CINCINNATI — The freezing temperatures not only affected roads, but inside homes as well. It’s the cause of many busted pipes over the past couple of days, leaving homeowners scrambling to clean up and fix.
Maintenance tech Luke Shelton and his colleague looked for plumbing supplies Tuesday at a local Ace Hardware store. They’ve been responding to calls ever since the unusually cold weather over the holiday weekend.
“We had a lot of pipes freeze over the cold spell we just had,” said Shelton. “So what we have to do is locate them and then get rid of the spot that’s affected, cut it out and then instead of using copper, we’re going to put PEX in the place of it.” PEX is a flexible, freeze-resistent pipe.
Shelton said the number of calls he’s answered is a testament to what can happen with extreme weather.
“I’ve done maintenance for about 15 years and this has definitely been one of the biggest spikes we’ve ever had,” he said, but added that frozen and cracked pipes can be expected when temperatures were as low as they were.
“What happens is it sits in your line and it gets really cold, it freezes, it expands, and then your pipe bust,” he said. “And then you’ve got a huge leak.”
It’s a hard lesson learned for many, but Shelton said a few simple steps next time can prevent another disaster.
“Instead of turning your water off all the way, just let it trickle,” he said. “That way it allows the water to keep moving so that way it doesn’t freeze.”
