Some of the coldest temperatures the Omaha metro has ever had on New Year's are wrecking havoc for many homeowners.
Brad Birge, owner of Big Birge Plumbing, tells 6 News that business is booming for them due to frozen pipes. "We've been pretty much filling up our whole week so far with frozen pipe calls."
Calls for frozen pipes are quite common Birge says, and they can cause big problems without people realizing it. "You don't really know you're going to have a problem until it happens, unfortunately, just because a lot of new homeowners don't know their houses."
Birge suggests trying to prevent frozen pipes by opening cabinet doors, let cold water drip from faucets and keep thermostats set at the same temperature day and night. He also suggests keeping garage doors closed, checking supply lines or pipes in the attic and garage and be sure to take garden hoses off spigots.
If your pipes do freeze, Birge says you need to act quickly to turn water off to the house. "If something breaks, you could open up walls, not just paying a plumber, but paying a dry wall guy, paying a painter if you can't do it yourself, calling insurance, could flood the basement could cause problem with your carpet or mold in the future."