Before below-freezing temperatures hit the Upstate, homeowner Sharon Mosteller said she took steps to protect her pipes. “This weekend I followed all the rules,” said Mosteller. “I let my water drip in all the faucets, I opened all my cabinets, I thought I was doing everything correct.”But on Christmas Eve, Mosteller said she came home from the store and discovered a pipe in her garage had ruptured. “Pulled back in my drive and thought I just saw some paper that shouldn’t have been there, and then I looked and water was just absolutely pouring, and my sheet rock was just hanging from the ceiling and, of course, kind of went into a panic,” said Mosteller. “I went into my house and it did go through into my hallway and was dripping from a light fixture.”Mosteller’s home is one of dozens of calls Young Plumbing Services has responded to in the past few days. “Something like this, it’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen it get this bad,” said Douglas Young, owner of Young Plumbing Services. The company said it received more than 150 calls on Monday alone. Young said responding to calls, they found many pipes were not insulated. “Most of the ones that we’re seeing are busted copper lines or busted CPVC lines,” said Young. “On those lines, there’s no resistance in them, and so when they swell from the ice being in them, they’ll split and do that rupture. All the ones that we’ve responded to they haven’t been insulated. None of them.”If people return home from the holidays and a pipe has ruptured, Young said the first thing they should do is shut off the water. If your pipes are frozen, he said to just let them thaw out and to not use a space heater to thaw it.
Before below-freezing temperatures hit the Upstate, homeowner Sharon Mosteller said she took steps to protect her pipes.
“This weekend I followed all the rules,” said Mosteller. “I let my water drip in all the faucets, I opened all my cabinets, I thought I was doing everything correct.”
But on Christmas Eve, Mosteller said she came home from the store and discovered a pipe in her garage had ruptured.
“Pulled back in my drive and thought I just saw some paper that shouldn’t have been there, and then I looked and water was just absolutely pouring, and my sheet rock was just hanging from the ceiling and, of course, kind of went into a panic,” said Mosteller. “I went into my house and it did go through into my hallway and was dripping from a light fixture.”
Mosteller’s home is one of dozens of calls Young Plumbing Services has responded to in the past few days.
“Something like this, it’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen it get this bad,” said Douglas Young, owner of Young Plumbing Services.
The company said it received more than 150 calls on Monday alone.
Young said responding to calls, they found many pipes were not insulated.
“Most of the ones that we’re seeing are busted copper lines or busted CPVC lines,” said Young. “On those lines, there’s no resistance in them, and so when they swell from the ice being in them, they’ll split and do that rupture. All the ones that we’ve responded to they haven’t been insulated. None of them.”
If people return home from the holidays and a pipe has ruptured, Young said the first thing they should do is shut off the water.
If your pipes are frozen, he said to just let them thaw out and to not use a space heater to thaw it.
