Oh No! Frozen pipes in Eastchester homes & businesses ~ NY 10709

Freezing nights from President's Day weekend and a warm up causes flooded homes and businesses in Eastchester, NY 10709

Weather Channel's great graphic of arctic air pushing into our area this month...bundle up Tuckahoe.

With low, arctic temps, I am already calling 2016 "Bi-polar," as in the ARCTIC.   I'm offering some prevention tips below, but unfortunately we are in this chilly cycle.  That's with below freezing nights and even days with temperatures below 32 degrees.  

We actually broke a 100 year temp record last night.  Our National Weather Service reported temperatures in Central Park that fell to -1 Saturday into Sunday.  This cold wave has shattered a Valentine's Day record of 2 above, set in 1916.  Furthermore, it was the coldest morning since Jan. 19, 1994, when the low was -2 in Central Park. Indeed, it's the first time we've been below zero since that date.

So some business and homeowners may see a messy and often expensive issue from their thawing frozen pipes.  Forrest and I have our pipes insulated and have since LAST year's Siberian temps.  For one thing, it's our job and your favorite plumber's to help you, if your attic, bathroom or basement flood.  We need to help you clean up and not have a mess at our shop or homes.

Keeping your property's water pipes from freezing, and knowing

how to thaw them if they do freeze, can help as our COLD 2016 year begins:

Two frozen cars in a garage where the sprinkler system erupted then froze

 NOTE -  we have had overnights that were well below 32 degrees and now we'll warm up early this week and have a snow shower or two.  These highs and lows can stress out our water pipes in a home or business, even PVC pipes, that contract and expand when the mercury moves from cold to warm-ish and back to cold overnight.  Even sinks or sprinklers in exterior buildings like your garage can freeze.

Pipes can thaw and break, after days in a deep freeze and a slow warm up.  This type of water damage can be a cold nightmare, when any of our older or newer (even PVC) cannot take it anymore.

So, I have tips below to prevent this from happening in your Bronxville home or business!

First, frozen water can even melt and refreeze out of windows and doors, so take some precautions that I noted below, if you are going out of town the winter...or just snow-birding it to Florida....escaping this deep freeze.

PREVENTION:  

Here are more Red Cross suggestions and some of our tips on how to prevent water pipes in your home, business or properties, as far south as Florida.   We are national American Red Cross Partners.  

Along with our American Red Cross (ARC) partners, we want you to be prepared and informed, so you can avoid the issues and stress of frozen pipes -- that cause some to have to leave their home on a cold night.  

We are national and regional ARC partners for fundraising and blood drives. Often, we respond to flood, fire and water damaged homes and businesses throughout Westchester County and The Bronx, as ARC volunteers help fire and flood victims.

Do's & Don'ts in a Water Damage from frozen pipes

We want you to know how to prevent your home or business water pipes from freezing -- like our clients in banks, Chambers of commerce and homeowners all over Westchester.  You have to keep them from freezing -- during these bitter winter temps.  Also, we offer ideas on how to SLOWLY thaw them, too, below. 

1.  SAFETY FIRST:   If you have a flood, be sure to stay out of a basement that has rising water near your outlets, or a frozen pipe that thaws and drips on or near a breaker box (electric and water do not mix!).  Call in certified flood cleanup crews -- with staff members who are background checked and highly trained.  Not all cleanup companies are created equal.  

2.  Restoration is done after the freeze, when your water pipes warm up and start to thaw, then brake. This is a day that is above freezing or 32 degrees, after LOW overnight temperatures -- like we have had for days.

That's when you can have water everywhere in either your attic, an upstairs bathroom and down the stairs from a with a sink on an exterior wall, or in your finished basement.  

3.  Why Pipe Freezing is a Problem

Water has a unique property in that it expands as it freezes. This expansion puts tremendous pressure on whatever is containing it, including metal or plastic pipes. No matter the "strength" of a container, expanding water can cause pipes to break. Pipes that freeze most frequently are those that are exposed to severe cold, like outdoor hose bibs, swimming pool supply lines, water sprinkler lines, and water supply pipes in unheated interior areas like basements and crawl spaces, attics, garages, or kitchen cabinets.

** Pipes that run against exterior walls that have little or no insulation are also subject to freezing.

Preventing outdoor frozen pipes

Before days of freezing weather can impact your property's water pipes, the following recommendations can help prevent a top down flood from pipes bursting in your attic, or in a wet basement / lower level: 

• Remove, drain, and store hoses used outdoors. Close inside valves supplying outdoor hose bibs. Open the outside hose bibs to allow water to drain. 

• Keep the outside valve open so that any water remaining in the pipe can expand without causing the pipe to break.

• Check around your  home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas. Look in the basement, crawl space, attic, garage, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated.

• Consider installing specific products made to insulate water pipes like a "pipe sleeve" or installing UL-listed "heat tape," "heat cable," or similar materials on exposed water pipes.  These are the metal pipes above you in an unfinished basement, if they are not already wrapped in an insulating material, copper pipes here.

• If it's going down to the 20s or teens overnight, and you have no time to get to True Value on White Plains Road for insulating wrap (see photo above), here's an alternative.  Newspaper can provide some degree of insulation and protection to exposed pipes until you can get to a hardware store – even ¼” of newspaper can provide significant protection in areas that usually do not have frequent or prolonged temperatures below freezing.

   Wrap a paper around your pipes in an attic or basement and use duct or  

   masking tape to hold it on the pipes.

• Open the doors to your cabinets with pipes on any exterior wall, especially in bathrooms where the plumbing is on an outside wall and under a window.  

Take Preventative Action overnight!

• Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in your attached OR detached garage.

• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.

• On arctic overnights, you can leave a COLD WATER drip on upstairs, or at the furthest sink away from your main water source from the city/street or your well.  Don't use a hot water drip, as it's expensive and unnecessary, especially if you want a warm morning shower!  SLOW drip...drip...drip, to keep water moving vs. freezing in all of your pipes throughout your property.

Forrest and I hope you never need us for a flood, or have to get help from restoration folks. That's why I offer "Helpful Home Safety Tips from Hillary" -- like this one.  Think of this mess as a flood and make sure it's dry -- prevent mold in the future. 

Spring is on the way, Eastchester ~  so all our best from all of us at  Servpro of Scarsdale / Mount Vernon!

~ Forrest & Hillary Sheperd