Frozen/burst pipe nightmare...

[Bill Raby]

I was at a chemical plant this week and they had a frozen pipe. Chemical in the pipe freezes at 60 degrees. The pipe burst. Fumes are highly toxic and corrosive. Alarms went off and everyone ran outside. People in the area where it happened got to hold their breath and run. I was talking to a guy outside and watching the blisters form on his face.
Problem was that everyone got out as fast as they could and nobody brought out a hazmat suit. Going inside would without a suit would have been fatal and the pump was still running. It was nearly an hour before anyone could go inside to shut off the pump. By then thousands of gallons of chemical was on the floor. That was a big mess. Glad it was not my job to deal with it.

 

[Capt Steve]

We'll see...

How much extra are they going to pay to take care of the mold that will result from them dragging their feet?

The contract that I have with the Restoration Company includes a 3 year warranty to include any mold issues. I told them that getting the carpet out on Monday was not negotiable. Fortunately the temps have remained in the 20 - 50 degree range which should mitigate any mold formation somewhat. I feel like we have lost a week and if I can light a fire under LM things should get moving pretty quickly soon.

Do not want to piss anyone off as there is a long way to go and so far being nice, albeit firm seems to be working.

 

[Jeff423]

FWIW: It doesn't seem like you'll have this problem but we had a flood several years ago. The insurance company sent over a restoration company and they did a good job of restoration, mold remediation etc. However they padded the bill for a lot of work that they didn't perform. For example they were trying to bill us and the insurance company for rental of a 20yd dumpster which was never there and some other items as well. You might want to keep an eye on their charges.

 

[Capt Steve]

Thanks...

Jef423, will do thanks. The estimate they are submitting to the insurance company is very comprehensive {13 pages} utilizing a lot of computer graphics to support every faze of the reconstruction.

Naturally I am anxious for the work to commence but realize the insurance company will go over the estimate with the proverbial fine tooth comb.. Hoping to have a green light for the reconstruction to commence by the end of the week.

 

[quikdraw67]

PEX pipe beats copper and solder all day and WINTER long. Even for repairs you can cut out a chunk of galvanized, copper or pvc and with a couple shark bites and a piece of PEX and your back in business.

Frost free spigot need to be free of water when it freezes. An attached nose will not let the frost free portion drain and it will freeze and burst the pipe.

I used very little metal plumbing in my house. PEX pipe and the band clamp connector. Freeze PEX solid and once thawed it is fine. It will not corrode or slowly fill with build up. Easy modifications and cut ins. Except for drain piping, shut of and service valves, and frrost fee spigots it is all PEX

I was a pipe fitter and have run miles and miles of threaded pipe, welded steel pipe, fused poly pipe up to 24",, copper, compression flared and soldered even welded it, PVC. I wouldn't use anything but PEX in a house

You can't use a shark bite on galvanized or brass pipe. Shark bite fittings are copper tube size, not iron pipe size.

 

[Capt Steve]

OP Update...

It has been 4 weeks since our frozen water pipe burst and we have made significant progress. I was lucky enough to have my plumber refer us to what has to be the best restoration company on the planet. Sunshine Restoration has been nothing but awesome.

After a couple of weeks of frustration with the insurance company slow walking our claim I managed to get their attention and things have progressed well. They have paid for all of the mitigation as well as the restoration work. They also paid for our hotel stay, meals that week and the plumber. The total damages/expenses came in at just north of $13,000. I have no issues with the insurance company and appreciate them honoring our claim... as they should.

The drywall and new baseboards have been installed and painted and we have a cleaning crew coming next week to tackle all of the tiled floor. Since we had to replace half of the carpet in our house due to the damage I elected to go ahead and re carpet all three bedrooms and significantly upgraded the carpet beyond the insurance allowance out of my pocket. We won't have the new carpet in until mid February but at that time we will be done.

The house is still a disaster and in disarray but we will deal with it one room at a time once everything is done. Have to admit it sure made January fly by and we will be glad to have it in the rear view mirror. Thanks for all of the support and may it NEVER happen to you!

 

[Bugkiller99]

Homes here don't come with frost free faucets. The need is so infrequent, it is not worth the expense. So say the contractors.

However, there have been folks with frozen pipes this winter. And I'm sure it's happening today.

I'm fresh out of faucet covers. But, some rubbers bands, and foam beer coozies, and I'm good to go today. .

 

[JcMack]

Came home to this one day after work. There's a Styrofoam faucet cover under there. Double brick construction and pipe split 12" into the basement. 60yr old inside gate valve shutoff failed. Lucky I saw it and fixed it that evening. I not, and I went to work without noticing it, I would have had a basement full of water.

 

[steelslaver]

You can't use a shark bite on galvanized or brass pipe. Shark bite fittings are copper tube size, not iron pipe size.

