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Focus on Frozen Pipes During Frigid Temperatures

WQOW.com
Posted: Jan 12, 2009 04:23 PM

Eau Claire (WQOW) - With the frigid cold on the way now's a good time for homeowners to be thinking about their pipes.

"We got here and water was running through everything," says Don Joyner, general manager of Steamatic of Western Wisconsin and TRAC Solutions.

Burst pipes lead to a mess at a house in Eau Claire. The owner left on a vacation and came back to a pipe in the upstairs bathroom that froze and burst. The toilet also cracked. Water caused extensive damage to the lower level of the home. Steamatic and TRAC Solutions in Eau Claire say they've seen a lot more cases like this in the Chippewa Valley this winter compared to previous years. Especially in older two-story homes.

Adds Joyner, "With the thermostat being on the main floor and a lot of times you have a bathroom upstairs, so it could be anywhere from 20 to 25 degrees difference from one floor to the next. So if you run it down to 50, it may be 30 degrees upstairs."

Joyner says there's a few steps every homeowner can take to prevent frozen pipes especially if you're going to be gone for awhile.

First, don't set your thermostat lower than 60 degrees.

Consider turning your water off and draining your pipes, putting antifreeze in the toilets and having someone check on your home at least three times a week, just in case your furnace would stop working.

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