What do Frigid Winters Bring? Frozen Split Pipes in Spring!

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Typically, after summer vacations are long gone, the school year begins. No break for anyone, swiftly followed by fall, the anticipation of the upcoming holiday season...before you know it, winter has arrived! Most of us don’t pay attention to the thermometer until the weather changes dramatically. The first ‘cold snap’ enters the scene, and before you know it, Mother Nature has cloaked the landscape with snow.

Wintry mixes continue…and truly it’s a beautiful thing no doubt to look at the white carpet covering our backyards. neighborhoods and mountains. The trees glisten when the bright sun reflects on the precipitation that has transformed the bare naked trees into ice sculptures, and a glance outside your home might indeed find long icicles suspended from the gutters and trim of your home. Beautiful, you may think? Well, yes…BUT…

While we are all busy observing the winter wonderland and running the course of our lives, we often don’t stop to realize how the winter months can affect our plumbing in climates where temperatures drop below freezing in winter months. The majority of us have not custom built our homes and therefore upon purchase of our residences we’re not necessarily savvy enough to think of checking exactly how the domestic piping has been installed. Until such times comes as we experience what we in the industry affectionately call a “freeze up”. (No, not the type that prevents your computer from working, but rather a plumbing “freeze up” where the water circulating through piping actually freezes in the process of traveling from the origination source to the end source, your faucet.

And, how would you know that? Well, in many cases you wouldn’t. Here’s a scenario that we’ve experienced thousands of times over many, many years with many of our clients. Because we've serviced thousands of homes in northern and north central New Jersey since 1928, we've got lots of experience in this area...and we’d like to share our expertise with you.

It’s a cold winter night and you attempt to draw some water from your kitchen, laundry room or bathroom.
What?! No Water? How can that be?

So, you look for the shutoff valve, if indeed one is installed on the water line to that faucet, and confirm that it is not closed. You find that the shutoff valve is in the open position, yet still, there is no water! Tracing the line, assuming you can figure out how it was run albeit behind closed walls, or with the help of an expert plumbing professional, you follow the line down towards the main water supply in the basement and determine that this line is run through an outside wall. Aha! So, that explains it, right? To bring a swift resolution to your confusion, yes, the water line was run through an outside wall as it was likely the most direct way to reach the fixture, but there is a strong possibility that the line was not adequately insulated. When wind or frigid cold weather prevails, the water in the line can freeze. As the winter months progress, perhaps on a warmer day, or when we reach spring and more moderate temperatures, the water in the pipe thaws. Often during this process it expands…and therein lies the problem. You might not know it, but often the pressure inside the pipe may build up and the fact that the faucet at the other end of the pipe is “closed”, the result could in fact be that somewhere en route to the faucet, the pipe will split or burst resulting in water leaking from the line at the break…often inside the wall. You may a rushing sound of water near the meter or perhaps inside the wall, and still won’t be able to draw any water to your faucet.

How do you prevent this? Glad you asked!

· When the temperature drops to temperatures below freezing it is advisable that you “open” a faucet that may be in a poorly heated area, one that is exposed to drafts, or when water lines have been run through an outside wall and insulation is questionable. Allow a very small stream of water flow to continue until risk of freezing no longer exists.

· Consider installing armaflex insulation or thermal heat wrap on pipes that may be subject to freezing

· Be certain to have your plumbing professional ‘winterize’ any outdoor piping to hose faucets, spas, pool cabanas, sprinkler systems, and don’t forget to plug in a heater for the fish in your pond, if you have one.

Ask your Licensed Master Plumber about these solutions!

Do not fear….spring follows winter each and every year!

Stay Warm!

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