You go to the nearest good fitting unscrew pipe and use a Shark bite with treads on one side and away you go. You can't do galv. without going to nearest fitting either. Well, I can because I have a pipe threader. In fact you have a hard timer doing copper very near a freeze split because it is often to swollen for a new fitting to go over

 

[Capt Steve]

It's finally over...

After 7 weeks we are finally done with our frozen/burst pipe nightmare. The carpet finally came in and was laid late yesterday. We elected to go ahead and re-carpeted all three bedrooms seriously upgrading the carpet/pad on our dime.

The restoration company was awesome and LM paid for everything {except the carpet upgrade}. The total came to just north of $13,000 plus the carpet upgrade {$1600} and of course I ate the $1,000 deductible.

All in all it could have been a lot worse, just getting the house back together after the carpet install was a serious PITA and a work still in progress but as noted... nobody died. All of the work that was done was perfect and we love the new carpet.

 

[Capt Steve]

OP here with an update...

It has been a little over 5 months since our frozen/burst pipe nightmare and I have been waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop... Yesterday I got my new bill for next years homeowners insurance and as expected they are trying to stick it to me. My last premium was $549, the new bill is for $1,210!

I expected they would jack up my rate but never expected them to bump it $661 = 120%. I have a appointment tomorrow at 10 to meet with an independent insurance agent to shop for new homeowners coverage. I have been paying for homeowners insurance for 46+ years and never had a single claim so this bites and I am simply going to take my business elsewhere.

I was bundling 7 policies for my vehicles, toys etc. in addition to an Umbrella policy all with GEICO and had been with them for 6+ years. The homeowners was through Liberty Mutual but dictated by GEICO. GEICO refused to take any action on my behalf so I will begin the arduous task of switching all of my business to a new insurer as each my policies come due. How do these clowns stay in business???

 

[sigp220.45]

I've had USAA for almost 40 years. They may not be the cheapest, but my experience has been good. Two new roofs in 4 years (and a couple of cars) due to hailstorms and they haven't jacked my rates. And you get the rare privilege of speaking with an actual English-is-my-first-language person whenever you call.

 

[quikdraw67]

I've had USAA for almost 40 years. They may not be the cheapest, but my experience has been good. Two new roofs in 4 years (and a couple of cars) due to hailstorms and they haven't jacked my rates. And you get the rare privilege of speaking with an actual English-is-my-first-language person whenever you call.

The US based customer service is a huge plus.

We have Traveller's bundled. When we paid off the house and cars the bank told us to notify our insurance company that they no longer has notes on them.

Car insurance was US based, home owners was not. Dude sounded like Apu from the Simpsons.

I tell Mrs. QD67 we should look into USAA. She's a veteran.

 

[johngalt]

I've concluded that insurance companies are essentially swindlers. My strategy is to only buy a policy with a VERY high deductible and only file a claim if it would be severe financial burden to pay it out of pocket.

 

[arjay]

We just got the last check from the insurance company for our Christmas flood. Woohoo!

 

[LVSteve]

Our car insurance went up this year. Maybe its ageism.

 

[mtgianni]

Our car insurance went up this year. Maybe its ageism.

I think it is replacement costs, and a rental until repairs are done.

 

[LVSteve]

I think it is replacement costs, and a rental until repairs are done.

Good points. Rental costs I believe given how much it cost me the rent a vehicle in the UK recently. It was in the same order of magnitude as our premium economy airfares.

 

[JJEH]

I feel your pain. We had a malfunction too years ago, where a $0.05 item racked up a huge bill. Four rooms were affected by it and the carpet cleaner guy said he sucked out over 90 gallons of water. It all happened overnight, and I'm still upset that I haven't caught it sooner. I hope your insurance can help you soon.

 

[Capt Steve]

Wrapping it all up...

Op here with the conclusion of my long sad tale. I am happy to report that I now have a totally new package of insurance. Replaced all 8 policies with a local agent with American Family Insurance. I like that I now have a guy working for me with an office about a mile and half from my home.

Bumped up our homeowners coverage dramatically. A little research clearly showed that we were under insured in the event of a catastrophic event {which would likely be a fire as we live in a heavily wooded area}. American Family called for some additional tree trimming and moving the stored firewood away from the house. I had no problem with either request as they made sense and my bride and I seriously humped it to accomplish both tasks.

A day of moving wood, another of tree trimming followed the next day by two trips {400# of trimmings} to the brush pile at the land fill got er done. Even after seriously increasing our coverage we still came out almost $800 a year ahead of what we were paying with GEICO.

The most fun was calling GEICO to cancel all 8 policies and yes they asked why... and I told them {politely assuring them I had NO, ZIP, NADA interest in getting another quote}. All in all it was not as big of a PITA as I had anticipated as our new agent did a great job and will be just down the road if I ever need him {vs the soulless aggravation of the GEICO Robo operators that always entailed a minimum 30 minute wait to speak to a human.

All in all changing insurance companies/coverage is a lot like banging your head against a wall... if feels so good when you stop.