Donnie Meyer of Meyers Plumbing is used to repairing frozen pipes during cold spells like the one Sedalians are suffering through this week. After 43 years of plumbing and fixing the damage cold weather can cause, Meyer has first-hand knowledge of how to avoid this expensive damage.
“Usually, the crawl spaces around the house aren't sealed up tight enough to keep the cold air from blowing underneath,” he said. “The key to keeping your pipes from freezing is you have to make sure that the crawl space is sealed up tight and there's no cold air wind blowing underneath.”
It isn’t only the cold, but strong winds can invade the unheated area under your home through even the smallest crack in the foundation. Sealing those holes is the greatest step any homeowner can take toward avoiding busted water pipes. It isn’t always the first week of bitter cold that takes the biggest toll as homes retain some residual heat that protects them from freezing, Meyer said: “The longer it stays cold the colder it gets in there. We're probably looking at the latter part of the week or even the next week. The first week it’s cold, that's all right. Now that we're running into the second week it's cold, but it's already getting colder underneath the house so that's when things are going to start freezing up.”
Meyer warns against using space heaters under the house as they may become a fire hazard. “No, no, no, no, no! Do not do that!” he advised. “The best way is if you've got furnace ducts or something running underneath it may be possibly to take one of them apart and let that warm air blow underneath.”
Anyone who has left a bottle of liquid in the freezer only to find it broken has witnessed the force ice creates as it expands when freezing. This expansion will swell copper pipes and eventually burst them.
“It will expand the longer pipe stays frozen,” Meyer explained. “The ice gets harder and it expands more and more and that's when it usually splits the pipes open.”
Newer construction has moved from copper pipe to PEX tubing, a cross-linked polyethylene pipe. This flexible piping has replaced copper and galvanized steel in new construction and remodels, but many of Sedalia’s historic have yet to be upgraded.
While PEX is great at preventing ruptured pipes and the ensuing water damage, Meyer warns some PEX is better than others. Meyer recommends using a licensed plumber that knows each type’s limitations and uses.
If your pipes do freeze, you will quickly find yourself without water, flushing toilets, and clean laundry. Your options are waiting for Spring or renting a forced air heater, which Meyer calls salamanders, to blow heat under your home from outside.
“Sometimes the only thing you're going to be able to do is get some heat underneath, especially in these old houses,” he added.
There isn’t much a plumber can do until the pipes are thawed, which can take many hours, and if your pipes are frozen it’s a possibility that others in town are experiencing the same issues, making you wait on plumbers available to help.
“We're already busy working and I don't know how to say this, but when it gets this cold sometimes it's not worth fixing because your pipes are going to freeze right back unless you seal up the crawl space,” Meyer said.
It may be helpful to leave an inside tap running a small stream of water to keep under house pipes flowing, although Meyer cautioned that it’ll increase your water bill.
What about keeping outside faucets dripping?
“You don't want to do that because you're going to have the water dump it out on the ground outside and then it's going to freeze,” Meyer said. “You are better off just to do it inside the house.”
