Top Tips for Avoiding Broken Pipes This Spring

Spring Showers Lead to Broken Pipes

Springtime in Vancouver is a happy time. Spring brings with it the promise of warmer weather. Unfortunately, spring also brings with it torrential downpours common during storm season. The deluge of water pouring in can have dramatic consequences for the livability of your home. All that extra groundwater can wreak havoc on your plumbing especially. Clay soils swell and put pressure on your buried water lines.

Moving grounds can crack sewer lines and lead to clogs and backups. Clogged runoff drains allow water to back up under homes and into basements. Luckily, there are steps you can take as a property owner to guard against damage caused by excessive rains. Getting your plumbing system inspected is a great way to ensure that you can predict and prevent potential problems brought on by seasonal rains.

Heavy Rains Increase Pressure in Your Plumbing System

When homeowners hear the term “water pressure,” most think only of how hard the water comes out of faucets or showers. But water pressure is a larger concept. Water pressure exists even underground and is especially high in water-saturated clay soils. As the subsoil swells due to rainwater several things can happen.

First, mud becomes heavy and puts a lot of pressure on your underground plumbing. Second, soils expanding and contracting from periods of rain and dry can stress pipes, particularly joints, to the point that they fail. Eventually, this excess pressure builds, compromising your plumbing, and leaving you with a massive leak in your home.

Tips to Avoid Burst Pipes

If the worst should happen and you have a pipe burst, you should call a plumber immediately. Water service will need to be turned off as quickly as possible to prevent flooding in and around the home. Everything that has gotten wet needs to be dried immediately to prevent the forming of harmful mold.

If walls and floors are allowed to stay wet and mold is allowed to grow, you will end up having to tear out the damaged walls and floors as a means of protecting your family from the dangers of mold.

After the water service is shut off, a plumber will get to work identifying the problem. Depending on the materials used in the initial installation, you may decide to repair a portion of the damaged line or repipe as much of your plumbing system as possible.

How Plumbers Fix These Issues

The most important thing you can do as a homeowner to protect yourself from burst pipes is to familiarize yourself with your plumbing system. Learn what materials your water and sewer lines are made of. Metal pipes are no longer included in new construction because of their tendency to rust and corrode over time.

Metal pipes are still in use in older homes, though, and as they age they will become more susceptible to rupture. Repiping is a process whereby professional plumbers will totally overhaul the old pipes in your plumbing system to update them to modern PEX tubing that won’t corrode or degrade over time.

Older sewer mains may be run in an iron pipe or even clay in some places. Iron and clay pipes are especially vulnerable to cracking and allowing tree roots to invade. If your system is constantly backing up, you may need to repipe your sewer to update it to modern PVC pipes.

About Henco Plumbing Services

Henco Plumbing Services is a repair and installation company serving top-notch plumbing services in Vancouver, WA. Specializing in plumbing, water heaters, and drain/ sewers, they always have someone on call. Whether you need a drain unclogged or are interested in repiping your plumbing they can help.

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