As our icy conditions have largely melted away, there’s a flood of phone calls coming into plumbing repair companies late this week. That includes Castleberry Plumbing in Shreveport. The company had several dozen calls Thursday morning alone, about frozen pipes that unthawed enough to reveal breaks and leaks. Priority one is getting the customer’s water turned off so repairs can begin.
Krystal Castleberry says they’ve had two separate two-man crews working some long hours. “We try to work overtime, like last night [Wednesday, January 17]. They worked until about 7:30 to 8:00, as we try to get at least the lines capped off, so we can turn the water back on to the home. We don’t like to leave any families without water. They’ll work until late tonight [Thursday] to get everybody’s water back on, at least.”
Castleberry says their repair crews can often finish a job in about an hour or so if there’s only one broken water pipe. To go under a house their company policy requires a second crew member on site. Castleberry explains that in some cases, there are multiple breaks which can make for challenging repairs. “We do see that on pier and beam homes sometimes if they’re not insulated well. They’ll have multiple breaks under the home. And so, we just take them one-by-one. We repair one, turn the water on and test it and see if there’s anymore. It’s kind of a case by case. You don’t know until the water gets restored.” Castleberry says these emergency repairs can typically cost about $300 to $400 if there’s only one break.
Nationally, in 2007, water damage (including frozen, burst pipes) accounted for about 22 percent of all homeowner’s insurance claims. That’s according to the Insurance Information Institute. The average claim was for $5,531.
Water troubles are keeping all Caddo Parish schools and sites closed for Friday, January 19. Multiple water systems throughout the parish are experiencing disruptions in service and boil advisories, including Vivian, Blanchard, and Shreveport. This severely limits the district’s capacity to provide safe drinking water at sites across Caddo Parish. School district officials announced they are working closely with local and state emergency management agencies to develop a plan that allows students and staff to safely return to school on Monday, January 22.
