Blog - Managing a Pipe Burst in Your Home or Business

1. Blog - Managing a Pipe Burst in Your Home or Business Water damage is among the most catastrophic events you can experience in a home or commercial building. A rapid response is essential to minimize the damage and preserve options for full recovery. Most burst pipe events arise when a water pipe freezes. In fact, pipes freeze in about one-quarter of a million US homes every winter. While frozen pipes are common in the northern half of the US, a pipe can freeze anywhere anytime the temperature drops below 32°F. What makes a frozen pipe so damaging? Water expands when it freezes. When the water is in a rigid pipe, the expansion of the water as it freezes generates enormous pressure. The expanding water has nowhere to go, so eventually the pressure tears or splits the pipe. Once the pipe breaks, pressurized liquid water can spray from the site of the rupture. In fact, it's not unusual to find that a pipe has ruptured in multiple places. Ideally, you should never allow you pipes to freeze, but if one of your pipes should freeze or burst, here are a few tips to minimize the damage. If you're on-site at the time of the rupture, quick action can minimize the water damage. As soon as you discover the leaking pipe, shut off the water! Generally, newer homes take a sectional approach to plumbing. Locate the valve closest to the affected pipe and close it to stop the flow of water. If you don't have sub-valves in your plumbing system, you'll have to shut off the main water valve to your home or business. You can find the main valve adjacent to your water meter, or very close to where the water service line enters the building. If you cannot locate the main shut-off valve, or you cannot turn it, your local water utility can also shut off the water to your home or business. If the water is flowing, move as much of the contents out of the affected space as you can. Preventing and minimizing the damage to contents will help speed the restoration process.

2. When you've experienced significant flooding from a clean water source, it's very important to contact a restoration professional with experience in water damage remediation. The faster the drying process can start, the less damage the water can do. It's important to look for professionals with IICRC certification. This designation is your assurance that a water damage specialist has been trained to meet the restoration service industry's standards for properly remediating water damage. IICRC-trained and certified water restoration professionals, like the Quick Response Restoration team, use special drying and extracting equipment that removes standing water as well as water that has seeped into the floors, walls, contents and other hidden spaces. Quick Response Restoration has the largest fleet of mobile drying equipment in the Northeast. We can be on-site and begin the drying process quickly. People normally think of a clean water flood when a pipe freezes and bursts, but your drains, sewer lines, toilets and sump wells can freeze and burst, too! If your space floods with unsanitary water – rainwater or sewage – it's even more important to work with a trained, certified water damage professional. Unsanitary water contains harmful biological agents that can make you sick and render your home or business a total loss. Water can do a lot of visible damage, but it can also seep into spaces you can't see or dry out easily. Water is also very heavy, so standing water can cause structural damage that might not be immediately apparent. Water damage professionals can assess the extent of the water damage quickly and begin the process of restoring your space to its previous condition. You don't have to manage a pipe burst on your own, and you may be surprised by how much of your space and contents a trained, certified water damage professional can restore. Quick Response Restoration will work with your insurance provider directly to help manage your claim, minimize disruption and make the restoration process as quick and efficient as possible. Contact Quick Response Restoration at (518) 899-7090 for water damage remediation anywhere in the Northeast United States and throughout the storm regions of the South, Atlantic and the Caribbean. View & Download Original Source @ https://www.qrrestore.com/managing-a-pipe-burst-in-your-home-or-business