Frozen pipes aren’t a type of plumbing issue that can happen any time of the year. You’ll often experience this inconvenience during the winter months when the temperature drops down. Water passes through the pipes when you turn on your faucet or your shower. But once you turn the fixtures off, water won’t flow back into your water source and instead stay inside the plumbing lines. When the weather gets too cold, water, of course, solidifies. And once it turns into ice, it expands thus forcing your pipes to also expand until they break. When this happens, all sorts of inconveniences follow. To prepare you when this plumbing problem arises, here are some tips that you should keep handy!
1. Locate the frozen pipe and trace the nearest faucet that’s connected to it. Turn the tap on and let some water trickle from it. As you may know, running water is less likely to freeze. Thus, this will avoid freezing the rest of the pipelines. However, if the problem is severe and if you notice any breakage or crack in the pipe, skip this step. Just simply shut the main water supply valve off. Don’t forget to turn off your faucets, too.
2. Now in instances like this, the best thing that you can do is warm the affected pipe. A hair dryer is enough to accomplish this task. Just ensure that you won’t keep it focused on one part of the pipe. Move it along the tube in order to avoid damaging the pipes. If the affected pipe is made from metal, you’ll need to use a stronger tool such as a heat gun.
3. Another effective way to thaw a frozen pipe is to use a heat tape. You can easily get one from home improvement stores, hardware or plumbing supply shops. Wrap a layer of the heat tape around the affected pipe then plug it to a power source. Doing so will warm the pipe thus thawing the ice inside.
4. Putting incandescent light bulbs or setting up heat lamps near the frozen pipe will also help in the thawing. To add warmth to the room where the pipe is located, hang tarps or blankets.
5. Now there are times when even the drains freeze up. To thaw the ice inside the drain, pour a tablespoon of salt into the pipe. The salt has a property that reduces ice melting point. Just note that this method doesn’t work as fast as the other ones.
6. Lastly, wrapping hot towels around the pipe is also helpful. Wear your rubber gloves and soak the towels in hot water. Wring them out carefully to avoid scalding. Then, carefully wrap the towels around the pipe. Soak the towels again in hot water after 5 minutes. Repeat this step multiple times until the ice is thawed.
We hope that you now know what to do when pipes freeze. If the problem persists, just call the best Braintree plumber for pipe repair services. Plumbers 911 Boston provides local plumbing services in Braintree MA including plumbing fixture repair, plumbing appliance installation, fire sprinkler service, submetering, gas system installation and many more! Call us at (877) 754-1048 to schedule a service!
Learn awesome tips on how to prevent frozen pipes! Watch this video now.
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