With the terribly cold weather sweeping across the country, some of us may need to be wary about frozen pipes. If you DO end up with frozen pipes, here are some tips for dealing with them thanks to Terry Overacker Plumbing. (They are awesome plumbers, by the way – and they are right around the corner from me!) They are sharing what to do if you’re already a victim of frozen pipes, or if you’re still lucky…. how to prevent frozen pipes.
What to Do If Your Pipes Are Already Frozen
1. Don’t leave your pipes frozen and just wait for them to thaw.
Frozen pipes can expand and crack, which will cause water damage when they thaw. Getting them thawed as quickly as possible reduces the chances of breaks. Breaks sometimes are in areas that are not exposed or accessible so more repairs have to be done to access the pipes to repair them.
2. Get heat to them as quickly as possible.
If there is a cabinet, open the doors. Place space heaters in front of area or walls that contain frozen pipes to heat them up so they start thawing. Increase the heat in your house. Keep faucets open while thawing the pipes.
How to Prevent Frozen Pipes
If you’re pipes aren’t already frozen, DON’T LET YOUR PIPES FREEZE…
Preventing your pipes from freezing is better than thawing after they freeze.
When temperatures are less than 10 degrees: On faucets that are against an outside wall, you want to leave a small trickle of WARM water running to keep the pipes warm. At least the trickle size of a wooden match stick. Too little can freeze in your drain pipes. Periodically run lots of hot water. If you don’t have any faucets on the outside wall and the temperatures are really low, and you have more than one level to your home, leave one faucet on the top level and one on the bottom level trickling. Or at the very least, leave a faucet trickling in your home somewhere.
Anytime the temperatures are below freezing: Open the doors to the vanity or sink below the faucets and turn up your house heat a few degrees if you keep it low.
When the wind is blowing in the cold of winter it increases the chances of pipes freezing. If your pipes have never froze before that doesn’t mean they won’t. Houses get very fine hairline cracks in the foundation that will allow the extremely cold air to filter in and cause freezing.
If you are unfortunate enough to have your pipes freeze, don’t leave them frozen and wait for temperatures to rise. Frozen pipes can expand and crack, which will cause water damage when they thaw.
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! – Josh from Madison Plumbers
Mary Dailey says
This is something I need to print, as the winters seem to be getting colder and colder!
elfette says
leave the tap on so it drips
if frozen already … heard a blow dryer will help
IS IT SPRING YET!!!!
Cynthia L says
I had pipes freeze one time and that was enough. I am so glad you shared this post at the Living Big on Less Money link party. I know there are a lot of people who need to read this right now! See you next week.
I pinned this!
Amy Adams says
This is excellent information and it couldn’t come at a better time with all the frigid weather hitting most of the U.S. There is also wrap you can put around pipes to insulate during the winter months. You can purchase this at any major hardware stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. It helps immensely during the winter months.
vickie couturier says
this is good to know now with so many frozen pipes
Tammilee Tillison says
Such good tips. I am horrible at remembering to turn on a faucet. We live in a crazy cold house and I am always scared the pipes are going to freeze.
Sofia says
Our kitchen sink pipes froze back in December (only the hot water one). It thawed on its own thanks to the sun coming out, but I can see how scary and expensive it could be to have a pipe burst.
Lena says
This is crazy – I have never heard of frozen pipes until this year!
diane says
Growing up in the North we always had pipes insulated but here in Georgia frozen pipes are a huge problem. There have been several people with burst lines and even a few main water lines breaking!
Kristin Wheeler (@MamaLuvsBooks) says
Oh wow! It’s 7 degrees this morning here and feels like -8! I’m going to share these tips around with my friends here!