Cold weather can bring burst pipes, water damage

The onset of winter can cause many problems for the unprepared. Among the most damaging issues to crop up when temperatures begin to drop is frozen pipes.

As water freezes, it expands, causing pipes -- metal or plastic -- to break. Once this happens, flooding water can seep into floors, ceilings, walls and more.

Patrick Koetting is the sales and marketing representative for ServiceMaster PCS in Cape Girardeau. He said the professional cleaning service keeps particularly busy this time of year dealing with water damage caused as a result of burst pipes.

From homes to businesses, Koetting has experienced a few "worst case scenarios."

"We had a pipe that was above the master bathroom on the second floor of a two-story home and the people were out of town for several days," he said. "[After it burst] it ran for several days, ruining the floors on the second floor, collapsing the ceiling on the first floor, soaking and saturating the walls to the point of almost collapsing. It ruined the hardwood floors on the main level and the basement had three feet of water in it."

Ice covers the front stairs and icicles hang from the roof outside a home on Pacific Street in Cape Girardeau in which a busted pipe flooded parts of the home. (Submitted photo by Patrick Koetting)

Fortunately, the homeowners had insurance that covered the damage, he said, and the house wasn't a total loss.

Koetting also recalled an incident that happened in January of last year, when a pipe burst in a physician's office. The water ran through two layers of drywall in the ceiling. The drop tiles absorbed the water at first, then began to fall.

"They had a sheet of ice going out the front door of the doctor's office," he said.

Frozen and burst pipes are a common occurrence in the winter, he said, but there are ways to prevent water lines from freezing. One of the simplest is to allow water to trickle from faucets overnight to keep it moving. Stagnant water will freeze.

For those with pipes running along exterior walls -- this is common in kitchens and bathrooms, Koetting said -- opening cabinet doors below the sink to allow for the circulation of warm air is the best move. Anyone planning to be away from the home for several days should leave the heat above 55 degrees or consider having the water shut off, he said.

For prevention purposes, it's also important to know the locations of any exposed pipes.

"Ideally, you want to find exposed pipes maybe that run through a garage or in the ceiling," he said. "Just put your hand inside the attic and see how cold it is in there."

He commonly sees pipes that have burst because of a lack of insulation between the pipes and the frigid outdoors.

Heat tape and heat lamps are options to consider, he said. Newspaper also can provide some degree of insulation and protection to exposed pipes. According to the American Red Cross, even one-fourth of an inch of newspaper "can provide significant protection in areas that usually do not have frequent or prolonged temperatures below freezing."

If a pipe does burst, Koetting said the first step should be to turn off the water, so be aware of the location of shut-off valves. The second step is to contact the insurance company. He also advises calling a remediation company, which can begin the drying and cleaning process and possibly save some items in the home.

"A lot of people immediately start ripping up their carpet," Koetting said. "But a well-trained remediation company can dry out the carpet if they get there on time. A lot of people want to do as many things as they can on their own, and that's understandable, but, invariably, they end up getting rid of things that could be saved."

srinehart@semissourian.com

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