As a homeowner in Hamilton, you know that keeping up with your home’s maintenance and repairs needs to be a top priority. Sometimes though, even when we do our best to keep up with regular maintenance, a problem such as a burst pipe can arise. But taking quick action will help you to minimize any damage.
Here is what you need to do if a pipe bursts in your Hamilton home.
Understand why it happened
Knowing why a pipe burst will not undo what happened, but it can help to prevent it from happening in the future. Some of the most common causes of pipes bursting are corrosion (rusty pipes), clogs in the pipes or even frozen pipes. If you can identify why your pipe burst, you may be able to locate areas in your home that are also vulnerable, and you can take appropriate preventative action.
Turn off the water valves
Do you know where the main shut-off for the water to your house is? If not, now is a great time to learn. This will be extremely important if you need to turn off the water quickly due to a burst pipe. Take the time to locate the water shut-off before you need it.
Find the broken pipe
Now that you have shut off the water, you will need to determine the location of the burst pipe. This could be a pipe that is behind finished drywall, or it could be exposed in the basement of your home.
If the broken pipe is exposed, it will be easier to identify and less work to deal with to deal with. However, if it’s behind drywall, you will likely need to cut out a space to work and fix the pipe. Furthermore, you’ll have to repair the areas where there is water damage.
Open the doors and windows
Keeping the doors and windows open can help increase airflow, which will help dry out the pipes (as long as there isn’t any water running.)
Further, if the cause of the pipe bursting is a frozen pipe, you can use a hairdryer to slowly heat the area, but if the temperatures are too low, then making sudden changes can make the situation worse. This step will very much depend on the cause of the burst pipe and the weather conditions in Hamilton when it happens.
Get a pipe repair sleeve
A repair sleeve is a piece of equipment that decreases the amount of water leaking from a burst pipe so that you can keep the water to your home on and running. Using one of these means you can continue with everyday tasks – like washing your hands and flushing the toilet – but not run the risk of water pouring into your home from a leaking pipe.
Now the downside to this is that it is not a permanent solution, so you do need to reach out to a professional plumber to have the pipe fixed. In the meantime, the sleeve will stop water from leaking out where it shouldn’t. Once the plumber comes to assess the leaking or burst pipe, they will remove the sleeve and fix the issue.
Contact Wentworth Plumbing today
Have you experienced a burst pipe in your Hamilton home? If so, it’s important to have it professionally fixed as soon as possible. Contact us today to arrange the repair.