Pipes Frozen Starts Going Then Stops Again

A rare "flop cyclone" has just slammed the Northeast. Homes are being battered by inches of snow, hurricane-force winds, and sub-zero temperatures. As of apex on Thursday, more than fifty,000 Americans had already lost power. That number is but expected to climb.

The blizzard follows a week of roughshod cold that has enveloped the U.S. Many cities are experiencing record lows. In some cases, the cold stretch is the longest on tape since at least 1918.

In this conditions, your pipes don't stand a chance.

Take it from me, a homeowner and landlord who has been wrangling with frozen pipes since concluding Thursday. Nosotros enjoyed a few relaxing days away for the holidays, simply to return to Boston to find our pipes frozen solid. Just when we resolved the upshot in our unit, ane of our tenants called to say that her pipes were frozen, besides.

The by week has been a crash form on frozen pipes. Here are 10 tips that I've learned on what to do if your pipes freeze–and how to prevent this from happening next time.

What to Do if Your Pipes Freeze

Tip #i: Pipes Don't Always Freeze in the Same Spot

We knew that the pipes in our unit of measurement were prone to freezing. Ii years agone, one of our pipes fifty-fifty burst due to the farthermost cold. Fortunately, I was working from home that 24-hour interval and heard the water spraying in the basement. I was able to run downstairs and close the h2o off to our unit before the basement flooded. (HUGE relief.)

After that happened, we wrapped all of our exposed pipes with heating cables. These cables look like a long extension cord that you wrap around plastic or metal cold h2o lines to prevent them from freezing when the temperature drops. Nosotros go on these cables plugged in all wintertime long. Last twelvemonth, that'due south all we needed to avoid frozen pipes.

But this year, our pipes froze in a different spot. When nosotros came home last Thursday, it was a mad nuance to observe the problem area. To the all-time of our knowledge, the pipes had frozen underneath the bathroom sink. We immediately took a hair dryer to the area and that seemed to thaw it out enough to get the water running once over again.

Tip #ii: A Hairdryer Doesn't Always Exercise the Trick

We initially thought we were in the clear. Then we woke up with frozen pipes again on Friday morning. We did the aforementioned vocal and dance again, taking pilus dryers to any surface area we thought might be causing the blockage. Nosotros even put a little space heater under the sink to endeavour to warm things up.

This fourth dimension, information technology wasn't plenty. The pipes were still freezing.

And then I dashed to Dwelling house Depot for more heating cables. Thankfully, in that location were yet a few in stock. We brought these home and then jury-rigged our best solution: cut a pigsty through the bottom of our bathroom vanity large enough to fit a paw down alongside the pipes. Nosotros then fished a heating cablevision down around the pipes and into the basement. Information technology doesn't look pretty. At that place are power strips and extension cords all over the place–but information technology seems to accept worked (for now).

Tip #iii: Your Culprit May Exist a Drafty Foundation

One of the things we've come to realize is that the pipes always freeze along an exterior wall of our home. In this specific area, our brick foundation seems to be crumbling. At that place are pocket-size crevices that we've tried to patch with spray foam insulation (the kind that expands to fill the infinite). We've besides tucked a layer of fiberglass insulation betwixt the pipes and the interior of the foundation. Apparently, that wasn't plenty to foreclose the pipes from freezing, merely we figured that it couldn't injure.

Patching the foundation is something that'due south been on our to-practise list for some time now. It's become clear that we need to make that a priority this spring.

Tip #iv: In Sustained Common cold, Pipes That Take Never Frozen May Freeze

The jury-rigged solution we came upwards with to keep our pipes from freezing seems to accept worked. We made it through Friday night'due south below-zero weather condition and withal had running water on Saturday morning. We seemed to have dodged a bullet yet again. So with that, nosotros felt similar we'd be safe to leave town for a few days for New year's day'south.

Before leaving, we shut the water off to our water tank. Information technology was an actress precaution, but one that nosotros felt would protect our abode in case the pipes froze. This fashion, even if a pipe burst, the damage would exist express since in that location wouldn't be water to feed the leak.

Sat night passed without event. We sailed through Lord's day into the New Yr without a problem–just of course, that only lasted so long.

I woke upward to a call from ane of my tenants on Mon forenoon: She had no water in her unit.

In hindsight, I should have suggested that she exit her water dripping through the weekend. I didn't think to do and so because her pipes had never frozen. Indeed, there's a outset time for everything!

