Image by jonbro via FlickrWell I am a little behind in celebrating Steelers fever here because I returned home on Saturday night to an indoor waterfall. 2 little cracks in a copper pipe less than a half inch can cause a lot of water to come through the ceiling.

I want to post a few things about the frozen pipe situation because one of the first things I did after rescuing the computer from the rushing water was to google “pipe burst” and “pittsburgh emergency plumbers” and the results weren’t helpful.

So after an hour of calling 24 hour plumbers in the yellow pages to come shut off the water – yes we tried to shut it off but the handle was broken – I finally asked the answering service lady what to do. (I secretly think she is the same lady that answers the phone for every plumber in the phone book and she was getting a real kick out of my return calls). She said call the fire department. So after another plumber telling me he could come over after he went to church (it was now 2am) and I didn’t think I should let this water fall continue for another 10 hours. I called the Pittsburgh Fire Department – Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU to the 4 firemen who arrived with in minutes to shut of the water and make sure the house wouldn’t burn down (the water was coming through the light fixtures). They were even kind enough to sing happy birthday to me before they left.

I also want to thank Joe at Preferred Restoration who kindly talked me through what you should do after you get the water shut off and how to minimize damage (and is possibly the only person in the yellow pages that actually offers 24 hours response). Joe had a crew at the house by 10 am and was able to get a plumber there by 11am. Within a few hours the water was gone and both the first floor and basement have super humidifiers and 10 super turbo fans running. Out with the water – in with the wind tunnel.

If you have a great plumber to recommend – please share in the comments below. If you are a plumber that likes to answer late night calls – you should let us know that too.

So I had to take a nap before the Steelers game! I am glad that Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl because there are alot of Steelers things I didn’t get to post about before the game. Starting with Steeler Baby. We have been a fan of Steeler Baby since 2006 (see the original post here). You should be a fan of Steeler Baby on Facebook too – they currently have 893 fans – I think we can easily help them get to 1000. You can even get a Steeler Baby countdown widget for you blog. Continue reading →