Burst Pipes
Dangers of Burst Pipe Water Damage
Burst pipes are a nightmare for any homeowner. A busted pipe can cause untold water damage in a relatively short time. Additionally, if your insurance policy doesn’t fully cover the damage, you will have a significant dent in your wallet.
So why do pipes burst, how can you prevent this from happening, and what damage would you be looking at after a pipe burst?
Why Do Pipes Burst?
There are several reasons why pipes burst. Some of the more common ones include the following:
Freezing
In winter months, water can cool down, reach 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and slowly start to freeze. This can go unnoticed as you can still have water flowing through your taps, albeit much slower.
If water freezes at centralized parts of a pipe, it causes pressure to build up. This can lead to a burst pipe. However, this is likely to happen in sprinkler lines and unheated crawl spaces.
Tree Roots
Roots growing in compacted soils in your yard can put pressure on your pipes, leading to cracking and leaking. Also, tree roots are attracted to underground water and sewer lines.
Once they invade a pipe, they keep growing and applying pressure from the inside. If not remedied, this can go on till the pipes burst.
Corrosion, Rust, and Old Age
Constant exposure to water and other elements puts metal pipes at risk of corrosion. Over time, metallic pipes age and develop rust, weakening their joints, seals, and pipe walls.
This can eat away at the pipe, causing small cracks and fissures. Corrosion, rust, and old age can also lead to rupture.
Struggling with water damage from a busted pipe? Call us today and let our experts restore it for you!
Clogs
Pipes function optimally when clear so that water flows through them undisrupted.
When pipes become clogged, the pressure inside the pipes builds up significantly. This pressure can cause cracks and burst the pipe.
High Water Pressure
Different pipes’ material, thickness, and diameter make them able to withstand a particular maximum water pressure.
While pressure is a good thing, especially in the shower, excessive pressure stresses your water pipes, which can cause them to burst. Before you suffer from a busted pipe, listen out for hammer noises that sound like banging from inside the pipes. If you can detect this, call your plumber immediately.
Poor Installation
Human errors made during plumbing installation can cause your pipes to burst. Seemingly minor oversights like loose connections or using cheaper substandard pipes can leave you with a pipe burst.
What Damage Can Occur After Your Pipes Burst?
There is a good reason why the mention of a burst pipe makes homeowners cringe. Depending on the pressure of the flow, a burst pipe can severely damage your house in a matter of minutes.
Worse, some pipes are concealed in the walls, meaning it can take weeks or even months to detect a leak.
Some of the damage you can get after a pipe burst includes:
Structural damage – This is damage to your floors and walls. It’s especially disastrous if you have wooden floors, as too much water can cause them to warp or damage them as water seeps in.
Water that leaks and becomes trapped in the walls damages the drywall and even the insulation, often necessitating a replacement.
Mold formation – Slow leaks that are hard to detect and produce wet spots in your house, which create the perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow and reproduce. While these are unsightly, aesthetics should be the least of your worries. Mold and mildew negatively alter the air quality in your house and are known to cause a host of respiratory health issues.
Damaged possessions – A burst pipe will send water into your home, and anything that’s in the way of the water gets soaked. So think about your seats, beds, carpets, electronics appliances, documents, and so on.
If you have experienced a burst pipe, call us for a water damage restoration service right away!
Busted Pipe Water Cleanup
Knowing what to do if a pipe bursts can help minimize the damage before it gets out of hand.
So start by turning off the water from your home’s main inlet. This should be under the sink or where the service pipe enters your property.
Next, turn your electronics and water heating systems off.
Finally, call us for a professional assessment and restoration services. You will immediately be connected with one of our local restoration partners who will handle the mess quickly, diligently, and affordably and restore your home to what it was before the water damage.
It’s not just burst pipes. Our experts can also help anyone struggling with basement water damage, appliance leaks, sewage cleanup, roofing leaks, crawl space leaks, and other types of water damage.
They handle water damage through tried and tested water removal and structural drying techniques. Besides residential and commercial water damage restoration, they also specialize in:
- Mold remediation
- Storm and flood damage
- Fire damage