Failure To Winterize Can Lead To Vacant Home Havoc

The following stories provide emphasis to the importance of winterizing vacant homes, foreclosed or not, located in cold weather areas to avoid the havoc caused by frozen, broken, bursted water pipes:

• Banks Not Taking Care of Foreclosed Houses During Winter: The huge temperature swings and frozen pipes this winter are causing huge damage to houses no longer in use.

• Foreclosures leading to more unattended burst pipes: Winter weather is causing a soggy new headache for towns and cities working to keep foreclosed homes from becoming safety hazards: water pipes that freeze and burst in empty houses. Municipal officials say when these problems spring up, they usually happen in homes partway through the foreclosure process, or taken over by far-away or financially troubled mortgage companies. The residents have left, and power and heat are shut off. But the water is still on, and pipes and water heaters have not been drained. They freeze when temperatures drop, sometimes bursting the pipes as the ice expands, and the water flows out freely when they thaw. Once a home floods after the burst water pipes thaw, unless you get the wet drywall and rugs out, mold will start growing.

• Pipes burst, flood vacant Marlborough house: A water pipe inside a vacant house on Millham Street in Malborough, Massachusetts broke last week and caused the building to flood, a recurring issue in the city, a fire official said. Water was running from the second floor to the first floor and into the basement after the pipe apparently froze and then blew, said Deputy Chief Ron Ayotte. "We've had a rash of them lately," Ayotte said. "That's what happens when you don't winterize a house." Many similar calls concern foreclosed houses, said Ayotte, who believes the Millham Street house had been in foreclosure. A lot of vacant properties, including the Millham Street house, are not winterized, Ayotte said.

• Princeton renters suddenly without homes due to foreclosure: A vacant unit in a foreclosed apartment building in Princeton, Minnesota was apparently not winterized properly so a water pipe froze and then burst sending water down into the apartment directly below Christmas Eve. As a result, the water utility shut off the water for the complex and residents say they were told they need to move out by New Years Eve. Residents say because they're not getting their damage deposits back, they have no money for new damage deposits and moving expenses for new apartments.

• New Minnesota State Law Prevents Frozen Pipes in Foreclosed Homes (Mold, bursting pipes among destruction in metro foreclosures): According to the new law, city inspectors are allowed to find out where utility companies have disconnected gas and electric services, so they can shut off water at the curb and keep pipes from bursting inside, which would help avoid the additional damage done by flooding when the pipes thaw. Sometimes the damage from foreclosed homes is so severe, the homes are dubbed “ice houses.” The water damage often leads to mold, destroying walls and entire homes.

• Irwin Man Tries To Thaw Pipe, Starts Fire: An Irwin, Pennsylvania man trying to thaw a frozen pipe in his home apparently started a house fire. Several fire departments responded to the fire on Chestnut Street after it broke out. Officials say the homeowner was trying to thaw out the pipe with a kerosene torch.

• Protect pipes during winter’s deep freeze: In River Falls, Wisconsin, Liberty Plumbing owner Bob Kolashinski sees it every winter as Mother Nature delivers frigid temperatures and wicked wind chills: Any pipe carrying water can freeze. Liberty has seen a rise in calls on problems in foreclosed homes, where the heat is usually off. Since furnaces can fail, Kolashinski said the only foolproof way to prevent freezing is to shut off water at the main valve, drain all the fixtures and pour RV antifreeze into the pipes’ p-traps. Kolashinski said people living in townhomes or condos shouldn’t be lulled into thinking heat from other units will keep their pipes from freezing. That ambient heat is seldom enough.

• More Pipes Bursting In Empty Houses (Unless reported by neighbors, mess goes unchecked): Home foreclosures that turn into neighborhood eyesores when unpaid utilities lead to broken water pipes are happening more often. The mortgage company will be notified to start cleanup soon because health problems aren't frozen in time. Mold will grow fast after the spring thaw.

Go here for more on freezing pipes in vacant homes. frozenpipetheta BetaVacantForeclosure