Frozen pipes

Rose429 · ‎08-26-2012

I have never had my pipes freeze so I was pretty surprised to not have water today. Is there anything I can or should be doing. I sure don't want a pipe to burst. Thanks for any suggestions. It was 25 degrees last night. Not cold to most of u, but cold for California.

cherry · ‎03-09-2010

You might try using a hair dryer on the frozen pipe. It sounds like the area of your pipe isn't well insulated.

In this kind of weather ,I would let the sink drip a slow trickle of water, over night, to keep the line from freezing

Also if the area under the sink has cupboard doors, leave them open overnight ,to get as much heat as possible

Good luck

hoosieroriginal · ‎03-04-2012

I also wrap my downstairs pipe in the kitchen and bathroom. Use cold water when you let it drip - a steady stream if it's really cold out.

Major Shopper · ‎06-21-2010

These are all great suggestions. I had this happen 2 years ago in an upstairs bathroom (area is over the garage). They had to cut a hole in the drywall to get to the pipe so I could use a hair dryer (as suggested here). I had them put in a small "door" which blends into the wall so I can get to the pipe should it happen again.

Please call a plumber for a frozen pipe. Could cause lots of damage if it does burst!

Good Luck!!!

terrier3 · ‎03-10-2010

@Rose429 wrote:
I have never had my pipes freeze so I was pretty surprised to not have water today. Is there anything I can or should be doing. I sure don't want a pipe to burst. Thanks for any suggestions. It was 25 degrees last night. Not cold to most of u, but cold for California.

Take if from someone who knows...call a plumber!

I live in a brownstone over 100 years old in Buffalo NY. Our pipes have frozen twice in the last 7 years.

Plumbers use electrical currents to warm the pipes...and they will stay to check that a pipe hasn't burst!

The first time, we were lucky...nothing burst - we were the ONLY people the plumber saw that day that didn't have a big mess!. The second time, the woman who lives upstairs had a pipe leak slowly...she had to start at the first floor and determine where the leak happened. Luckily they found it on an outside wall on the first floor and after that section was replaced, everything went well.

If you do have leaking...always start on the lowest level and work your way up the walls.

Also, keep a slow drip and all your faucets open if you think it will be getting too cold.

In CA, you most likely don't have as much insulation as we have in the Northeast.

Best wishes!!!

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

I agree, call a plumber. Frozen pipes can cause a lot of damage. My parents were snowbirds and I'd watch their house. I'd go over 2x a week. One day I went over and noticed frozen water on the floor. No faucets worked and the water in all the toilets were frozen. The furnace stopped working. I called a plumber. He brought a heater for each room and let them run until the pipes defrosted. Then they checked all the pipes and fixed where they cracked. My parents filed it with their home owners insurance.

terrier3 · ‎03-10-2010

A hint - If you have a home alarm system, get the temperature control feature.

If it gets too hot or too cold, the company will call the fire department.

We have one in our furnace room.

MalteseMomma · ‎03-09-2010

when the weather man says it is going below freezing i leave my water dripping all night.it prevents the pipes from freezing. The water bill is far less than the plumbers bill should the pipes freeze up ,not ot mention the inconviencence of having NO water................

Many yrs ago my MIL, living upstairs, water in the toilet froze........uggg

I live ontop of a very windy ,freezing hill top even in summer...............brrrrrr

You can get your pipes wrapped in something (tape) that you can turn on during winter that heats up and keeps the pipes warm.We have that in the upstairs un the dormer kitchen pipes in the apt upstairs. <3 a Godsend!

They do that to trucks so they start on freezing morings

patbz · ‎03-10-2010

In 1998, while I lived in the High Desert of California (think like Phoenix weather) DH and I went out of town for a day trip. When we returned home (mid December) the ceiling in our Rec Room had collapsed onto our Xmas tree due to frozen pipe and we had three inches of water throughout the house. There was $35,000 in damage and we moved into a motel for 6 weeks. The good thing was that after repairs we put the house on the market (sold quickly) and moved into a nicer bigger house.

Annabellethecat66 · ‎03-12-2010

A plumber will do what these people told you to do. It is important that you SLOWLY thaw the pipes.

First chance you get on all of the outside walls wrap some kind of insulation around any exposed pipes.

Keep doors open in any rooms that are outside walls. Open kitchen cabinets and any cabinets with outside walls (that's where pipes will freeze). At night you should let the water slowly (it doesn't take much to keep flow open) drip.

Don't forget the outside faucets.