NORTHVILLE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Arctic air in metro Detroit is causing major issues for homeowners including frozen pipes.
There was a blast of heat in the bitter cold as the crew at Z Plumberz was working to unfreeze the pipes underneath Luis Alcalde’s manufactured home in Northville on Wednesday night.
“When we wake up about 6 to 7 o'clock, there's no water whatsoever," Alcalde said. "We try to call plumbers, but we can't find any. They’re so busy right now.”
Alcalde finally got a hold of Z Plumberz, which said they've been receiving countless calls from people needing assistance.
"We have every person we got on call ready to go,” Z Plumberz general manager Brian Harnos said.
Harnos says the night before, crews were busy until 4 a.m. or 5 a.m.
“If you notice that your water is not running and you think it's frozen somewhere, give us a call immediately because we do not want those pipes bursting,” Harnos said.
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That’s exactly why Nicole Meisner in Oak Park gave them a call once she realized her faucets upstairs were not turning on.
“When I learned this was an emergency, I was really worried about it,” Meisner said. "Right now, we have to keep the cabinets open because they said that would help the pipes reheat.”
Meisner was waiting for a crew to help thaw out her pipes just like they’re doing at the Alcalde's house.
“We have heat guns, we also have pipe-thawing machines that actually send electrical currents through there to actually get that frozen pipe unfrozen,” Harnos said.
Above all, Harnos says the biggest thing homeowners should take away from this is to be proactive. They can do so with their faucet using one simple trick.
“When it gets this cold, keep that water dripping just a little bit," Harnos said. "It really makes it hard to freeze.”
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"We learn from this experience right now," Alcalde said. "This is the first time this happened to me.”
“I wish I could go back in time and make the decision and trust my instinct,” Meisner said.
