Frozen water pipes are popping as Southwestern Ontario climbs out of the deep freeze, swamping area plumbers.

Weve had 50 calls in the last 24 hours from homeowners needing help with frozen or fractured pipes, said Perry Smink, a co-owner of Best Plumbing and Drainage in London,

Last winter, the company fielded only a few such emergency calls.

There are people whose whole houses have no water, Smink said.

But the next few days temperatures are forecast to climb to 1C on Friday will either be a relief, or a headache, to area residents battling frozen pipes, he said.

After pipes begin to thaw, any cracks caused by freezing might turn into ruptures and send water cascading through the house.

Frozen pipes shouldnt be put off as a problem that will solve itself, Smink said.

The worst thing would be knowing your pipes are frozen and walking away and saying, Oh, theyll thaw out eventually.

Thats when people return home to basements with half a metre of water in them and drywall sagging off the studs.

It doesnt take much to tip the balance between flowing and frozen, said Bill Salmon, president of Salmon Plumbing in London.

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Don’t just leave it, plumber warns

Once we get through the holiday season, I can always count on a flurry of questions about frozen water lines. So, to start things off for the New Year, I have put together my three basic tips on how to deal with frozen pipes.

1. The best offense is a good defense: Take a look around your home (especially in the basement) for any strong drafts that may affect the water lines in that area. Seal up any openings or cracks with insulation and protect the water lines with insulated pipe sleeves. Also, keep the heat on in every area of the home during very cold weather.

2. Know when you may have a frozen pipe: Usually, you can identify a frozen water line when you notice water flowing to some fixtures, but not to others. Example: Bathroom works fine, but there is no water flowing to the kitchen faucet. If your main water line freezes up, all of your plumbing fixtures can be affected.

3. Time is of the essence: Call your plumber as soon as possible even if it requires an emergency call. A master plumber can usually trace the exact area of the freeze up and safely thaw the pipe with professional equipment. Bottom line: If you wait too long and the water line bursts, you may end up needing a huge financial bail-out.

Master contractor/plumber Ed Del Grande is known internationally as the author of the book "Ed Del Grande's House Call," the host of TV and Internet shows and a LEED green associate. Visit eddelgrande.com or write eadelg@cs.com. Always consult local contractors and codes.

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Plumber: Hot tips for frozen pipes

Plumber admits drugs and knuckle duster charge

5:50am Tuesday 7th January 2014 in News

A PLUMBER has admitted possessing class A drugs and an offensive weapon.

Thomas Giddings, 23, admitted having a quantity of cocaine and a knuckle duster in Danacre, Laindon, on September 20.

However, Giddings of Rettendon View, Wickford, denied the charge of possessing a bladed article namely a craft knife when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Thursday.

He told the court he was a plumber and had found the knife on the floor, put it in his pocket and forgotten about it. The Crown accepted his guilty pleas to the earlier charges and agreed not to pursue the possession of a knife charge.

The court heard Giddings was found with the items after being stopped by officers.

Judge David Owen-Jones, decided he wanted the Probation Service to complete a pre-sentence report on Giddings before he sentenced him.

The case was adjourned until January 30. Giddings was released on unconditional bail.

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Plumber admits drugs and knuckle duster charge

Tributes have been paid to a popular plumber who sold his business to British Gas for 30 million five decades after starting out as a sole trader running a business from his dining table.

Phil Jones who founded PH Jones, a central heating company which employed 850 people, died suddenly on Christmas Day. He was 74.

Mr Jones launched the firm in Malpas, near Whitchurch, with his wife Brenda back in 1963 and sold it to British Gas in May 2011.

He also founded Beech House Nursing Home, in Wollerton, near Market Drayton, opening the business in 1990 and going on to sell it in 2005.

Today his daughter Wendy Raichura described her father as an inspirational man who adored his three children and 12 grandchildren.

She said: My dad was very bright and full of fun and mischief. He was always disruptive especially at the dinner table when playing with his grandchildren who he loved to bits.

He was always laughing and was never stressed and was a great entrepreneur.

He really was very intelligent and very inspirational.

He did so well in life but his real talent was that could reach out and connect with everyone. Whether it was children, teenagers, humble people or lords and ladies, he could connect with them all.

Mr Joness two sons Martin and Chris also worked for the family firm and helped the business grow.

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Tributes to plumber who sold company he founded to British Gas for £30m

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - Plumbing companies across East Texas worked all day Monday to fix pipes that burst in the cold weather. Through the wet and the cold, plumbers say they'll be there for you all night.

"We're going to get really wet and it's going to be cold," Patton Waldrop, a plumber with C. Woods Company, said.

At 11 o'clock this morning a small busted pipe was just the beginning. Busted water lines and backed up toilets are all in a cold days work for plumbers Cory Daniels and Patton Waldrop.

"About 7:00 in the morning and everything was frozen solid, nothing would thaw out, James Montgomery, an employee at Pets Fur People, said, so it's just one of those deals where we had to just wait and see what would happen."

A burst pipe happened. That's when Montgomery called the plumber. The busted pipe at Pets Fur People was the first call of that icy morning.

"We're waiting on it, you know, it's coming, busted water lines everywhere," Cory Daniels, a plumber with C. Woods Company, said.

Calls like that trickled in Monday morning, but by the afternoon phone lines were flooded.

"We're real busy, we're getting calls. Just earlier I called back to the office and we're getting them every 10 minutes," Daniels said.

Longview reported no major issues. Neither did The City of Tyler, but plumbing companies across East Texas are drowning in service calls.

"It's just one of the deals that happens, you just got to deal with it," Montgomery said.

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Plumbing companies bursting with service calls

Posted on: 4:54 pm, January 6, 2014, by Scott Wise and Wayne Covil, updated on: 05:18pm, January 6, 2014

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) From your faucets to your pets, now is the time to make sure your house and animals are ready for Tuesdays record-cold weather.

Dogs and cats can suffer frostbite, just like humans.

Especially areas like their toes and ears and tails can be sensitive to those kind of things, but hypothermia can affect them the same as us, Colonial Heights Veterinarian Hospital Stacy Riddle said.

When preparing your home for sub-freezing temperatures, start outside first.

You should go around your house and make sure all your vents are closed to keep air from flowing under the house and freezing up pipes like this hose bib here, Calvin Adkins, with AA Plumbing, said. Air could blow under it, freeze that pipe, so its good to close all air gaps.

Once inside, focus on kitchens with faucets on an outside wall.

Its good to open the cabinet doors at night, that will let a little heat there and sometimes you could maybe let the faucet run a little bit, Adkins said.

Experts advise using a supplemental heat source, like gas log, to help heat your home.

They suggest you avoid moving your thermostat up as temperatures go down.

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Things you should do NOW to protect your home during the freeze

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