Environmental Issue & Sick Building Syndrome Blog

       This is a problem when utilities are off for an extended time or the heating system fails. Turn off the water main for the home and open every spigot to drain as much water as possible from all pipes. Pour RV (non-toxic) antifreeze into commodes and sink traps. Depending upon the reason for “no heat”, call your HVAC person or find alternate heat methods. The process of begging for help goes much easier if you have had the heating system regularly maintained by a professional that already considers you a customer. You do not want your call to start with the sentence “you do not know who I am.” Have your heating system annually serviced by a reputable company to increase that chance of having it fixed when it breaks.    

Frozen Pipes

         Shut off valves to an area of frozen pipes if just a part of a home is frozen. 

          If the whole house is frozen, turn off the main valve for the house. If the pipes have burst in the pipe section before the shutoff valve, have the service shut off at the street. The goal is to avoid water leaking into the home from pipes when they begin to thaw.

          Open all of the valves to drain down water as the pipes thaw. Even if the traps and fixtures are frozen, adding RV antifreeze may reduce the damage to fixtures. If you do not have antifreeze, add salt to try to reduce the amount of freeze damage. The salt will not know it is in a commode as opposed to on your sidewalk and will melt the ice.

Posted by Dan Howard on March 28th, 2016 10:57 PM

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