401 Contracting

01/23/2026

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: It’s COLD OUT🥶

❄️❄️The freezing temps are on the way! ARE YOU READY??? ❄️❄️

Here are some key tips to keep your pipes from freezing:
❄️ Open cabinet and closet doors where lines run, especially on outside walls EVEN DURING THE DAY
❄️ Keep doors to rooms open, especially in basements. You want to keep warm air moving. A closed door keep warm air out
❄️ Double check all vents and confirm that they are indeed open. Especially in those guest rooms and storage rooms
❄️ If you have a dropped ceiling in a basement, move panels to create warm air flow. Basement ceilings are places where cold air will pocket from a small, unknown hole from incoming outside lines (water lines, outside faucets, gas lines, electrical and cable lines, gaps in sheeting). Those small pockets can freeze a line.
❄️ Utilize space heaters WHERE SAFE AND USE PROPERLY. The heater may need to be placed below the bathroom or kitchen in the basement space. Remember, heat rises
❄️ Keep the water flowing. Leave the faucets trickling. If you have a two handle faucet (separate hot and cold) you will need to turn both sides on as they are separate water lines and both are vulnerable to freezing. A slightly higher water bill is far less expensive than the expense of busted water lines
❄️ Don’t forget your toilets!!! Keep those babies flushing and flowing!

WITH THESE TEMPS, THIS ISNT JUST FOR THE NIGHT TIME BUT DAY AND NIGHT UNTIL THE TEMPS RISE. 🌡

🧠 Knowledge is power and these are just a few tips to help keep your home warm, safe, and dry!

12/11/2025

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: It’s COLD OUT🥶

Water AND drain lines are vulnerable to freezing and rupturing. And while your house may be warm and toasty, your water line spaces (under the sink, crawl space, closets) may not be😳

The picture posted is of friend’s cabinet(from a couple of years ago…but still a relevant representation). Those cups turn blue when they are filled with ice. They are in her cabinet and BLUE NOW. NO ice. Her thermostat is registering 69 degrees. This is the perfect example of temperature differences. Your lines can freeze at any time.

Tips to prevent your pipes from freezing:
❄️ Open cabinet and closet doors where lines run, especially on outside walls EVEN DURING THE DAY
❄️ Keep doors to rooms open, especially in basements. You want to keep warm air moving. A closed door keep warm air out
❄️ Double check all vents and confirm that they are indeed open. Especially in those guest rooms and storage rooms
❄️ If you have a dropped ceiling in a basement, move panels to create warm air flow. Basement ceilings are places where cold air will pocket from a small, unknown hole from incoming outside lines (water lines, outside faucets, gas lines, electrical and cable lines, gaps in sheeting). Those small pockets can freeze a line.
❄️ Utilize space heaters WHERE SAFE AND USE PROPERLY. The heater may need to be placed below the bathroom or kitchen in the basement space. Remember, heat rises
❄️ Keep the water flowing. Leave the faucets trickling. If you have a two handle faucet (separate hot and cold) you will need to turn both sides on as they are separate water lines and both are vulnerable to freezing. A slightly higher water bill is far less expensive than the expense of busted water lines
❄️ Don’t forget your toilets!!! Keep those babies flushing and flowing!

WITH THESE TEMPS, THIS ISNT JUST FOR THE NIGHT TIME BUT DAY AND NIGHT UNTIL THE TEMPS RISE. 🌡

🧠 Knowledge is power and these are just a few tips to help keep your home warm, safe, and dry!

11/13/2025

We always feel so honored when we get to be a part of bringing a customer’s vision to life!! We really love when those customers also become friends through the process!! And, we LOVE our new swag from our customer/friend’s vision that will soon be available to ALL of you!!!

Thank you Roasterz Coffee Co. for allowing us to be a part of your project!!! This new coffee shop in Wood River Illinois is LEGIT!

