Plumbers warn homeowners to prevent frozen pipes

You don't want to spend your Christmas without running water but many folks in central Arkansas might be doing just that if they don't keep their pipes from bursting. Once frozen pipes start to thaw out Tuesday, plumbers predict they'll be inundated with calls. We all want to hear the sweet sound of running water when we turn on the faucet Tuesday. There are several precautions you can take to make sure it's smooth sailing despite the freezing temperatures.

There's no time to slow down around the Kirtley house. The ladies are at work cooking treats for Christmas and they need water to get the job done. So what if a pipe bursts?

"It would ruin us here," said George Kirtley. Kirtley says freezing temperatures caused him pipe problems before. "Those pipes froze in the attic and that water come down and just ruins your ceiling and carpet and things," he said.

That happened in his old house. When he built his new one he made sure heat vents and the furnace were next to his pipes in the crawlspace so freezing isn't an issue. But not everyone is that prepared.

Plumber Paul Jamerson with Russell & LeMay Plumbing remembers one cold snap a few years ago. "We were working from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 at night and this went on for about two weeks," he said. He says the best thing to do if you have time on your side is to get something called heat tape. "It wraps around the pipe and it goes to a plug in. Temperature gets to a certain degree and it kicks this thermostat on and makes this coil heat up," Jamerson told us.

Whether you have that or not you still need to wrap your pipes. There are a lot of choices but Jamerson likes fiberglass insulation. If you don't have time to wrap your pipes you have to go to the old standby. Leave the water trickling in your sink and open the cabinet doors under your sink so the warm air gets to those pipes. And you can go around your house and make sure the louvers, those metal vents to your crawlspace or basement, are closed.

Mr. Jamerson says 80 percent of the pipes that freeze, end up bursting. A little effort now could save you a ton of dough later.

"It's not that expensive and it needs to be done rather than go to the big expense of replacing all of it," says Mr. Kirtley. 

You also want to take time to reacquaint yourself with the water shut off valve in your house. That way if your pipes do end up bursting you can at least keep your house from flooding.