Amateur home 'improvements' making plumbers' work harder this winter
Plumbers' jobs are often more challenging when homeowners or residents put in their install their own piping while lacking the skills to match the enthusiasm.
The arrival of the cold weather has brought this more to light with callouts for frozen pipes and other winter-related incidents.
One plumber while he was on a callout told "Aktuaalne kaamera," that when it comes to plumbing, easiest does not always mean best.
"We asked the building manager how the pipe runs, but he couldn't say, because the residents themselves had laid the pipe. They don't take into account that if you run it in the easiest way, maybe along a stone wall, it can freeze," Otsus said.
Modern multilayer composite materials at least make it easier to cut out a frozen section, thaw it out, and then reconnect it with quick couplings or replace it.
"Anyone can do that, but the most important thing overall is that the pipe connections remain leak-proof afterwards – that water doesn't start dripping from somewhere," he went on.
One side effect of the cold weather means that when pipes are frozen, they do not leak; this works the other way too: A thick later of snow on the ground can act as an insulation to pipes below or near the surface, and prevent them from freezing.
Homeowners' keenness to clear away all accumulated snow can leave pipes exposed, however, particularly in homes with lower consumption – for instance whose owners go out to work during the day, or in detached houses which have no communal pipes in the way apartment blocks do.
"In detached houses where consumption is very low, the snow gets cleared off above the pipeline and when water in the pipe also isn't moving, then comes the risk of freezing," said Marti Vaksmann, head of pipeline planning and construction at Tallinna Vesi, which supplies the capital's water.
Though it might seem counter-intuitive, the "real" freezing period still lies in the future with the late winter-spring thaw. When that happens, condensation builds up on cold walls, particularly made of stone, which can aid in pipes freezing up again, especially if not insulated.
Ultimately a plumber can do the job when they have easy access to the pipes. Home conversions, particularly basements which have been converted into apartments, sometimes make this difficult or even impossible.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
