Experience a burst pipe in your home, and you may wish you had done something as a preventative measure in the first place. Once the pipe bursts, the possibility of water damage occurs. Excessive moisture can lead to an additional problem involving mold.

You can prevent a pipe from bursting by applying the correct lagging that correlates to pipe insulation thickness. Another simple technique involves preventing nail holes in pipes. Whenever you need to hammer nails in proximity to your pipes, use a pipe detector to locate any nail holes.

In case of an emergency involving a burst pipe, it is always a good idea to know where to find the main turn-off valve for your water flow because you will need to turn off the water right away. After turning off the water, use a flashlight, and try to find the hole that caused your pipe to burst. If you are able to locate one or more holes, you need to remove the damaged part of the pipe and replace it with a piece of copper pipe, called a compression coupler, obtainable at a plumbing supply store.

Since changing a burst pipe requires precise measuring, sawing and tightening of the copper coupler, the best thing to do is to contact a local plumber to fix the burst pipe. In addition to fixing the burst pipe, a plumber makes sure your repaired pipe has the proper amount of lagging and that the pipe does not contain any nail holes.