READING, Pa.- Water is an amazing force; it’s essential to life but can cause significant devastation. It also has some interesting characteristics.
“The whole thing about water is it’s a very unique liquid in that it expands up to ten percent when frozen and it’s extremely forceful,” said Lisa Lavender, CEO and co-owner of Berks Fire Water Restorations Inc.
That force when it freezes can damage pipes, roofs and other areas of a house, but it isn’t until the thaw that you’re likely to notice problems.
“What we had was such a long-extended period of time it just absolutely, the vulnerability and destruction increased,” Lavender said. “Last week we really started to see an influx of losses from broken pipes because the temperatures went up and so then all that ice and frozen pipes turned to water.”
Lavender says the company expects another onslaught of calls in the spring, when people turn on outside water sources for the first time that may have still had hoses connected or if water was trapped in the pipes during the freeze.
They’ve also gotten calls about water leaks after ice dams started to melt.
“Elevated water and moisture can quickly take water damage and have microbial growth, aka mold, so that’s an issue,” said Lavender. She adds that prevention is important.
Steps to take ahead of the onset of freezing temperatures, like clearing downspouts, turning off external water sources and finding areas in a building that may be exposed to the elements and could be a starting point for problems.
“The longer any damage sits, the more severe it gets just by the nature of water,” Lavender said.
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