Burst pipe a soggy end to trip away
WHEN Michael Banks returned home from a trip to Coolum, he didn't get the welcome he had expected.
Rather, he found a collapsed ceiling, destroyed furniture and an unwanted waterfall gushing from his roof.
"It was like on those TV ads when they walk in and just say, 'Ahhh'," Mr Banks said.
The cold weather had caused a copper pipe in his ceiling to burst.
"When I arrived home on Saturday, I was at the door and I could hear a spurting inside," Mr Banks said.
"The ceiling had collapsed, the carpets in the rooms were saturated, the lounge was destroyed, TV destroyed. It was a bit of a shock."
Tradesmen have since been through his Warwick home assessing damage that thankfully was covered by insurance.
"I've got a Brisbane mob coming in to clean it all out and bring in fans to dry it out, then the electricians will come in and then a plumber to look at the pipes and then a builder will come in," Mr Banks said.
"So it will be at least two months I think before I can move back in."
Mr Banks is staying with friends in the interim.
Wayne Nielsen of Nielsen Trenching Service said Mr Banks's story was a reminder to all considering going away this winter to turn off their main water supply.
"It does happen a fair bit and if people aren't home it will fill the house up," Mr Nielsen said. "When it gets frosty, it expands the copper pipes and then splits them as it defrosts again."
Mr Nielsen has already seen three different cases of burst copper pipes in Warwick so far this winter.
