Don’t Fear the Worst after a Pipe Bursts; Call SERVPRO of St. Clair Shores.

Equal opportunity destruction

When a pipe bursts, there is water damage to the flooring and sometimes to the ceiling below. The water damages drywall, appliances, upholstery, and wood. A burst pipe can release enormous amounts of water, leading to widespread and varied damage.

The longer the water has to seep into structures and objects, the more damage it can do. If a pipe bursts in a Roseville building, call SERVPRO^® of St. Clair Shores at 586-741-5050. Our emergency service is available during whatever time a disaster can strike: any time, any day.

Despite the risk of burst pipes, we’re all for indoor plumbing

Think about life without indoor plumbing. Imagine:

• Bathtubs instead of showers
• Bathing in cold water, or in water we heated on a stove
• Dealing with diapers
• Outhouses
• Washing the dishes would be a much tougher chore
• Washing clothes would be worse

Indoor plumbing: a brief history

Sir John Harrington invented a flush toilet in 1596 for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth. Since there wasn’t a plumbing system for sewage, the toilet wasn’t useful. One has to admire Harrington’s ingenuity: he figured out a flushing toilet without a destination for the flushed materials.

Alexander Cummings developed a flush toilet in 1775. Thomas Crapper and Company updated the toilet and sold it on the mass market. Yes, “Crapper.”

Philadelphia was the first U.S. city to use cast iron pipes for water mains in 1804.

In 1810, the English Regency Shower made a splash.

New York opened the Croton Aqueduct System in 1842. Water from the mid-Hudson Valley flowed through pipes to smaller reservoirs 40 miles south in Manhattan. The water went through underground mains to supply buildings with running water.

It wasn’t until 1857 that Julius P. Adams developed the modern sewage system. By 1899, Chicago had the first city-wide sewer system in the U.S.

Back to the present

Before indoor plumbing, no one had to deal with burst pipes. Of course, there were no pipes to burst, so we can’t say things were better.

We hope you never have to deal with the mess caused by burst pipes. If that does happen, call us to make the disaster look "Like it never even happened."^®