Local

Experts warn of frozen pipes, tell you how to prevent them

PITTSBURGH — With temperatures recently plummeting to dangerous lows, plumbing companies are fielding call after call.

Waking up without water in a freezing cold house is arguably a homeowner’s worst nightmare in these frigid winter months.

It happened to Xavier Salinas Thursday morning inside his Bellevue home.

“Just woke up and my pipes were frozen, so yeah. No water. I have a bad hair day!” said Salinas.

He’s not alone.

People across Pittsburgh are dealing with frozen and bursting pipes.

Channel 11 followed a crew from Matt Mertz Plumbing, which was recently acquired by Armstrong Comfort Solutions, as they worked to figure out the problem spot.

We took Xavier’s concerns straight to the director of Plumbing Operations of the company—Matt Mertz.

He says it’s highly common with the fluctuating temperatures.

“Let the faucet run as thick of a pencil over a minute so they don’t freeze overnight. During the day, leave the cabinet doors open and run a heater. Make sure they’re letting that air circulate,” said Mertz.

Mertz says whatever you do, don’t try to defrost your pipes on your own with a lighter or blow torch.

Call the experts.

“That’s a huge no-no. We would then open the cabinet doors. We have electronic thawing equipment. We would hook our cables to this unit. One wire goes to a pipe that’s frozen, one wire extends to a piece that’s not.”

Mertz says the best way to check if you’re experiencing an issue is pay close attention to the water pressure.

“If it just drips, it’s gonna freeze. Plus, it’ll freeze your drain line potentially.”

And finally, Mertz says the worst thing you can do is turn your heat way down and rely on space heaters.

That appears to be one of the largest culprits for repeat frozen pipes calls.