Plumbing answers for Fargo-Moorhead homes.

Water pipes are at real risk once the air around them stays at about 20°F or colder for several hours. In Fargo, where January nights average near 0°F and stretches of 20 below are normal, any pipe in an outside wall, a rim joist, a crawl space or an unheated garage can freeze in a single night if the heat does not reach it.

Wind makes it worse. A small gap in the siding or around a dryer vent lets a stream of cold air blow straight onto a pipe, and that pipe will freeze long before the rest of the house feels cold. The usual trouble spots are kitchen sinks on north walls, bathrooms over garages, and pipes that run through the rim joist at the top of the basement wall.

Keep the thermostat at 55°F or higher even when you are away, open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, and let a thin, steady stream of cold water run from the faucet that is fed by the most vulnerable pipe during the coldest hours.

Before winter, disconnect every garden hose, seal the gaps where pipes, wires and vents pass through the rim joist, and insulate that area properly. If you travel in winter, have someone walk through the house every day. A furnace that quits while nobody is home is how most whole-house freeze-ups start, and at 20 below it does not take long.

Open the faucet that the pipe feeds, then warm the frozen section gently with a hair dryer, a heating pad or a space heater kept well away from anything that can burn. Start at the faucet end and work back toward the frozen spot. Never use a torch or any open flame.

Find your main water shut-off before you begin, because a frozen pipe often does not leak until it thaws. If you cannot reach the frozen section, if no faucet in the house runs at all, or if you can see a bulge or split in the pipe, close the main valve and call a plumber.

Close the main water shut-off valve immediately. In most Fargo-Moorhead homes it is in the basement, where the water line comes up through the floor or in through the foundation wall, right beside the water meter. Then open a faucet on the lowest level to drain the pressure.

If water is near outlets, the electrical panel or appliances, stay out of it, and switch off power to that area only if you can reach the panel on dry footing. Move what you can, take photos for your insurance company, and call a plumber. If the valve will not turn or will not close completely, your city water department can shut the water off at the curb.

It may be. If every faucet in the house is dry or down to a trickle after a long stretch of deep cold, and your neighbors still have water, the buried service line between the street and your house, or the pipe right where it enters the basement, may have frozen.

Check the easy things first: make sure the main valve is open and look at the pipe and meter where the line enters the basement, since a cold draft there is a common cause and can be warmed gently. If the freeze is underground, call your city water department and a plumber. Thawing a buried line takes special equipment, and it should never be attempted with a welder or an open flame.

Once a service line has frozen, it is likely to freeze again in the next hard winter. In deep-frost years, cities in this region sometimes ask affected households to keep a pencil-width stream of cold water running until the frost comes out of the ground. Follow your water utility's instructions before you do that, because it does use water.

In a typical Fargo winter the ground freezes roughly four feet down, and in a cold winter with little snow cover the frost goes considerably deeper, especially under plowed streets, driveways and sidewalks where there is no snow to insulate the soil. Water mains and service lines here are buried well below that, commonly seven feet or more.

That depth is why most houses never have a frozen service line. The exceptions are usually lines that were laid shallow, lines that pass under a driveway that is kept bare all winter, and winters when hard cold arrives before the snow does.

A frost-free hose bib only drains itself if the hose is taken off. With a hose left attached over winter, water stays trapped in the long stem inside the wall, freezes and splits the tube. Nothing leaks until the first time you turn the faucet on in spring, and then the water runs inside the wall or down into the basement.

If you see or hear water inside while the outdoor faucet is running, turn it off and leave it off. The repair is a new hose bib, and it is one of the most common spring calls in Fargo. Taking every hose off before the first hard freeze, usually by early October here, is what prevents it.

Either keep the house heated to at least 55°F and have someone check it daily, or have the plumbing fully winterized: water shut off at the main, lines drained, and the water heater and traps protected. A house left with the water on and nobody watching is the biggest plumbing risk there is in a North Dakota winter.

A middle course that works well for a few weeks away: shut off the main valve, open a faucet to relieve the pressure, set the water heater to its vacation setting, and leave the heat on. If the furnace fails, the damage is then limited to what is in the pipes. A low-temperature alarm that calls your phone is inexpensive insurance.

If your home has a basement, almost certainly yes. The Red River Valley is flat, the soil is heavy clay that drains slowly, and the water table rises sharply with spring snowmelt. Most basements here are built with drain tile around the footing that leads to a sump pit, and the pump is what empties it.

A sump pump that fails in April can put inches of water in a finished basement in a few hours. If your pump is more than about seven to ten years old, or you do not know its age, have it looked at before the melt rather than during it.

