How Should I Handle a Broken Pipe in My Home?

3/17/2019 (Permalink)

A sudden drop in water pressure or a hum in the walls could mean you have bursting pipes somewhere in the house. The first thing you should do is quickly inspect the pipes and try to find where the leak is. But do you know what comes next? Here are some guidelines that can help.

Priorities in Order:

1. Stop water flow
   
2. Fix broken pipe
   
3. Clean up water
   
4. Replace or restore home’s structure
   
5. Disinfect and dehumidify
   
   

Once you locate it, shut the water off at the main valve to stop the flow. This should be treated as the urgent situation it is. Mitigating the damage is critical to the restoration of your home in Oklahoma City, OK.

Once the leak is found and repaired, it is of utmost importance to remove the water in order to minimize the damage it can cause. Call a water damage restoration service to assess the water damage from the bursting pipes. They have the professional extraction equipment to remove the water and industrial-strength fans to help dry the area.

Carpeting should be lifted, and the padding should be dried out as well. Wood laminate may need to be taken up and the underlayment dried out. If the water gets very deep, the sheetrock may be compromised. The restoration service will make sure that no nook or cranny is overlooked in order to prevent secondary damage, such as warped studs or joists. Once the cleanup is finished and all has been disinfected, they will likely need to bring in an ozone generator to destroy bacterial growth and a dehumidifier to impede mold spores from taking hold and growing out of control.

As a matter of prevention, inspect all of the pipes in your home periodically to ensure that no leaks are beginning, and see to it that they are kept warm during periods of extreme cold. But if bursting pipes do happen, getting help quickly is the key to restoring tranquility in your home.