Top Five Ways To UnFreeze Your Plumbing Pipes
By If your plumbing has been properly installed and taken care of your plumbing should ever freeze, but if the weather gets really cold your pipes could wind up freezing. This guide will give you the top five ways to unfreeze your pipes.
There is a few things that you will want to do before unfreezing any pipe. The first thing to determine is if the pipe you are about to unfreeze has any pressure it it. This is common if the frozen pipe is a water line. If the pipe that is frozen is a drain line it won’t be full of pressure normally because drain lines are not meant to hold pressure. If you determine that the pipe that is frozen is a water line or another type of line that has pressure it in you will want to shut of the source. For example if the water main or another domestic water line is frozen in your home you will first want to shut the water off before unfreezing the line. The reason you will want to shut a pressured line off before you unfreeze is because if the pipe has cracked or split the liquid in the pipe will spray out everywhere when you thaw the pipe.
Unfreezing the frozen pipe ca be simple once you locate the section that is frozen, so if you have located the section that is frozen continue to the steps below so you can see the best and top five ways to unfreeze your pipes.
How To Unfreeze Your Pipes With A Piping Hot Machine.
You can use something called a “piping hot” machine to unfreeze your pipes. This machine works by using to spring loaded clamps that attach to the section of the pipe. Once you connect the spring loaded clamps to the pipe you turn on the machine and the machine heats the section of pipe between the clamps. This machine can be rented from a local plumbing supply house or off course you could also buy it new .
How To Unfreeze Your Pipes With A Heat Gun
If you have a heat gun you can use that to heat the frozen pipes as well. Just take the heat gun and point it on the frozen area of the pipe and move it back and forth spreading the heat between the two frozen points.
How To Unfreeze Your Pipes With A Plumbers Torch (Only copper pipe with water)
If you have a hand held plumbers torch or even a b tank you can use the torch to unfreeze copper or a metal based pipe that has water in it only . You do NOT want to use a torch to unfreeze anything that may be flammable. So make sure to only use a torch on lines that contain water. Also be careful because using a torch will heat the pipe fast and if you heat the pipe to much you can not only unfreeze the pipe but melt the solder out of the copper fitting if you are not careful.
How To Unfreeze Your Pipes With Electric Pipe Heat Tape
Electric Plumbing heat tape is not only a great way to prevent your pipes from freezing but also a slow but effective way to defrost or unfreeze the frozen pipe. You simply just have to wrap the pipe with the heat tape and then plug the end of it into a 110 outlet. Heat tape can also be directly wired in by an electrician if it is needed in any areas that pipe insulation will not work.
How To Unfreeze Your Pipes With A Portable Electric Heater
You can use a portable space heater to also unfreeze your pipes if they are in an area that is big enough to get the space heater into. The other down side to using a portable heater is that most of them have only around 1500 watts of power and that is not that much BUT it will work to unfreeze your pipes. This method will also take much longer then then other methods of unfreezing a pipe like we mentioned above.
Proper preventive maintenance can prevent the freezing of any type of plumbing pipe anywhere in the world.It’s actually really cost effective and could cost as little as $100 dollars to protect your plumbing. Using things like pipe insulation, electric pipe heat tape, electric space heaters and plumbing water lines in inside walls only helps to prevent your pipes from freezing. If you have to call a professional licensed plumber to unfreeze your pipes it could cost you hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars depending on what has froze and the damage that needs to be repaired after everything is thawed.
Pipes are gray plastic about a half inch in diameter. The ceiling of our basement is sheetrocked. we made hole a little bigger and placed hair dryer for about 20 min in hole with no luck. Any other suggestions?
Grey Plastic indicates Polybutylene which is an older plastic pipe, it had some problems that ended up with a class action lawsuit but lets not worry about that right now, you probably are safe from getting a burst pipe from freezing. The Polybutylene did have some freeze bursting resistance.
I would continue with the hair dryer and see if there are any other areas where the pipe got cold and could freeze. I’ve had times when i poked the hair dryer in a hole and an hour later it finally penetrated to the area where the freeze up was.
Of course if you have picked the wrong area nothing will happen.
