Tulsa Plumbers Work Overtime To Fix Busted Pipes

Dan Bewley, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Saturday marked the first time in two weeks the temperature climbed above 50 degrees.

But the good weather could bring some bad news for homeowners.

Face down and digging in a hole, a familiar pose for plumbers all across green country. The sunny weather is shining a light on a host of problems.

Ray Turner is with Williams Plumbing. He says the sub-freezing weather has taken its toll and plumbers are working overtime to catch up.

"We've been working round the clock, basically, just to keep up with all the calls coming in," Turner said.

Turner says the plumbing lines are starting to thaw out, when that happens, you get water leaking through and causing a big mess.

If you're lucky it'll unthaw and there's no break, but what normally happens is the line will swell up and split and you won't notice it until the line thaws out.

When Turner finally gets to the pipes, little cracks start to appear that makes life miserable for dozens of homeowners.

Turner says most of the pipes that have frozen are on outside walls, particularly ones that face to the north.

"Most of our homes that have been freezing are crawl space homes and it's usually because people have the vents open," he said.

But, Turner says, there are things you can do in the future to prevent a problem like this.

Make sure your home is well insulated, leave both hot and cold faucets dripping when it gets below freezing, and if your pipes are in the attic and the lines exposed, wrap them with a blanket or to keep them from freezing.

Small steps but ones that Turner says can go a long way to keep a plumber from visiting your house after the next snow storm.