plumber in Glenview, IL<\/a>, such as any one of the members of our team. But we\u2019d like to let you know why this is such a problem in the first place.<\/p>\nFrozen plumbing means not only will your water not flow, but that your pipes are at risk of bursting. This, of course, leads to damaging flooding and expensive repairs. But why does this happen? The answer may surprise you.<\/p>\n
What Leads to Burst Pipes<\/h2>\n
When water freezes, it increases in volume. This happens because the molecular structure of ice is different (hexagonal) than that of liquid water, and therefore takes up more space. If you\u2019ve ever put a glass container of water in the freezer to later discover that the glass was cracked, it\u2019s due to the expansion of the ice.<\/p>\n
However, this <\/em>isn\u2019t why pipes burst when they freeze! This typically surprises our customers, since it seems like an obvious answer. But the actual cause of burst pipes from freezing is due to the increase in pressure <\/em>within your plumbing.<\/p>\nAs the water goes through the process of freezing and expanding, it pushes the remaining water toward closed faucets, creating a large pressure build-up. This can be enough to cause lateral bursting along your pipes. The \u201cupstream\u201d part of the pipe is in the most danger, since the water on the other side still has plenty of room to absorb the pressure rise.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Try to Thaw Pipes out On Your Own<\/h2>\n
If you attempt to thaw out frozen plumbing on your own, you end up increasing the pressure inside it. In fact, a frozen pipe is more <\/em>likely to burst during thawing, for this reason. Unfortunately, we get too many calls for repairs or hear about injuries after <\/em>homeowners have tried to thaw out their own pipes.<\/p>\nNot only will burst pipes lead to property damage, but they can, naturally, cause injury to you as well. Individuals have tried methods such as space heaters, hairdryers, and even blow torches to thaw their pipes\u2014these are all bad ideas. Give our plumbers a call and we will use the appropriate methods and tools to get your plumbing back up and running.<\/p>\n
For expert plumbing service, installations, or maintenance contact Reliance Plumbing Sewer & Drainage, Inc.<\/a> Our knowledgeable plumbers serve the North Shore and Northwest Chicago suburbs. Rely on Reliance!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is most likely to happen with the exposed pipes that lead outdoors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[99,36,145,146],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":608,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605\/revisions\/608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relianceplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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If you haven\u2019t already taken steps to winterize your home, now is certainly the time to do it, before we\u2019re under heavy amounts of snow. Winterizing your home includes fixing any drafts that can lower your HVAC efficiency, making sure your heating system is maintained, and ensuring your pipes are protected.<\/p>\n