My hot water pipe froze yesterday in my bathroom, and I have been unsuccessful in thawing them out. Without ripping up the bathroom floor, I cannot get to them. The bathroom is an add on an inaccessible from the crawlspace and there are too many pipes in the way by the “plumber’s entrance” to get in there. I ran water since 730 yesterday morning, I heated up the room with a space heater, I turned up the household heat so the vent would warm up the underneath, and I blew a hair dryer on the pipes of the back of the shower that I can get to. I’ve already insulated the pipes below and then blew in insulation. Do you have any advice?
Can you point a space heater into the crawl space?
The warmth will reach where you can’t and hopefully thaw the pipes before they burst.
It would be nice if the plumber didn’t have to get in there.
You mentioned a class action lawsuit on this type of pipe. Is this something we should look into replacing and maybe the lawsuit to help do that? Will these pipes last?
The Polybutylene settlement date has past in all but a handful of cases.
I really wouldn’t worry about it unless you start getting leaks or, if you go to make alterations to your plumbing system. If this is the case there are special techniques required to attach other types of pipe to the Polybutylene. Basically they found that high levels of chlorine in the water reacted with the Polybutylene causing failure. If you haven’t seen any problems I wouldn’t worry about it and just cross your fingers. There are many Polybutylene systems that have been in service from the early 80’s that have had no problems while others had problems within 5-10 years. You can Google “Polybutylene Class Action” and get plenty of information. Some types of connectors used were more problematic than others.
How did you make out with your frozen pipes?
I have no cold water coming out of the kitchen sink and after burning up 2 hair dryers, I bought a space heater and that has been running for about an hour. I called a plumber and he came and said there was nothing he could do because all of my pipes were plastic and I have a completely finished basement. Any idea how long the space heater will take? I can’t see anything frozen underneath the sink so I assume it is behind the wall. The plumber told me to target it to the cold water side, as I now have the hot water running. Just wondering how long I should expect this to take to thaw?
Thanks!
Hi Lynne,
Until you get the heat to the point where the pipe is frozen it won’t thaw.
Do you have the heat turned up in the basement?
I’m surprised the plumber didn’t open anything up to find where it was frozen and what could be done to thaw it and prevent the freeze from happening again.
I have turned up the heat 4 degrees, and have opened some vents in the basement. However, all the other plumbing (including that in the basement) is fine. The plumber told me to keep doing what I was doing with the hair dryer & space heater because it had worked to get the hot water going. He also checked the plumbing downstairs but coulnd’t get to anything because the basement is finished except for one small part. He also told me that I needed to keep a drip going and the cabinets open, etc. I am just wondering how long I should expect the thaw to take… the space heater has been running about 90 minutes and I had run the hair dryer for about an hour before that. Any other suggestions?
The only suggestion I have is keep on heating, and if you have another hair dryer use that but don’t hold it so close that the air flow is restricted causing it to burn up. If you can make the hole where the pipe goes in the wall a little bigger and blow air from the hair dryer in the hole it may work quicker.
I turned on the dryer downstairs which is right under the sink and that did the trick! Thanks so much for your help and patience.
Lynne
Ahh Thats nice!
Glad you got it going again.
This is a great resource!
It’s been below 0 here for a few days with it getting about as high as 6 degrees. Windchill has been about -20 to -35. There is no basement under my kitchen. Last year,my dad re-routed my pipes from the basement up through the cupboards so the chances of them freezing is less.
Yesterday, I went to run some water in my sink and my drain is backed up. Have about 2 inches of water is each side of the sink. I tried plunging and poured some drain-o down. Still no help.
I think my drains have frozen? Looking for ideas to get the water to go down the drain.
Thank you.
Hi Chantele,
Excuse me while I slip on my shorts and run outside…
We’ve warmed up to 29 today… 19 with the wind chill…
Where are you northern Minnesota? LOL
This is a bit of a question mark…
Drains normally do not freeze as they should drain completely dry after use and only would freeze if they have:
* An area where the pipe is not pitched properly and water stays in the line.
* A clog that causes water to remain in the line.
* A dripping or slow running faucet that is allowing water to run down the drain in an insufficient amount that cools off and freezes in the line before it can leave the drain pipe.
You may have just gotten a clog that held water in the pipe which if it got cold enough froze.
In the areas where the drain runs before it connects to another larger drain drain pipe is it cold enough that it could have frozen?
If yes are there areas where the pipe sags and water would have remained?
The thing is if the problem is only freezing we can heat the areas where the pipe runs and the problem wil go away.
But if its clogged then heating will do nothing and you need a drain cleaner to come clean the line.