In Fargo, sump pump and foundation drain water may not be discharged into the sanitary sewer from April 1 to September 30; it must go outside to the yard or to the storm system. From October 1 to March 31 the city allows discharge into the sanitary sewer with an approved seasonal waiver, so the outdoor line does not freeze.

The summer rule exists because clean groundwater overloads the sewer system and the treatment plant during wet weather. West Fargo runs its own sump pump program with seasonal rules as well, and Moorhead has its own requirements, so check with your city's public works department for the dates that apply to you.

Slowly pour a five-gallon bucket of water into the sump pit. The float should rise, the pump should start on its own, empty the pit quickly and shut off, and you should not hear the water fall back down the pipe afterward.

If the pump hums without moving water, runs without shutting off, or the water comes straight back, the pump, the float switch or the check valve needs attention. Also walk outside and make sure the discharge line is clear, not frozen, and pointed away from the foundation.

In this valley, a backup pump is well worth having if your basement is finished or your primary pump runs often. The heaviest water tends to arrive with spring storms, which is exactly when the power goes out or a single pump is overwhelmed.

A battery backup sits beside the main pump with its own float and takes over when the power fails or the main pump cannot keep up. A high-water alarm is a useful minimum. Ask a plumber which arrangement suits your pit and how often your pump runs.

During spring snowmelt or after heavy rain, a pump that cycles every few minutes can be normal in the Red River Valley. A pump that runs constantly in dry weather, or never shuts off, is not, and it will wear out early.

Common causes are a stuck float switch, a failed check valve that lets the same water fall back into the pit, a discharge line that is frozen or blocked, or a pump that is too small for the amount of water. A plumber can tell which it is in one visit.

A backwater valve is a one-way valve on the home's sewer line that lets wastewater flow out but closes if the city sewer backs up toward the house. In a flood-prone, flat city, it is the main protection against sewage coming up through the basement floor drain.

Homes with plumbing fixtures in the basement benefit most. Some older houses have a simpler floor-drain plug or standpipe instead. A backwater valve needs to be accessible and cleaned from time to time, because one that is stuck open does nothing. A plumber can check whether you have one and whether it works.

Stop using water in the house: no flushing, laundry, dishwasher or showers. If the water is clear and it appears during a melt or a storm, it is most likely groundwater or a sewer under pressure; if it appears when you run water, your own drain line is blocked.

Stay out of standing water if it is anywhere near outlets or appliances, and treat it as contaminated. Call a plumber, and if neighbors have the same problem, report it to your city's public works department as well, because that points to the city main.

Because the water coming into the house is far colder. In midwinter the incoming water here is only a few degrees above freezing, so the heater has to raise it roughly 80 degrees or more instead of 50 or 60. The tank recovers more slowly, and you mix less cold water into each shower, so the hot water runs out sooner.

It is normal for a tank that felt generous in August to feel small in January. Sediment makes it worse: a layer of scale on the bottom of a gas tank or around an electric element slows heating further. Flushing the tank helps, and if the heater is simply undersized for the household, the next one can be sized for winter.

Most tank water heaters here last about 8 to 12 years. Hard water, a tank that has never been flushed and a worn-out anode rod shorten that; softened water and regular maintenance lengthen it.

You can read the age from the serial number on the rating plate. If the tank is past ten years, plan the replacement instead of waiting for the leak, because a water heater almost always fails by leaking, and in a finished basement that is an expensive way to find out.

Close the cold-water valve on the pipe going into the top of the heater. If the heater is electric, switch off its breaker as well. Then call a plumber, who can tell you over the phone what else to do for your type of heater.

Water from a fitting or valve on top can often be repaired. Water coming from the bottom of the tank itself means the tank has rusted through, and the heater needs replacing. If you smell gas at any point, leave the house and call your gas utility or 911 from outside.

Repair it if it is under about eight years old and the problem is a part: a thermostat, an element, a thermocouple or gas control, a relief valve or a leaking fitting. Replace it if the tank itself is leaking, or if it is more than ten or twelve years old and needs a significant repair.

A good plumber will tell you which side of that line you are on. A repair that buys two more years from a twelve-year-old tank is rarely money well spent, but replacing a five-year-old heater for want of a simple part is not either.

It can be, but it has to be sized for our winter water. A tankless heater's output drops as the incoming water gets colder, so a unit that runs two showers at once in a warm state may manage only one here in January.

