Cold weather leads to frozen busted pipes

BUSTEDPIPESSEATTLE -- Sunday was not a good day for Olinda Adams.

Her Seahawks lost and she came home to find that a pipe burst in her ceiling and left behind a huge mess.

"It's depressing. It's sad.  I'm supposed to be happy time.  I just got married and we just had a reception and now this,” homeowner Olinda Adams said.

Adams says she was gone two days and no one is sure when the pipe burst or how long the water has been spewing.

One bedroom, the attic and her wood floors are all water logged and she now has no running water.

"I will have to leave if there is no water and he's telling me it's going to take four hours that is if somebody can get out here and clean up this mess,” Adams said.

It's not just fire fighters that are busy, plumbers like Josh Mullin, are busy too.

"12 to 18 hour days trying to get water back on to people.  They need some help, so,” Plumber Josh Mullin said.

Mullin says it happens this time every year, mostly because people just forget to take the proper precautions.

"You got to keep your water on a trickle.  Remove all your garden hoses from outside because if your spicket has a garden hose in it it's still going to hold water and freeze and break and it can break inside the house. Put the foam insulation on the outside of it.  The big foam box and just insulate you lines,” Mullin said.

It's happened to Olinda Adams before and she took precautions and an insulated pipe froze and burst anyway.

She's got insurance and her home will be restored to normal, but the stress eventually got to her and she broke down.

Fortunately she has a new husband to take care of her.

One other tip our plumber gave us to pass along, if you’re leaving home for an extended period; make sure to leave your heater on.

He recommends that your house stay at least 60 degrees to help prevent frozen pipes.