Its hard to say exactly what you need without being there to trouble shoot it and I really hate to see you waste money on something you may be able to fix your self.
Your article petefcrly shows what I needed to know, thanks!
My pipes froze as well, Apparently the thermostat controlled tape shorted out from a water leak ealier this year. I have put new heat tape down after the frozen lines, any idea how long it could take for the heat tape to unfreeze them on their own?
-Sam
Hi Sam,
Heat tape is slow and will take a while.
It’s more for prevention but will eventually work.
Try a hair dryer for more instant gratification.
I recently went under my trailor and took a blow dryer to my frozen line coming into the trailor. I noticed a drip around the fitting. How can I know if this was just ice built up or a leak? My water came back on at the same time.
Hi Beth,
I would dry off the pipe and watch for the wetness to reappear.
If it stays dry then no problem…
If it gets wet again or, you see active dripping then you have a leak that needs fixing.
Usually if a pipe bursts from freezing it is very obvious.
Get some heat tape on that pipe so it doesn’t freeze again!
Ok! My pipe unfroze and there are no leaks!!! One question: How do I keep both the hot and cold water at the kitchen sink dripping? Do I leave the faucet on at the halfway point? I don’t want my cold water to refreeze and I don’t want the hot water to freeze.
I Like that news! Thawed and no leaks is a very good thing!
Keeping the faucet dripping is not the greatest idea because a low constant flow can cause a drain line to freeze and that is even tougher to thaw than the supply lines. I have seen where the 4″ sewer line leaving the house had frozen completely blocking the line causing the whole house to back up. Would you like to guess how we thaw a sewer line that is 1.5′ underground and frozen.
You actually have to have a pretty decent flow going that would run a water bill up pretty high, possibly run a well dry,or if you are on a septic system flood it with the water.
Do you know where it was frozen?
What can be done to prevent it from freezing again?
Seal a cold draft?
Insulate the area where it runs?
Open it up to allow heat to get in there?
Reroute the pipes?
All better answers than letting the water run.
My pipes to the shower have frozen, the main problem is that these pipes are in the wall. Any tips on how to get those unfrozen??
Hi Meagan,
Not being there to see your house makes it tough but you need to get some heat to them as soon as possible.
* Turn up your heat!
* If you have a basement or crawl space under your home get a heater pointed in there warming it up.
* Take a hair dryer and point it into any wall opening that exists into the area where the pipes are.
* Try non-invasive methods first such as removing the escutcheons on the shower valve and pointing the hot air into the wall.
* Sometimes if the wall the shower valve is on backs up to a bedroom wall or closet wall you can cut a hole in the wall (not the shower side) and blow the hair dryer in.
The name of the game is thawing them fast before the pipe freezes hard and bursts. Metal pipes and CPVC pipes can burst. If you have metal pipes a plumber that has a electric pipe thawing machine can thaw them for you without opening up walls unless the pipe has already burst and starts leaking.
Lets get going and warm things up!
I got lucky and they un-thawed with no busting! For me my pipes are right on the other side of the dry wall, so I took a nice good sided (cost $50 at home depot and stood about 2ft tall) space heater and pointed it directly at where the pipes are in the wall. About 2 feet from the wall so nothing caught on fire. Had the water going in a couple hours. May not work for everyone but it is worth a try!
Thanks for the help!!
Excellent!
No leaks is a very good thing!
i live in an old house and have all copper plumbing. the water line that runs to the bathroom is also connected to the hot water in the kitchen sink, i went to turn the water in the kitchen but the hot water would not turn on the water in the bath room still works. i cannot find the source of the problem. the hot water in the kitchen is the only one that won’t turn on. how do i fix it
Hi Emily,
Trace the path the water takes to the bathroom sink and kitchen sink. You have water all the way to the bathroom sink and somewhere from wherever the line to the kitchen sink goes on its own, to the kitchen sink is where your freeze is. Find where the pipe is cold and warm it up. If there is a cold draft hitting the pipe seal the draft. Heating with space heaters and hair dryers work well. Time is of the essence as pipes that freeze hard can burst.
I have a frozen copper hot water pipe leading to my kitchen sink. The frozen section is not accessable unless I remove some drywall in my basement ceiling. Are there any methods to unfreeze the pipe before I start tearing drywall out. I shut off the hot water to the rest of the house and openned the hot water faucet on the kitchen sink. The pipe has been frozed for a little over 24 hours. I turned the hot water back on for a couple of hours so everyone can shower and then turned it back off. I will eventaully need to find the frozen section and either insulate or re route the pipes so they are not next to an outside wall.