Tip #5: The Biggest Challenge is When Pipes Freeze Behind a Wall

Nosotros rushed back to Boston on Monday morning time to bargain with the outcome ASAP–but this time, nosotros faced a new challenge: We had already wrapped, taken a hairdryer to, and set infinite heaters on all of the exposed pipes feeding her unit. Nosotros were stumped. The frozen pipe must exist behind a wall (the aforementioned exterior wall that had been giving us so much trouble). We didn't know what to practise.

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I called a few friends to ask for suggestions. A lifelong plumber told us to creepo the heat as high as possible and identify infinite heaters along the wall that nosotros suspected was the result. After a few hours, that should practise the play a joke on, he said.

Information technology didn't.

By 10 P.Chiliad. on Mon nighttime, the unit was ninety degrees, but the pipes were notwithstanding frozen.

We crossed our fingers and hoped for the all-time–that the pipes wouldn't freeze overnight.

Read information technology on the #BuildiumBlog ASAP: ten means to treat and prevent frozen pipes this winter. Click To Tweet

Tip #vi: With the Proper Equipment, a Plumber Can Fix the Problem in No Time

The next morning, I flake the bullet and called a plumber. The only other alternative would be to beginning cutting into walls in search of the frozen piping–a step that I wasn't ready to accept.

At 9 A.1000., I called my local plumber. I told him what had happened, that we believed we had isolated the issue to a specific location, and suggested that nosotros'd probably need someone to come out with a thaw machine (more on that to come).

Fortunately, he's one of the plumbers who has a thaw machine–not all do.

Unfortunately, he had 47 customers on his waiting list in demand of said thaw machine.

Fortunately, I use him for all of my plumbing–far more oft than I'd like to admit–so I was a client that he wanted to aid out. He got to my business firm before noon to deal with the issue. In less than 10 minutes, he had the pipes thawed and water restored.

Tip #vii: A Thaw Machine Volition Be Your Savior

Then, what'southward a thaw machine? It's exactly what information technology sounds similar: a portable device that plumbers use to thaw pipes chop-chop. Picture a auto bombardment with jumper cables running out of either end. Yous claw one end up to an unfrozen piping, and the other to the frozen section.

Y'all plug the thaw machine in, flick the switch, and merely look.

The thaw machine sends low-voltage, high-currency electricity through the pipe. As the frozen sections begin to thaw, the warmer water seeps through the water ice, helping to melt the rest. Downstream, water volition begin to flow out of the faucet in minutes. Best of all, the device tin can clear lines up to 175 feet long and tin be used on either copper or atomic number 26 pipes.

It cost a few hundred dollars to accept the plumber come out and service the unit, merely it saved us from having to cutting into walls–or worse, thousands of dollars' worth of damage had the pipe burst backside the wall.

Tip #8. Y'all Actually Do Need to Run the Water During Cold Spells

One of my biggest concerns was that the pipes would re-freeze just a few days subsequently. This weekend, the temperature in Boston is expected to dip to record lows of upward to -18 degrees (aye, that's in Fahrenheit!). How could we keep the pipes from freezing yet over again?

It'south uncomplicated. Your mom has probably told y'all x thou times to keep the water dripping overnight to forestall pipes from freezing. At least, my mom has. I always thought it was an former wives' tale. But my plumber confirmed that this is the only style to keep the pipes from freezing during sustained common cold like we're experiencing now. Certain, the h2o beak might go upwards, only once more–it's a small price to pay to ward off the damage caused by burst pipes.

Tip #9: Hot H2o and Salt Can Thaw Drainpipes

While we didn't have any consequence with our drainpipes, our plumber also gave us this tidbit of communication: If your drain pipes freeze, boil a kettle of hot h2o. Stir a loving cup of kosher salt into the hot h2o, then cascade the concoction down the frozen drain. This slurry will act like the rock table salt you put downwards outside to melt ice-covered sidewalks. Exercise this a couple of times, and it should get water flowing through your drain in no fourth dimension.

Tip #10: Accept Steps to Prevent Frozen Pipes–and Have a Plumber on Speed-Dial

Farthermost common cold presents a existent challenge for property owners and managers alike. Accept every precaution to avoid frozen pipes–and if your pipes DO freeze, save yourself a headache by calling in a plumber with a thaw motorcar. Having tried everything else over the past week, I can confidently say that it's the only fool-proof solution.

Then, your pipes froze--now what? Read this ten-step guide ASAP on the #BuildiumBlog! Click To Tweet Read more on Maintenance & Improvements

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