Frozen Pipe Burst Water Damage — South Weber, UT

Loss Type: Category 1 Water / Freeze-Burst Pipe
Location: water damage restoration in South Weber, UT near South Weber Drive
Response Time: 58 minutes
Job Duration: 5 days
Insurance: Yes – American Family

The Situation

A homeowner near South Weber Drive called us on a February morning after discovering water running down the interior of an exterior wall in their master bedroom. A copper pipe in the rim joist area of the home’s north-facing wall had frozen and burst during an overnight cold snap that dropped temperatures well below zero. The burst had occurred sometime before dawn and water had been running inside the wall cavity and across the master bedroom floor for an estimated 3 to 4 hours before the homeowner woke and discovered it.

The homeowner shut off the main water supply and called Upkeep immediately. Our crew was on-site within 58 minutes, ready to begin water damage restoration after a frozen pipe burst, with a licensed plumber coordinated to follow.

The Problem

Rim joist pipe bursts in exterior walls create a particularly difficult drying scenario because the water runs down inside the wall cavity from a high point and saturates the full height of the insulation and framing before pooling at the bottom plate. In this case moisture readings on the master bedroom exterior wall showed elevated levels from the floor line to ceiling height on the affected section — approximately 14 linear feet of wall that had absorbed water throughout its full cavity depth.

The master bedroom carpet was fully saturated along the exterior wall and water had migrated under the baseboard into the subfloor. A section of the ceiling drywall at the top of the affected wall showed moisture from water that had tracked along the top plate before running down. The American Family claim was filed the same morning.

What We Did

The plumber repaired the burst pipe section in the rim joist before drying work began. We extracted water from the bedroom carpet and performed a full moisture map of the affected wall, subfloor, and ceiling using thermal imaging and pin meters to establish the complete damage boundary before any material removal.

The exterior wall drywall was removed across the full affected section — 14 linear feet floor to ceiling — to expose the insulation and framing. The saturated fiberglass batt insulation was removed entirely as it cannot be effectively dried in place and retains moisture against framing. The ceiling drywall at the top plate was removed across the moisture-affected section to allow that assembly to dry as well.

The drying system was designed around structural drying of the exposed wall framing from the rim joist to the floor plate, and included the following equipment:

• 3 LGR dehumidifiers positioned across the bedroom and adjacent hallway
• 5 air movers directed at exposed wall framing from rim joist to floor, exposed ceiling framing, and subfloor at wall base
• Twice-daily moisture readings on exterior wall framing at multiple heights, rim joist, subfloor, and adjacent ceiling framing

The rim joist framing and OSB sheathing required the full 5 days to reach target moisture content given the extended cold and the volume of water the assembly had absorbed. All other structural materials reached target on day 4.

The Outcome

All structural materials dried completely. The insurance claim process with American Family covered the full remediation scope including insulation replacement. The homeowner’s contractor rebuilt the wall with new insulation, replaced the drywall, and added closed-cell spray foam insulation in the rim joist bay on both sides of the repair location — a prevention measure we documented as a recommendation to reduce future freeze risk in that section of the home.

“Waking up to water running down your bedroom wall is a horrible way to start the day. Upkeep was there within an hour, had the plumber coordinated, and explained the full scope clearly before touching anything. Five days later everything was dry and ready for rebuild. American Family covered it all.”

— G. and L. Pace, South Weber UT

See also: the crawl space flooding we handled in South Weber for another example of freeze-related water intrusion in this area, or view all of our water damage case studies from our South Weber and Davis County projects.