Thanks,
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
The plumber in me says pop a hole and get it thawed!
You have to get in there any how to get it so it won’t refreeze or worse yet fix the pipe if it has burst so why not?
Note a plumber can thaw pipes with an electric pipe thawing machine without exposing the pipes.
Git R Done!
I believe my pipes are frozen. The cold water is working but the hot water is not. We put a heater in the crawl and one in the garage where the hot water heater as well as opened the cabinets in the kitchen. We opened all the hot water faucets in the house and still not luck. It has been over 24 hours. Where could it be frozen? What should we do?
Hi Bonnie,
If you have metal pipes a plumber with an electric pipe thawing machine can get you going very quickly.
Metal or,CPVC pipes can burst from freezing if they freeze too hard. Basically for you to thaw the pipes you need to figure out exactly where the pipe is cold enough to freeze up and warm the pipe to thaw it. Heaters, Hair dryers whatever it takes. Or, call a plumber.
my hot water going to my washer has frozen the problem is it looks like the water run runs on the outside wall fo the house how can I get to the line to unthaw… My laundry is piling up
Hi Monica,
Getting the room good and hot may help. Also if you can direct hot air from a hair dryer into any opening of the wall where the pipes run it can help. If yo have a wall bow remove the trim and open a hole up that the trim will cover to do this. Do you have a basement or crawl space? If so get a small heater or, use the hair dryer in there directed at where the pipes go up into the wall. If the pipes are copper or galvanized (metal) find a plumber that has an electric pipe thawing machine to get it thawed. Worst case open a small hole in the wall near the bottom of the wall and use a hair dryer there.
I live in a much older home that is one story. My pipes are frozen and every faucet in the house does not have flowing water. I turned the water supply off to the house. I was unable to turn off the hot water heater, is that a problem? Also, what else can I do to try and thaw out the pipes?
Thanks!
Hi Meghan,
In most cases it is not a problem and the water heater won’t drain down if pipes are burst.
You are referring to not being able to turn off the gas or electricity to the water heater I assume?
Or, if you were referring to not being able to shut off the water to the water heater shutting off the main did just that.
Lets get some heat going and thaw those pipes!
I need 911 help!! Single mom getting ran over with the Atlanta freeze. I have an older Townhome & was out of town for the Holidays. No heat or water was left on. I have no water coming in the house at all. I have a crawl space where since yesterday day 2 of frozen pipes. That is blowing under the crawl space. Plumber says the line is frozen from the ground ,from the house to the road. I have the heat up high, all pipes exposed in the house. Is there anyway for me to thaw that pipe to get water flow. I was told some blankets. But it suppose to Snow tomorrow I have very little time.
Hi CeeCee,
Your situation is not very good. Just the other day I had a discussion with a plumber friend in Alabama about who the real “He Man Plumber” was when it comes to freeze ups because I live in the Northeast where freeze ups are routine, and he told me that I had no idea what it was like when a deep freeze hits an area where homes and utilities are not designed for the cold. I think our catastrophic event that compares is an ice storm that knocks out power to a large area for an extended time before it is restored and the freeze damage to homes that lose heat because of it.
Thawing underground lines is not all that bad if they are made of metal. Us plumbers up here in the colder areas use an electric pipe thawing machine that sends an electric current through metal pipes that cause them to warm up and thaw even underground.
Now the problems…
*Because plumbers in your area would only need this machine once every 20 years they don’t have them as part of their tools.
*It is ineffective if you have plastic pipe.
*An arc welding power supply may be substituted but they operate at a higher voltage than a pipe thawing machine and if a pipe has frozen and pushed out of a connection at a fitting to where it is barely touching it could arc and cause a fire if used on pipes inside a home. This is not a problem on underground metal pipe.
Your options are limited if your supply line is plastic to either waiting for it to thaw, digging it up and thawing it, or, possibly feeding a tube into the line to carry warmer water to the ice plug and thawing a hole through it using the warm water to thaw the ice until flow is restored.
Actually the snow may help as it will insulate the ground from the bitter cold in the air. Ice is only 32-degrees.
Good luck with this terrible event.