The dirty, damp puddles on the floor along with incessant gushing water – and the havoc that has entailed all across your house: of course, one of your pipes have burst.
No one likes to be in this situation, but just in case they are, they should know how to handle things from there to minimise further damage.
Pipes can break out because of direct damage to the material, or from gradual wear and tear along with various causes such as corrosion or clogging.
The question, however, stands tall for all of us. What do we do when one of our pipes has burst? This article will guide you through some to-dos that’ll help you navigate through such an ordeal.
Shutting off the mains
Your first course of action should be to locate the water supply mains, shut them off and prevent further leakage. Leave taps on to completely drain the pipes and relieve any remaining pressure and flush all the toilets. If the leak is too close to electricals in your home, shut off the electricity until the issue is resolved.
Repairing the pipe
After the initial damage control, proceed to the next step. Call our plumbers in Bolton to get the pipe repaired as soon as possible; it’s highly advisable to not try and fix it yourself. Describe the problem clearly on the call to minimise diagnosis and solution talk time. And remember regular maintenance also prevents a burst pipe, so schedule maintenance visits throughout the year to keep this problem at bay.
Getting the water out
Remove as much standing water as possible with a wet/dry vacuum, move wet items to a warm and dry place, and turn on the fan in the room if there is any (but only if you’re certain it wouldn’t pose an electrical hazard). Fast and complete cleanup will also prevent any mould and mildew growth. If you want to opt for professional help instead, however, find a water mitigation contractor near you.
Pressure control
Excess pressure that’s been built up due to water expansion or clogging can also cause your pipes to burst. Drain all the faucets and flush all your toilets multiple times to remove water. Doing so takes the pressure off the pipes and also ensures that they dry and no more water leaks out into your living space.
Turning up the heat in your thermostat
In colder countries, the most usual culprit is a physical phenomenon: the anomalous expansion of water which causes the pipes to burst as the water freezes and expands instantaneously.
Turning up the heat in your thermostat will not only dry out your rooms quicker but also unfreeze the ice that might’ve formed in your pipes, reducing the chances of another burst.
Enabling consistent air circulation will also help significantly so that’s also an option you should consider.
Using repair sleeves
Repair sleeves are simple equipment that can come in handy if getting a plumber is out of the question at the moment. You can use it to fix a pipe temporarily by ‘sleeving’ around the hole or breakage, keeping the water in. It is a temporary measure to let you have time to use water throughout your house to prevent excess spillage till the plumber arrives.
What shouldn’t escape thought is the fact that this is only a temporary measure and the problem may only be indefinitely fixed.
Rubber, wood piece, and clamp
Other ways to temporarily fix a burst pipe to give you time to control and contain the damage, involve the usage of rubber, wood and a clamp.
Place a piece of rubber on the affected area of the pipe, cover it with a wood block, and then clamp it all together. Doing so will hold the water back in the pipe for a short while for you to act out all the measures previously mentioned, starting foremost with shutting off the supply mains and making all the necessary arrangements just in case the makeshift clamp fails. This method isn’t as effective as the sleeve so only use it in cases of emergency when there is no better alternative available at your disposal.
Prevention and Caution
Once everything is cleaned up from a case of a burst pipe, the last thing you want is for it to happen again. Here are some easy steps to help prevent pipes from bursting:
- Frequent scheduled preventive maintenance with your plumber
- Seal any leaks around your home that may allow cold air to enter close to pipes.
- Pay particular attention to pipes in areas like basements, attics, crawl spaces and outside walls, looking out for rust or any other damage.
- If going away during the winter, ensure that your water mains is turned off and the heating is turned on to around 15°C a few hours each day.
- For longer periods away from home, consider draining your system entirely.
- Add pipe sleeves or heat tape to exposed pipes.
With all these measures and precautions in mind, every homeowner is fully equipped to take on their worst nightmare head-on and persevere.