Tips and Tricks for Frozen Pipes
This family left for winter vacation without turning the water off to the house. A water line above the garage froze and burst and this is the end result.
The winter brings with it many challenges related to the weather. Freezing temperatures can wreak havoc on your plumbing system as evidenced by the picture above. The good news is that there are steps that can be taken to prevent these tragedies from ever occuring.
Preventative Measures:
- If your house is on a crawlspace, close all of the vents to prevent cold air from entering into the crawl area or install foam board insulation to cover the vents. The same would apply to an older home with a basement where there may be voids that would allow cold air in.
- Keep the garage door closed as much as possible if your water heater, water softener, hose bibb, laundry tub or any water lines for interior fixtures are in the wall between the garage and the house.
- Run hot and cold water at a trickle for any fixture that has been prone to freezing in the past or is located on an outside wall. Water that is moving through the pipes will not freeze.
- Open cabinet doors for the kitchen or bathroom sink to allow warm air in to circulate. Place anything that is in the cabinets that could be a safety hazard out of the reach of small children until water lines have thawed and things are back to normal.
- Always shut the water off to the house at the main shut-off valve when leaving for an extended period of time regardless of the time of year. Water lines don't need cold weather to flood a house.
No Water At A Plumbing Fixture Or For The Whole House:
- If you discover that there is no water to any of the fixtures in the house, then the pipe for the main water service has probably frozen at the water meter, in the crawlspace or at the water softener if it is in the garage.
- No water at just one fixture with water everywhere else in the house usually means the problem is isolated to just one area.
Tools And Common Sense:
- Before attempting any kind of thaw out, the main water shut-off valve should be located to ensure that the water can be turned off in case a pipe has been split. If a means to shut the water off is not available, call a licensed plumber to make the necessary repairs or there may be a risk of flooding the house after a pipe has been thawed out.
- Never use a torch or open flame to thaw water lines. Setting your house on fire is a very real danger for those that attempt this.
- A hair dryer or a heat gun can be used to thaw out frozen pipes if the affected area is accessible.
- If there is only cold water or only hot water at a fixture, run the faucet full blast with the handle in the middle for single handle faucets or with both handles open with 2-handle fixtures. Be sure that the drain can handle the amount of water that is flowing and do not leave the faucet running unattended.
- A space heater or salamander heater is another means of thawing frozen pipes in certain cases, but these can not be left unattended because of the risk of fire from the heaters or flooding once a pipe has thawed out.
Frozen Drain Lines:
Drain lines that are located on outside walls can also freeze and is typical of p-traps for the laundry box for washing machines. Flooding will occur if the washing machine is run with the drain frozen.
Sump Pumps:
Check your sump pump for proper operation. Sump pump discharge lines in extreme cold weather conditions have been known to freeze solid where the line exits the house or at the end of the discharge line where it dumps onto the ground. If this situation occurs and is not fixed immediately, the sump pump will run continuously until it burns up and fails. A battery back-up sump pump will not help in a situation like this unless the back-up system has its own separate discharge line to the outside.
Cutting the PVC pipe where the discharge exits the house or clearing the end of the line are the only immediate remedies when the discharge line for the sump pump freezes up.
Disclaimer:
This information is advice only and is not intended to replace the judgement and experience of a licensed plumber should actual repairs be necessary.