C.O. plumbing businesses very busy repairing busted pipes as temperatures plunge

'We’ve been receiving (calls) all day today and all day yesterday.'

(Update: Adding video, comments from plumbing businesses)

BEND, Ore (KTVZ)-- Phones are ringing off the hook at Central Oregon plumbing businesses as pipes freeze or break amid record-breaking cold temperatures.

With frozen or burst pipes catching people by surprise, Severson Plumbing and Mechanical, as well as Sunset Plumbing of Bend, are busy trying to keep up with demand.

The recent temperatures plunging to or below zero on the High Desert are pushing building maintenance to the forefront of people's priorities.

“Frozen pipes, bursted pipes, no running water," Sunset Plumbing owner Jeff Cook, said Wednesday.

The service manager at Severson Plumbing and Mechanical, Brian Noon, said the company is averaging about 30 calls a day.

"We’ve been receiving them all day today and all day yesterday," Noon said.

But both companies anticipate this to be just the beginning of a busy pipe-repair season.

“When it gets this cold, we have people who don’t protect their pipes. They don’t plan for this, so they get a lot of surprises when it gets close to zero," Noon said.

The owner of Sunset Plumbing said people don't usually know their pipes burst until it's too late.

“A lot of people will have a frozen fixture like a toilet or something not working, and they’ll forget about it and use one in their house that might not be frozen," Cook said. "Then when it thaws out, that’s when the burst pipe will start spewing water."

Typically, the damage is already done when the pipe freezes.

“If it’s a copper pipe, it will split the pipe," Noon said. "If it’s a PEX (plastic) pipe, it will break as well. When it gets as cold as it is right now, there’s no material that’s safe.”

There are helpful measures you can take though.

“If you’re not home, make sure your meters off and maybe a couple faucets open," Noon said.

“Vent covers to keep the cold air from getting in your crawl space.” Cook said.

These small, important steps can mitigate major flooding issues or carpet and wall damage.

It also takes a load off plumbing companies.

“We just just don’t have enough plumbers to keep up with the volume of calls that we’re having right now," Noon said.