How do you unfreeze pipes?

Question

I woke up this mornig and I have no water, Im sure my pipes are frozen, is their anything I can do?

Answer 1

With a blow dryer. Do it slowly you may crack the pipes. That is one way. The other is to heat the area in which the pips are. To prevent them from freezing, you should let the water run. Drip Drip. Running water is very hard to freeze. We do this with our fire hoses in the fire dept. so the water doesn't freeze in the line. Running water NO freeze. Still water Yes freeze.

Also panwillow answer is a very bad Idea. you will heat the pipes too quickly. Also you have a high chance of catching you house on fire. Then you might see me.

Answer 2

You need to act quickly because if the freezing progresses too far, the pipes will burst. And if you think you have a problem NOW...

First step is to locate where the blockage is. Are they frozen everywhere? Kitchen, bath, laundry room etc.? Do you have a well? If you have no water anywhere, I would suspect a frozen valve or pump part in the well. If it's a drilled well, a 100-watt light bulb on an extension cord, hung way down the well and left for 30 minutes, might do the trick.

If you think you have located a blockage inside the house, a blow dryer on high aimed at the area of pipe might just do it. Use a blow dryer for PVC pipe. For copper pipe, a propane torch would work faster, but be very careful that you don't ignite anything nearby - use a low flame and run it along a stretch of pipe to prevent sudden expansion in one spot.

When all else fails, call a plumber! Good luck!

Answer 3

Sorry to hear your pipes are frozen. Yes there are a few things you can do.

First off, what ever you do, do it slowly.

The first thing you want to do is to turn the faucet on that has no water to it. Leave it on. This will allow the pressure to be relieved when the pipe thaws (most times this will avoid a broken pipe).

If you know which pipe is frozen you can use a blow dryer on medium setting. It takes awhile but does work.

I have used a space heater for mine. I live in a mobile home in the mountains and my kitchen pipes freeze atleast twice a winter.

Once you get the pipe thawed, I strongly recommend that you install heat tape. This will head off future freezing problems.
Also, leave your water drip just slightly. The cost of the water / heat will be much less than repairing a broken pipe. I leave mine drip at temps below 20 degrees.

Hope this info helps.
.

Answer 4

A couple of suggestions. First, is to try and locate the exact section of pipe that is froizen. You can find this if you have access to all of the pipes in your house, ie along the ceiling of your basement. If you see condensation on the outside of the pipe, that is probably the location. However, most pipes freeze at the point they enter your house. Second, use some hot moist towels and wrap them around the frozen pipe. Repeat this over and over as the hot towels cool off. Another method is to use a hair dryer/ blower and run it over the frozen spot. I have done all of these steps before and have successfully unfrozen pipes without any problems. just know that it can take a few hours sometimes, to completely unthaw the pipes.

Answer 5

If your entire house is being heated at the current time, I'm going to guess that your pipes aren't frozen. Frozen pipes usually happen when power goes out, or a circuit trips when you're away and the heater goes out.

Assuming your basement isn't below 32 Fahrenheit, then you probably have an issue with your pump, if you pump your own water. Back at my folks place before I went to Uni, the same thing happened to us, and our well was dry. We had to get another one drilled, it was pretty nuts.

So, check your pump for activity, your pipes for freeze, and you might need to call a well company if you think your well is dry.

Oh, and in answering your question, turning your heat back on will eventually melt the pipes, though it will take a few hours.

Answer 6

Oh oh, it sounds like your pipes are frozen, the first thing you need to do is to try and locate your main water shutoff valve which is usually in the crawlspace or basement on the side that faces the street, turn it off because once the pipes freeze, there is nothing you can do except wait for them to thaw out, chances are is that the pipe will rupture when thawed, so turn it off that way once it does, you will be able to locate it without the water going everywhere..Good luck, I am a licensed plumber, if you are in Colorado and need repairs, send me an IM..

Answer 7

if you live in a mobile home the problem is more than likely your main supply line it should be heat taped. possibly not plugged in? if it is plugged in possibly it runs past one of the skirt vents where the heat tape cant keep up with the cold. buy some 1" poly pipe insulation and install it over the existing wrap it may tak a while but if the heat tape isgood it will thaw in about an hour. if the pipe is metal it is a good chance it may have split when you replace it use PEX.

Answer 8

well you can try putting a hair dryer like say under the sink and try in the area where your pipes may have gotten alot of the cold air like an open area under your house or trailer..for example my trailer has a piece of trim that does not cover the whole area so when it does get cold here alot of when gets through there so if my pipes freeze my water pipes actually come into the trailer there and my bathroom is there also so i put the hairdryer under the cabinet where the sink is depending on how cold it got there it may take a while...i hope this helps you...

Answer 9

Get a propane torch. These are inexpensive, and can be found at any hardware store. With the torch, heat the metal water pipes. Be careful not to catch any insulation, or anything else on fire. Heat only metal pipes... Oh, make sure it's not a gas pipe...

Answer 10

Go out to the hardware store, buy some pipe wraps that are heated. They make special wraps that will keep pipes from freezing. Ask someone at the store what to buy.


Kevin