back to blog

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

When we have long bouts of freezing temperatures, we experience a high call volume due to frozen pipes. Dealing with frozen pipes is stressful, inconvenient, and sometimes costly, especially if a pipe bursts and causes water damage.

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. You can do them yourself, as it is essentially a needle in a haystack trying to find a section of water pipes that is frozen. In addition, we have listed some steps to take for preventing frozen pipes in this cold weather.

Please try these first; and if you continue to have an issue or a burst pipe occurs, give us a call at (704)-810-1283, and we will be happy to help.

Did You Know?

• The most common damage that occurs from a burst pipe is most often leaks from the pipes under a kitchen sink because they are on an outside wall and usually have an outside hose spigot on the other side of the wall outside and it is such a short distance of piping and the standing water freezes easily. Most importantly, make sure:
  • all hoses are removed from the hose spigot
  • cabinet doors are always left open under the kitchen sink
  • the water is dripping in the sink
• Pipe bursts don’t happen as soon as the temps drop to freezing but occurs once the temps start to warm up and the ice in the pipes thaw and from the frozen water in the pipe it expanded and cracked.
• Freezing occurs due to such drastic fluctuations of temps that are common in the Carolinas because the pipe is expanding and contracting over and over.

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

Wondering how to tell if pipes are frozen? Here are some clues:

• No water coming out of a single faucet? Is it the hot, 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?

Frozen pipes — what to do? Don’t panic. Follow the steps below to thaw the pipe safely and get your plumbing system 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. Keeping the faucet open while thawing pipes lets melted ice escape instead of building pressure that could cause a burst pipe.

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. Directing warm air at exposed pipes can help melt ice and get the hot water moving again.

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. However, 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.

How to Thaw Frozen Pipes Safely

Need to thaw frozen pipes? The trick is using gentle heat and patience. Keep the faucet open so water can drip as the ice melts, and then apply warm air with a blow dryer or space heater to the frozen section.

Never use an open flame — it can damage your water pipes or even start a fire. If the pipe thaws and you see leaks, shut off the water immediately and call a plumber to prevent further water damage.

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

Get ready. The Charlotte area’s coldest days in years are coming. 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 preventing frozen pipes 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.

Remember: When thawing pipes, patience and gentle heat are key. Never use an open flame. Using a blow dryer or space heater is the safest way to melt ice and fix frozen pipes without further damage.

Although there are no guarantees, an ounce of prevention can go a long way. And, in case of an emergency or a leak, we’re just a phone call away.