EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – With temperatures hovering near the teens this weekend, cranking the heat up in your home might be a good idea to avoid a serious problem…frozen pipes.
“Normally we start seeing them at about 20 degrees,” said Frook Plumbing & Mechanical Owner Dave Frook.
Frook says when gusty winds blow and temperatures drop drastically, that’s when pipes are more likely to freeze.
“This is probably number 8 or so for me for the weekend because of the cold weather,” Frook stated.
One of the homes Frook showed 6 News…the homeowners were out of town, shut off the heat and their water in the toilet bowel completely froze.
Frook says there are ways to prevent something like this from happening in your house.
“Keep your heat on if we keep water running in the water lines, it’s a lot harder for them to freeze…it’s got to be more than a drip, it’s got to be like a steady, small stream,” Frook said.
But if the frigid temps already got to your pipes, plumbing expert Rich Colby says add heat to it.
“They do have electric clamps that you can put on your pipes and plug into the wall and it will unthaw them,” Colby said, President of A-OK Mechanical.
And if that doesn’t work, Frook says simply leave it to the experts.
“I always recommend calling a professional, a licensed professional,” Frook added.
It’s not uncommon for pipes to freeze during the winter months but taking the extra steps to keep it from happening, could help you avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for new pipes.
