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What You Can Do If Experiencing Frozen Pipes and How You Can Prevent Them

Due to the extended period of freezing temperatures, we are experiencing a high call volume due to frozen pipes. We understand how inconvenient having a frozen pipe can be.

We would like to share some things for you to try first if you are experiencing a frozen pipe. These are the same things we would look at and try ourselves that you can do yourself as it is essentially a needle in a haystack trying to find a section of water in a standing pipe that is frozen. In addition, we have listed some steps to take to prevent you from experiencing frozen pipes in this cold weather.

Please try these first; and if you continue to have an issue or a broken pipe occurs, give us a call at (704)-795-9349, and we will be happy to help.

Oops, forgot about the Prevention Tips? What do I do now?

• No water coming out of a single faucet? Is it the hot or cold or both that’s frozen?
• Hot water line frozen?
• Kitchen sink line frozen?
• Need to leave the house but there is a frozen line somewhere?
• Multiple faucets with no water or a slow drip?
• Follow the steps below to get your water flowing again! 

Warm Up Those Frozen Pipes!

The first thing you want to arm yourself with is a blow dryer. Then, open up both a hot and cold faucet in your home to allow the water to move within the pipes and/or relieve pressure.

No water at all to any fixture in your home?

The most likely culprit is the pipe closest to your main shut-off valve — the valve you would turn to cut off all the water in an emergency. These are normally located in a garage, crawl space, under the kitchen sink or closet by the front door. Find that shut-off valve and use the blow dryer to warm up the pipes at that valve. From there, you would work your way back.

No hot water flowing from any of the fixtures in your home?

The most likely culprit is either the cold water inlet or hot water outlet pipes to/from your water heater. Grab that blow dryer and start warming up those pipes. If your water heater is in the garage, attic, utility room, or anywhere but outside, you may want to place a space heater there facing the piping.

No water flowing from isolated individual faucets in your home?

If it is a tub/shower that backs up to an outside wall or a kitchen sink, get a space heater blowing at the outside wall and get the area warm. Open up the cabinet doors so the heat gets back in there to the wall behind.

If there is an outside hose spigot on the outside behind the kitchen sink, follow the above tip, but also be sure there is no hose hooked up to that outside spigot and open up that faucet so water can trickle out.

Once you have water flowing again, be sure to leave a faucet in your home dripping with both hot and cold water to keep movement within the pipes. Water can only freeze in there if it is sitting stagnant and not while it’s flowing. We recommend this overnight while temperatures are plunging way below freezing and especially if the temperatures do not rise above freezing in 24 hours.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside! How To Prevent Frozen Pipes

Get ready. The Charlotte area’s coldest days in years are here. Highs in the 30s and lows in the teens!

It is time for fuzzy socks and a cozy fire for lots of us; but while you’re comfy and warm, don’t forget a few things that could save you money in home repairs. A quick science lesson: When the fickle Carolina weather warms and cools back and forth, pipes expand and contract, which can cause them to weaken and burst. But we’ll give you a few tips on how to deal with Mother Nature and the cold snap to keep your home free from an expensive water emergency.

1. Find your water main shut-off value. Hint: It’s usually in the garage, under the kitchen sink, or in a utility closet or pantry. Open and close it to make sure that you could stop water flow quickly in case of a burst pipe. 
2. Check secondary water valves in your home to make sure they work. These are the valves that are directly behind your sinks and toilets. These little jewels can isolate a leak without shutting off your entire water supply.
3. Open up cabinets under sinks so pipes are exposed to the warmth in your home.
4. Turn these faucets to a slow drip or steady stream with a combination of cold and hot water (both on) to keep water in the pipes from freezing overnight and open and close throughout the day if the temperatures stay below freezing for 24 hours or more:
   • Kitchen faucet
   • One faucet upstairs (if you have multiple floors)
   • Tub/showers on an outside wall
5. Disconnect any hoses from outside spigots and allow them to slowly drip, OR put a protective cover over it or even wrap them with a towel using duct tape.
6. If your water heater is in the garage with pipes on an outside wall, make sure to keep hot water trickling somewhere in the house.
7. Travelling? Don’t turn the heat to your home off completely, but keep it set at 55 or above.
8. If you find a frozen pipe and water will not come out of a faucet anywhere, be sure to have a space heater or blow dryer to apply warmth to the wall behind the area.
9. Although there are no guarantees, an ounce of prevention can go a long way.
10. And, in case of an emergency or a leak, we’re just a phone call away. We’ll be right there to help.