What to Do When Your Home has Frozen Pipes in Summit County

You’re probably familiar with all of the standard ways to prevent frozen pipes in your home, but do you know what steps to take if your pipes actually freeze? Even with preventative measures in place, an unfortunate situation can occur. Mechanical failure of the heating system, power loss, internet loss, or even human error might result in frozen pipes in Summit County. However, there are some steps you can take to help thaw frozen pipes and prevent a major water leak… and speaking of prevention, we’ve got a great tip below that you may not have considered.

Not all frozen pipes will burst, but the longer amount of time that the pipe remains frozen, the more likely it is to burst. It’s important to help frozen pipes in Summit County thaw as quickly as possible. Waiting around for temperatures to warm up is not a good idea.

Faucets that won’t flow, a toilet that won’t refill, or visibly frozen water in a toilet bowl are all signs of frozen pipes.

Here’s what to do when your pipes freeze:

1. Shut off main water supply.
2. Leave faucets open.
3. If possible, turn up the heat to 80.
4. Place a heat source directly on the exposed plumbing. Examples are space heaters, a hair dryer, a heat lamp, heating pad or electric heat cable. Do not use an exposed flame like a blow torch. If you have a cookie sheet or other sheet of metal that will help reflect heat, place it on the opposite of a hair dryer or spacer heater to help distribute the heat around the pipe.
5. Open cabinets and doors around plumbing.
6. If the home has a fireplace or wood stove, light a fire to help generate heat.
7. Heat water on a stove, add salt, and pour it down the drain. Do not pour boiling water down a drain as an extreme change in temperature could cause a break.
8. If the pipes have been frozen for an extended time, they are in an area you cannot reach such as a wall or crawl space, or you do not have access to any of the means above, contact a professional plumber to bring in pipe-thawing equipment.

Once the pipes begin to thaw and water is flowing, keep the faucet on a slow but steady drip until the danger of re-freezing has passed. Besides an obvious water leak, other warning signs to look out for are low water pressure, damp ceilings, walls or floors; or persistent noise in the pipes when all faucets are off. These are all warnings that there is a likely a leak in a wall or other area that needs immediate repair.

Remember to be careful with electrical devices around plumbing. Do not use them in the presence of water to prevent electrical shock. Do not heat pipes to a point that they become hot to touch.

Consider installing a leak detector or sensor in areas with vulnerable pipes. A pipe that has frozen but did not burst is more likely to burst if it freezes again.

Preventive Pro Tip!

If your home is a rental for guests in Summit County, you must always assume that your guests do not know anything about frozen pipe prevention. Many from the south who have never lived in cold climates won’t know the harm of leaving a garage door open in the winter time. A prominently placed warning sign at the interior garage door is vital to remind them to keep it shut after use. Remote thermostat control is also helpful. Guests who are not accustomed to the cold have a tendency to turn the heat up too high, get hot and then crack a door or window to cool off. In the excitement of being on vacation, those cracked doors and windows might get left open. You can be alerted to this with remote temperature control and give your guests a call or send staff to the home.

In a worst-case scenario with burst pipes as the end result, Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration is here to help prevent further water damage. Our Summit County water damage team will extract the water, dry it out and complete the clean-up process. We are locally owned and operated in Summit County for more than a decade. We know the climate well, the toll it takes on homes in our community and how to mitigate it. Our goal is to provide you with peace of mind and high quality care.

Dog friendly rentals are a win/win for owners and guests. They’re often more profitable, cleaner, and in high-demand.

Summit County residents are as passionate about their pets as they are with our surrounding beauty and active lifestyle. Locals are seen year-round with their four-legged companions all over town; on trails down low and on the highest mountain tops, on backcountry excursions, and curled up around the camp fire.

We have numerous pet supply stores, two fabulous dog parks, and dozens of dog-friendly patios around the county. On Main Street in Breckenridge, many merchants provide ‘doggie hydration stations’. Our pets need extra hydration just like we do! Doggie waste bags can also be found in abundance far and wide throughout the county.

Office dogs are the norm in Summit County. In fact, the Breckenridge Tourism Office puts out an annual Working Dogs calendar filled with adorable photos of office dogs, avalanche rescue dogs, and service dogs of all breeds and sizes! They also provide a comprehensive guide to dog-friendly Breckenridge activities and lodging.

Should You Bring your Dog to Breckenridge?

It’s not surprising that we attract visitors who want to share their love of the outdoors with their dogs just as much as we do. We love our visitors and we love their pets too. Our visitors’ pets are welcome to share in all the same perks as our resident dogs, with one major exception … lodging! Unfortunately, when it comes to finding a hotel or vacation home that allows four-legged family members to stay the night, the options are often slim.

There are tens of thousands of places to lay a head while in Summit County; single bedrooms in private homes, hotel rooms, and multi-million-dollar mansions rented by private homeowners. Unfortunately, only approximately one-quarter of these lodging options are pet friendly, or places where pets are allowed to lay their heads for the night alongside their humans.

While many homeowners and property managers cite allergies as the reason for banning furry family members (and rightfully so), many more have the conception of other people’s dogs as dirty and destructive. There are also dozens of HOAs which prohibit guest pets in rental properties for safety and liability reasons.

Dog Friendly Rentals are Cleaner

We want to let you in on a little secret: dog friendly rentals are often cleaner than their counterparts.

There is no question that cleanliness is the number one factor for guest satisfaction. No one wants to stay in an unclean hotel room or vacation home. Since guest reviews are a key factor in rental property success, cleanliness becomes that much more important.

However, unless you or one of your family members have pet allergies, we’d like to point out a few things that might make you reconsider allowing guest pets in your rental home, especially if you have pets of your own.

Pet Friendly Rentals are Profitable

With pet-friendly options being the minority in the market, and in high demand, these rooms and homes are often booked solid. If you have a unit that is new to the market with no reviews or one that doesn’t book as well as your neighbor’s home, making it pet friendly could greatly increase your bookings, and grow positive reviews! We’ve seen this scenario with homes that are slightly less favorable due to location, décor, fewer upgrades and amenities, etc. Switching that home over to the pet-friendly category can increase the rentals thus increasing the homeowner’s revenue.

If your own pets are present when you occupy your home, but you don’t allow guests to bring pets, you could end up with guests who assume pets are never in the home, and then unhappy guests who discover a dog hair or become sick due to pet allergies. If you are a homeowner who has pets and does not have a HOA that restricts your guests, perhaps you might consider allowing your guests to have them too. As Breckenridge cleaning professionals, we can honestly say that young children tend to cause more messes and damage than pets do!

Professionally Cleaned Dog Friendly Rentals

Most people who are attached enough to their pets to want to take them on vacation have pets that are well-trained and well-behaved. However, in the event of excessive pet hair or a pet accident, Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration is here to rescue your rental and get it back to 5-star status. The additional revenue from increased bookings will more than offset the cost of an extra carpet clean.

Exclusive Cleaning serves many well maintained and professionally cleaned dog friendly rentals on a regular basis. With fresh, inviting carpets and upholstery, you wouldn’t know which ones are pet-friendly properties without being told. Plus, not every reservation at a pet-friendly home brings pets; the average is about half with pets and half without.

Lastly, if you’re determined to not allow guests to bring their pets, but you have pets of your own, we hope you will consider more frequent deep cleans, carpet and upholstery cleans in the event you have guests with allergies or aversions to stray dog hairs. Your stellar reviews for cleanliness will result in maximizing your revenue potential.