hours later to fix the problem. He spent the morning crawling under houses doing repairs on broken pipes. There are dozens of breaks throughout New Orleans.

“Normally we can get by, but when it gets so cold and stays cold, you get the problems,” said Hohensee.

“You have your normal workload and then you know people are calling and there just aren’t enough plumbing companies to reach everyone, you know?”

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He says most homeowners with breaks have not followed the old advice of running a thin stream of water through the faucet farthest from the street.

“You don’t want to run too much water because then you have a big flood bill. It just has to be a little bit to keep it moving and it definitely has to be the furthest away from what would normally be a faucet outside, a hose tap outside. And you want to clamp off all of your hoses, ”said Hohensee.

Other companies we spoke to said they were busy fixing similar issues across the city, in both residential and commercial areas.

However, getting the water flowing properly again can be costly. Cort Furniture only needed one part.

“A thousand dollars later we’re up and running,” said Frederick.

If your water runs out, consider turning off the water to your house and calling a plumber.

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