BILLINGS — It's a simple action, such as opening cabinets, that could help prevent water damage from a frozen pipe. Billings Carpet and Water Damage Restoration shared a few tips on how to best prepare a home before traveling for the holidays.
Andy Pirami has been in the water damage restoration business for 36 years. His father first started the company Billings Carpet and Water Damage Restoration 30 years ago.
“You kind of either love this industry or you hate it,” he said Sunday. “I loved it and wanted to do it full time, and so we started our own company in 1992.”
After being in the business for so long, Pirami understands the importance of preparing pipes for cold temperatures, especially when heading out of town.
“We have too many clients that every year this happens, they turn the thermostat down to 50. Not realizing that, inside [the home] it’s 50, but they forget about those exterior walls when it's -20 outside,” he said.
Pirami said turning down the thermostat to try to save money while on vacation can lead to pipes freezing. He also recommended replacing batteries in thermostats whenever replacing the ones in a smoke detector.
“Most thermostats when the battery dies, and it seems to only die when you go on vacation this time of year, and it will shut the furnace off,” he said.
Another tip offered was opening doors of cupboards with pipes inside to "make sure we're getting some warm air in there."
He also said to stay up-to-date on maintenance of appliances if people will be staying in your home for the holidays.
“Instead of two, or three or four people at a home, now all of a sudden, we have 20 people in the home. And so, we’ll have toilets that overflow. We’ll have washer machines that break... It's just not related to cold it's just to an excessive load of everything's working a little bit harder than normal,” Pirami said.
