Don’t just leave it, plumber warns

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