Oh NOooo! The pipes are frozen. You will quickly learn how hard it is to cope with no water when you don’t have any!
We did leave the water dripping from two separate faucets on opposite ends of the house. The day our pipes froze, low temperature broke a record set back in 1985, almost 30 years ago! The best information I found online about thawing frozen pipes safely was on the Red Cross site. They provide information on Preventing & Thawing Frozen Pipes. I’m going to share with you how I thawed our frozen pipes safely.
Frozen burst pipes in the garage
Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Insulation Corp.
What to Do When The Pipes Are Frozen
- Keep the faucet open. As the pipe begins to thaw, running water through the lines will assist with the thawing process
- Carefully apply heat to the area of pipe which is frozen. Do this by wrapping an electric heating pad around the pipe, or using a blow dryer on that section of pipe. If the pipe is located in an area where you can place an electric space heater safely, that can help as well. Never use a blowtorch or any open flame on a frozen pipe!
- Call a licensed plumber if the area of frozen pipe is not accessible
- Open cabinet doors to expose pipes to interior heat, especially for areas which are on an outside wall as with most kitchens
We left the pipes dripping, unhooked the water hose from the faucet outside, and wrapped our well. The pipes froze anyway! The water enters our home and the whole house water cut off is located in our laundry room. The laundry room is the only room in the house without air vents which means that room is cold in the winter and hot in the summer.
How I Thawed My Frozen Pipes
I did a quick internet search. (Thank goodness the internet is not affected by cold weather, right!) Knowing my circumstances, I chose to put an electric heater facing the wall where the water comes into the house. The cut-off valve felt very cold and that particular wall was very cold, even though it is an interior wall. It was worth the effort to heat that room and hope for the best. I set the electric heater facing the cold wall. About an hour later, the water was flowing again!
If you use an electric space heater for any reason, PLEASE watch this quick video (only 31 seconds) produced by FEMA
Unfortunately, pipes do freeze in the kind of bitter cold our country is experiencing this winter. Take precautions by educating yourself. You can read more about it on the Red Cross website here. Always operate space heaters safely, learn more about it here.
Shirley Wood
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Josh Ryan says
Having been in the business for over 10 years I would say that the most common call in the winter is due to frozen pipes. Most of the time I actually tell my customers to use a blow dryer before I come in but occasionally that’s not enough. Hope that helps anyone who stumbles across this!
Brian Hubb (Hubb Plumbing) says
Thanks for this, we have had some crazy frozen pipe problems here in Loganville, GA this past week. Even the little things like leaving the cabinets open to keep the warm air circulating, really does help.
Hope people read this before the freeze!
Shirley Wood says
Thanks Brian. I’m in Lizella, GA., not too terribly far from you. My daughter is in Smyrna, it has been really cold there.
Tammy Doiel @creativekkids.com says
We have water in the tub upstairs waiting to drain when the pipe unfreezes over our garage. It’s happened before, so I’m not worried–and we have over tubs and it’s the only pipe affected. I’m glad you got yours unfrozen!
Shirley Wood says
Well, I sure am glad it is just that one pipe for you and not the one coming into the house. Our frozen pipe was the one coming into the house, so there was literally no water until it thawed. Oh the joys of winter. I shall be better prepared next time:-)
Elena says
Thanks for sharing these tips. I have never really thought about this issue and never had the problem. Three days ago the cold water pipe in my tub was frozen. I placed a small electric heater in the bathroom near the tub and turned on the faucet of the frozen side. It work. Thanks for linking the FEMA video. Sometimes we don’t think about the simple things. We just do what we do as a routine.
Shirley Wood says
Ah, great minds think alike! That FEMA video is really a great device for folks who don’t realize the dangers of space heaters. I hate hearing those horror stories in the news every winter. I wish I could go door to door and educate people about it.
Anna @ Northern Homestead says
You are so smart to find all those tips. Now it is time to search for presentation, because with the weather being so crazy who knows when your pipes will freeze again.
Shirley Wood says
The weather sure is crazy! We are going back up out of freezing temps the rest of this week though, thankfully 🙂
Alli says
Great tips to keep on hand! Thanks for sharing.
Shirley Wood says
Thanks, Alli. Sometimes we learn things the hard way, sometimes we plan ahead.