10/29/2025

❄️NO, the bitter cold hasn’t hit yet, but NOW is the time to get prepared so as to avoid the winter blues caused by frozen water pipes😩

Here are a few things you can do while the weather isn’t brutal! ❄️

10/17/2025

Did you know we do the plumbing in food trucks?? 🚛

We love helping people bring life to their dreams! And we consider it an absolute HONOR to help small business/entrepreneurs in getting their business up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible!

We also know that starting a business can be overwhelming. We specialize in bringing the calm by relieving the stress related to meeting both state and local plumbing codes!

Thank YOU Klausti's Kitchen for choosing us when you were ready to get on the road!!

And, if you are looking for high quality, AMAZING, made from scratch food…FIND KLAUSTI’S KITCHEN’S LOCATION!!! Or better yet, book them for your next event!!

07/10/2024

Today, we want to thank Blue Ice Creamery for allowing us to be a part of their facility in Woodburn! Blue Ice Creamery is a great business with community at heart! You will definitely want to follow them to keep up on all of the cool things they are working on!

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your project!! Blue Ice Creamery

06/26/2024

Today we want to say THANK YOU to APT (Alton Physical Therapy)! We had the opportunity to not only do the plumbing for the whole building remodel, but to also be a part of the aquatic therapy pool!

APT sits near and dear to our hearts so having the opportunity to work on this project was pretty special to us!!

Thank YOU Alton Physical Therapy, P.C. for choosing us to be a part of this amazing project!

06/21/2024

We have never done much social media posting outside of offering guidance during the hard freeze the Midwest winters sometimes bring. But we have been reflecting lately on how blessed we are to have been a part of some great commercial projects in our area. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to those businesses for choosing us to be a part of the process and plan to highlight them in some up coming posts.

We want to start with one of our very first. Sip & Play Wine and Gaming Cafe' allowed us to help with the remodel of their building before the doors opened. What a great transformation of this building!!

THANK YOU Sip & Play for choosing 401 Contracting for your plumbing needs!!

02/22/2024

HEADS UP: Many may already know this, but AT&T is not working well today. If you call or text us and we don’t respond, please know it is the current cell service that is preventing us from receiving and/or sending messages and calls. You can message us on FB, but please know that we will be in the road and not connected to Wi-Fi to receive. We will return any communication as soon as we are able 🚽🔧☎️

01/15/2024

Now is the time that we are beginning to get the calls about frozen lines. Here is a reminder of what you can do to thaw your lines. We are going to add that depending on your situation, it may be necessary to cut a hole in the wall to get heat to the frozen line. And while a patch job can be a pain and have some expense, it is still far less expensive then a busted line.

“MY WATER LINES ARE FROZEN😭WHAT DO I DO🤔”

If you have water or drain lines that have frozen, you don’t need to worry about calling a plumber (you don’t want to pay someone to sit at your house to watch ice melt...and that might take hours💸⏰)

WHEN TO CALL A PLUMBER…IF THE LINES ARE BUSTED😩😩

What to do to get the water flowing again:

🔥HEAT🔥 YOU HAVE TO GET HEAT (not fire) on the lines and the area around the lines.

🔥open cabinet and closet doors
🔥move ceiling tiles in drop ceilings where water lines are above
🔥keep the heat on the lines UNTIL THE TEMPS RISE🌡 As of now that is going to be a couple of days. If you thaw the lines and close up shop, take away the heat, the lines will most likely re-freeze🥶
🔥THE PROCESS CAN TAKE A WHILE…maybe even hours so be patient. While waiting, check the space for air gaps. If you have incoming lines, seal around them with caulk or spray foam. Any air leak creates cold pockets and can be the source of your freezing
🔥If the space is not heated, DUMPING HOT WATER ON THEM WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM BUT COULD MAKE IT WORSE. You are essentially building an ice block in your lines and that can cause a busted line.
💧💧💧KNOW WHERE THE MAIN WATER SHUTOFF IS. In the event of a busted line, shut the water off at the main line coming into the house IMMEDIATELY💧💧💧

If you have any questions, please let us know. My goal is to help you keep your house dry and safe