As I write this we are beginning the recovery of another frozen house. This is what we call a house that has lost heat and has frozen and broken water pipes and hot water heat lines. This has been a record year for calls regarding homes that have lost heat which has resulted in frozen pipes breaking and causing damage in the home.
The most recent call we received was from a Minneapolis homeowner who was out of town and had a hot water pipe freeze and break which resulted in water shooting over to the boiler and causing the pilot lite to go out. With no heat the house proceeded to get colder to the point of freezing the plumbing and heating pipes. This resulted in broken baseboard heat along with broken piping for both the heating lines and plumbing lines.
The actions taken by another plumbing contractor before we were called has prompted me to write about what to do and more importantly, what not to do. The actions you take at this point could dramatically affect the cost and length of the rehabilitation.
DO NOT TURN ON THE HEAT!!!
The house we are doing now and a number of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota area homes we have done in the past were started by a plumbing contractor who thought the first thing to do is warm up the house so they could work on it. This is the worst thing you can do. The damage will increase greatly by doing this. Experienced plumbers know that it will be cold and uncomfortable for a day or two while radiators and toilets are hauled out and water is turned off.
No more damage will be done to your house once it is frozen solid. While it tempting to get warm, don’t do it.
Minneapolis Saint Paul Plumbing Heating Air has been helping homeowners with frozen homes for almost 100 years. Nobody has more experience then us. Call us or contact us online if you have any questions.