Tankless heaters also usually need a larger gas line and their own venting, and in hard or moderately hard water they need descaling every year or so. For many Fargo-Moorhead households a properly sized, good-quality tank is the simpler and more dependable choice. Ask for the unit's flow rate at a 75 to 80 degree temperature rise before you decide.

That sound is sediment. Minerals from the water settle on the bottom of the tank, and steam bubbles forming under that layer pop their way through it. It is common wherever the water carries hardness.

It is not dangerous in itself, but it means the heater is working harder and the tank bottom is running hotter than it should. Flushing the tank can help if it is done regularly. On an old tank that has never been flushed, ask a plumber first, because disturbing heavy sediment sometimes reveals a leak it was covering.

120°F is the usual recommendation for a home. It is hot enough for showers and dishes, limits the risk of scalding and keeps energy use down.

Because winter inlet water is so cold here, some households raise the setting to stretch the hot water. If you do, have a plumber fit a mixing valve at the heater so the tank can be stored hotter while the water at the taps stays at a safe temperature, particularly with young children or older adults in the house.

Fargo's water treatment plant softens Red River water from an average of about 17 grains per gallon to a target of about 7 grains per gallon, roughly 120 parts per million. That is moderately hard: much better than the raw river water, but still enough to leave scale. West Fargo is supplied with Fargo-treated water, and Moorhead Public Service also softens its water at the plant.

The city leaves some hardness in on purpose, because very soft water is more corrosive to pipes. Homes on rural water systems or private wells around the valley can have far harder water than the cities do, sometimes with iron as well, so it is worth testing.

You do not need one, but many households here choose one. At about 7 grains per gallon, city water still leaves spots on glassware, film on shower doors and scale inside the water heater, and a softener removes that.

If you have a softener that was set up years ago, or one that came with the house, check its hardness setting. Many are still set for much harder water than the city now delivers, which wastes salt and water with every regeneration. On a private well or rural water, a softener is usually much closer to a necessity.

Set it to the actual hardness of the water coming into your house, in grains per gallon. For Fargo and West Fargo city water that is about 7; for a well, use a test result. If the water also contains iron, the setting is usually raised a few grains to account for it.

A softener set too high regenerates more often than it needs to and uses extra salt. One set too low lets hardness through before it regenerates. If you are unsure, a plumber can test the water and set the control valve correctly.

The most common causes are simple: the salt tank is empty, the salt has formed a hard crust or bridge with a hollow space beneath it, the bypass valve has been left in bypass, or the unit has lost power and its clock or settings.

If those are all in order and the water is still hard, the problem is usually inside the control valve or the resin bed, which wears out after many years. A softener that is constantly running water to the drain should be put in bypass and looked at by a plumber.

Fargo and Moorhead both draw most of their water from the Red River, and a river changes with the seasons. Spring runoff and late-summer warmth can bring earthy or musty tastes and odors that the treatment plants work to remove but that sensitive noses sometimes still notice.

It is a matter of taste rather than safety; the cities publish annual water quality reports that show what is tested. If the smell is only in the hot water, the cause is more likely inside your water heater, and that is something a plumber can fix.

It is possible in older homes. Houses built before about 1950 in the older neighborhoods of Fargo and Moorhead may still have a lead or galvanized steel service line between the main and the meter. Newer homes have copper or plastic.

You can check where the line enters the basement: lead is dull gray, soft enough to scratch shiny with a coin, and a magnet will not stick to it. Galvanized steel is hard and a magnet does stick. Your city water department keeps service line records and can tell you what it has on file and what replacement help is available.

In most Fargo-Moorhead homes the main shut-off is in the basement, on the pipe where the water line comes up through the floor or through the foundation wall, right next to the water meter. It is often on the street side of the house, near the water heater or in the utility room.

Find it today, not during a leak, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. A lever handle closes with a quarter turn; a round wheel handle turns clockwise. If the valve is stiff, corroded or will not close fully, have it replaced. That is a small job that matters a great deal on the day a pipe breaks.

Yes. A faucet that drips once a second wastes thousands of gallons a year, and the drip slowly cuts a groove in the valve seat, so the repair gets harder the longer it waits.

Most drips come from a worn cartridge, washer or seal. A good-quality faucet is usually worth repairing. A cheap faucet with a corroded body or no available parts is usually better replaced with one that will last.

In most cases the flapper at the bottom of the tank is worn and no longer seals, so water leaks slowly into the bowl and the fill valve keeps topping the tank up. The other common cause is a fill valve that does not shut off, sending water down the overflow tube.

A few drops of food coloring in the tank will tell you: if color shows in the bowl without flushing, the flapper is leaking. A running toilet can waste hundreds of gallons a day and will show on your water bill. It is an inexpensive repair.

