what can you do if your pipes freeze at the kitchen sink??

Answer 1

You can do the hair dryer thing.

Leave the taps open so water comes out when it does and start the heating from where the pipe goes into the wall and farther in (which means opening the wall to heat the pipe you got to melt the ice plug whereever that is.)
Yes it is house distruction but there is no other way of melting the cold section.
If you know where the cold area is (like an unheated crawl space, get in there with a hair dryer or heater and start warming the area - - it is not an instant process if you have to heat an area. it may take most of the day(or 2) or in the middle of the night the water will start to flow. The taps stay open while you are doing the heating and keep at it. Do not use a torch, the welds or solder will melt and you got a bigger problem.


All pipes exposed to the outside (or very close to the outside) >behind siding or plaster is still outside< --behind drywall is still outside kinda if you have 2x4 walls---. Plumbing is 6" into the room, minimum.
The more the ice freezes the bigger the ice gets (similiar to having a fat person wearing clothes they had when they were thin - they will burst....) So too will the pipes. So you want to keep this ice warmer until you melt it away to get water flowing again. Once you find the area that is the problem..............get some heat there using heat tape or room air. Insulation has no "heat in it". Otherwise, tell me why would it be used for refrigerators and freezers? Insulation just slows up the transfer rate> hot to cold <(or cold to hot). It still needs a heat source between the pipe and the insulation.
Good luck

Answer 2

I used to live in an old farm house and my kitchen pipes would freeze unless I left the cabinet doors under the sink open and the water dripping from the faucet. We also used a portable heater in the kitchen. Good luck.

Answer 3

That happened to me a few years back. I thawed them with a hair dryer and then went to Home Depot to buy some pipe insulation. While I was there I found a electric heating cord...it cost all of $20.00..it is like a extension cord but it throws off heat. You simply wrap it around the frozen pipes and plug it in..once the weather warms just toss it down cellar until the next big temp drop.

Answer 4

Well, you do have to turn up the heat and keep the doors open on the kitchen sink cabinet and the bathroom and probably get more heat into the basement, too. You can buy heat tape that you could wrap around the kitchen sink pipes at places like Tractor Supply or a hardware store. If you can get to the tub/shower plumbing you could heat tape that too. You can also use a hair dryer to thaw it out, but that's only so you can use it. Yah, when stuff starts thawing out, that's usually when the pipes burst. If think there's a drain thawing thingie, too. You might also consider buying a couple of safe, portable heaters to get you through this cold spell.

Answer 5

keep the cabinet doors open, leave it dripping as prevention. run a little water in other parts of the house to bring in more of the 55degree ground temperature water, maybe loosen up the freeze.

Space heater may help.

Answer 6

First turn off the water supply to that area. Hopefully there is a shut off valve so you do not need to turn off the whole house. Then you will need a plumber or someone you know who is handy. The pipes will need to be replaced. If you pipes are near the outter walls they are vunerable in the cold we are having in the midwest. In the future, wrap them with insulation. I've been told that if you leave the water running barely over a drip it will help keep them from freezing.

Answer 7

take a hair dryer and blow dry the pipe on high heat

Answer 8

You can use salt - pour it down slowly - leave it a bit - then run warm water . If you can reach the pipes you can wrap and heat them from the outside but it's tricky. I'd say if you don't know what you're doing then call a plumber in case they burst.

Answer 9

Let them thaw? Open the cabinets so the heat can get to them....and be patient....and thats about it.

Answer 10

call a plumber