HALTOM CITY — Boom!
It sounded like something exploded in Joe Ellery’s kitchen. Water poured from the cabinets underneath the sink.
He ran outside to turn off his main shut-off valve as water filled his kitchen, flooded the dining room and rushed down the hallway.
The Ellerys are used to cold weather — they moved here four years ago from Colorado. After the last major winter storm there, they paid thousands to replace a damaged septic system. That was enough and they moved to warm North Texas. But this week, with a burst pipe and no running water, Ellery called a plumber.
Many homeowners won’t know whether they have plumbing problems until North Texas emerges from its deep freeze. And that will keep plumbers busy for some time. Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott said he’d issue waivers for plumbers with expired licenses or plumbers from other states to work in Texas. On Friday, he said that more than 320 plumbers had already renewed their licenses and officials were asking other states for reinforcements.
Thursday, the Ellerys booked an appointment with Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical, a company with offices in Dallas and Fort Worth. With the temperature still in the 20s, Geovanni “Geo” Marino and Nick Paulk arrived at the Haltom City home in a big blue company van to inspect the damage.
“Here’s the situation,” Ellery said, showing them the kitchen and telling them what happened earlier in the week.
They had done everything they could to keep their pipes intact: the faucet was dripping in the sink, the cabinet doors were open to allow warm air inside. But Texas pipes just aren’t insulated the same as they are in places used to this type of weather.
“When it’s an outside wall, there’s not much you can do about it,” Ellery said.
Marino, 29, took off his jacket, draped it over the cabinet door and went under the sink to take a look.
He cut a hole in the back wall, exposing the copper pipes that carry water to the house. After pulling away a thin layer of warped black foam, Marino found the problem: A one-inch gash lengthwise along the pipe. He removed the damaged section and handed it to Ellery.
“Your trophy,” Marino said.
“For my insurance man,” Ellery said.
Marino and Paulk, 22, replaced the line with PEX pipe, a synthetic that’s more flexible than PVC or copper and is more resistant to extreme weather. Paulk turned the water back on, and soon water was flowing in the sink.
One job down. Many more to go.
“The next one is a kitchen burst,” Marino said, standing outside the blue company van after wrapping up with the Ellerys. “They have no electricity.”
“That’s gonna be fun,” Paulk said.
* * *
North Texans were warned to start worrying about their pipes Sunday as temperatures plummeted. Drip faucets. Wrap exposed outdoor pipes. Those who didn’t prepare before the freeze, or those without proper insulation behind their walls, would be at the most risk for disaster.
As the temperature dipped below freezing — as low as -2 on Tuesday — pipes froze. Once blocked by ice, pressure from liquid water builds in the pipe after it begins to thaw. Then, like in the Ellerys’ home, boom.
For teams like Marino and Paulk the winter weather crisis has meant long days responding to call after call of emergency pipe work, all while dealing with their own issues at home.
Marino lives in Benbrook and uses a well for his water, but that system froze. He hasn’t had time to fix it since he was working on others’ homes. Paulk was running low on gas power and had no hot water, he said. He spent a few cold nights at his Grand Prairie home.
They’ve been working back-to-back burst pipe calls for several days. Earlier in the week, with temperatures still well below freezing, there was not much they could do. Now, teams of plumbers are slammed with calls from people realizing — as ice thaws and water starts to flow — the extent of the damage.
Sometimes, they’ll go from one home to another just a few minutes away. Other times, they’ll be dispatched to another county on roads covered with ice and snow.
Many with burst pipes quickly shut off water to their home by the time the plumbers arrived. Marino and Paulk would find the problem, replace the pipe, and turn the water back on. To keep track, Marino took a photo on his cellphone of each busted pipe he replaced.
“Next week is gonna be real busy,” Paulk said. “I’ll bet the calls will be rolling then, at that point.”
* * *
After getting water running in Ellery’s kitchen, the team drove to Saginaw for the next homeowner with a frozen pipe.
Brian Worrall opened the door, bundled in a heavy winter jacket and gloves to help ward off the cold inside the home, then ran back to his kitchen to grab a facemask. On top of everything else, the plumbers and customers stay masked to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.
“So what’s up?” Marino asked
“I’ll tell you what’s up,” Worrall said.
Worrall said his power went out early in the week. His home has a fireplace, which they used to produce some heat. He was outside splitting firewood when his wife came outside and yelled.
“Water!” she shouted. “Kitchen!”
Worrall came inside and found water pouring out from under the dishwasher. He ran outside to shut the water off, digging through snow to find the valve. After losing both power and water, the family left to stay with Worrall’s sister-in-law.
“You can get really bummed out about this, but what are you gonna do?” Worrall said. “You just gotta deal with it.”
“We just came from one just like this one, but theirs busted underneath the sink,” Marino said. “This shouldn’t be too bad.”
The plumbers removed the dishwasher and cut into the wall, reaching up behind the countertop to reach the water pipe. Somewhere nearby, Worrall’s radio played the Bee Gees. Paulk hummed along.
Feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’
And we’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
“It’s right here,” Marino said, straining to remove the pipe.
“The pipe?” Paulk said.
“I found the leak,” Marino said.
He felt the small gash in the top of the pipe, but couldn’t find a good angle at which to remove it. His dry hands were covered in drywall dust, scraped and bleeding. Paulk stepped in, as Marino pulled out his phone. The screen was lit up with missed calls and messages. He saw a friend had called, and he called back.
“What’s up?” Marino said into the phone. “I’m working. What’ve you got? What’s wrong with it? No light? No, you want to be there to make sure. If you can’t be there, shut the water off to the house so you don’t have to worry about it.”
Marino said even people he didn’t know were calling him, because friends passed his number along. He wants to help, but just doesn’t have time to take every call. It’s all the same story though — pipes have frozen or burst, or people are worried about one or both of those things happening.
“Everyone knows I’m a plumber,” he said. “Half of the time, I don’t answer. I already know what they’re calling for. I hate to say no.”
After a few more minutes, Marino removes the pipe and holds it up for Worrall. The small split is nearly identical to the one from the Ellerys’ kitchen.
“It’s amazing how much water came through that in such a small amount of time,” Worrall said, taking the broken pipe. “I’m going to get it framed. Winter 2021: One More Thing.”
Paulk and Marino cut a new copper pipe and fit it into place. Marino soldered the fittings and turned the water back on. The pipe held. No leaks.
Marino took notes on his company iPad — and a photo of the broken pipe for his own record — and collected Worrall’s payment. All in, about $1,000.
He sent a message to the company’s dispatch line to say they’d finished, and waited for the next assignment in Worrall’s driveway. A few moments later, the text came in.
“It looks like the next one is in Keller,” Marino said. “Flooded home.”
He and Paulk climbed into the big blue van and drove toward the next job.