Not necessarily. A hum means the motor has power but the grinding plate is jammed. Switch it off, unplug it or turn off its breaker, and never put your hand inside. Most disposals have a hex socket in the center of the underside, and turning it back and forth with the matching wrench frees the jam. Then press the red reset button on the bottom.

If it jams repeatedly, leaks from the bottom of the housing, or trips the reset as soon as it starts, the unit is worn out and should be replaced.

Grease, fat and oil, coffee grounds, eggshells, pasta and rice, potato peels and other starchy or fibrous scraps such as celery, onion skins and corn husks. They either coat the drain line or swell and pack into it.

Grease is the worst in this climate, because it sets hard in a cold drain line. Run plenty of cold water while the disposal is working and for several seconds afterward, so everything is carried well down the pipe.

If the pressure dropped at one faucet, the aerator or cartridge is probably clogged with mineral scale or grit, and cleaning or replacing it restores the flow. If it dropped throughout the house, check that the main valve is fully open and that the softener is not partly in bypass or clogged.

Low pressure on the hot side only points to the water heater or its valve. In a house with old galvanized steel pipe, pressure that has been fading for years is the pipe closing up with rust from the inside. And in deep cold, a sudden house-wide drop can be the first sign of a line beginning to freeze.

Because old gate valves fail when you finally use them. After years of sitting open, the stem corrodes, the gate sticks, and the valve either will not close or will not reopen, and sometimes the handle simply turns without doing anything.

A modern quarter-turn ball valve has a full-size opening and shuts with a quick turn of the lever, every time. Replacing the main shut-off and the stops under sinks and toilets is modest work that you will be glad of in an emergency.

Use the License Lookup on the North Dakota State Plumbing Board's website, ndplumbingboard.gov, or call the board in Bismarck at 701-328-9977. Anyone performing plumbing in North Dakota must be licensed with the board.

Ask the plumber for the license number and look it up. A reputable company prints it on its advertising. Plumbwise's license numbers are ND-2112 for North Dakota and MN-PJ738927 for Minnesota, as shown on our advertisement.

A journeyman plumber has completed an apprenticeship of four years and 7,600 hours under a master plumber and passed the state examination. A master plumber has then worked at least two more years and 3,400 hours as a licensed journeyman and passed the master examination.

The master license is the highest plumbing license the state issues. Apprentices are registered with the board too, and work under supervision.

Yes. Moorhead, Dilworth and the rest of Clay County are in Minnesota, where plumbers are licensed by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, not by the North Dakota board. A North Dakota license alone does not cover work on the Minnesota side of the river.

You can look up a Minnesota license on the Department of Labor and Industry's website. In a metro area split by a state line, it is worth asking a plumber whether they are licensed in the state where your house is. Plumbwise is licensed in both.

Often, yes. Replacing a water heater, adding or moving plumbing, and other installations that require inspection need a permit or installation certificate, which the licensed plumber normally takes care of. Simple repairs such as fixing a faucet or replacing a toilet's working parts generally do not.

North Dakota lets homeowners install plumbing in their own homes, but the same permits and inspections still apply. If you are unsure whether a job needs one, ask your plumber or your city's inspections department before the work starts.

Ask for the license number and check it, ask whether the company is insured, ask what the repair will cost before work begins, and ask what warranty comes with the work and for how long.

It is also fair to ask who will actually be doing the work and how long they have been in the trade. Clear answers to those questions tell you most of what you need to know. Plumbwise advertises a lifetime warranty on all service and repair; ask any plumber you are considering how theirs compares.

For most houses, yes, and especially for older homes and homes with finished basements. A general home inspection covers the whole house in a few hours. A plumbing inspection by a master plumber looks closely at the water heater, pipe materials, shut-off valves, sump pump, softener, fixtures and visible drains.

In Fargo-Moorhead the items that most often change a buyer's mind or price are an old water heater, a failing or missing sump pump, galvanized pipe near the end of its life, and evidence of past water in the basement. Knowing about them before closing is far cheaper than discovering them after.

Leave the building immediately, taking everyone with you, and call your gas utility's emergency line or 911 from outside, well away from the house. Do not switch lights or appliances on or off, do not use a phone inside, and do not try to find the leak or shut off appliances yourself.

Natural gas has a rotten-egg odor added so that leaks are noticed. The utility will come and make the situation safe. Once they have, a licensed plumber can repair or replace the gas piping or appliance connection. Gas line work is never a do-it-yourself job.