pipe repair

Tips On How To Thaw Out A Frozen Pipe

How to thaw a frozen pipeThawing a frozen water pipe quickly is crucial. However, it is equally important to ensure you thaw a frozen pipe correctly. Here are top tips that will help you get water flowing and help you avert the crisis of a burst pipe or potentially damaging floods in your home.

Tip #1: Locating the Frozen Pipe

Thawing frozen pipes starts with determining which pipe or pipes have frozen. First, turn on all water faucets. If no water pours or just a little of it trickles, then you should know that the pipe leading to the valve is frozen. And, if the pipe is exposed, like in the basement, under the sink, or on the exterior of your house, you could see the frozen part of the pipe. Frozen pipes usually have frost on them or could have a small bulge.

Tip #2: Open the Faucet

Before you can commence any attempts to thaw frozen pipes, you will need to open all faucets which the pipe delivers water into. You should open both the cold and hot handles in this case. This is a good way to release the pressure in the system, and it will let water escape when you start to thaw your frozen pipe.

Tip #3: Where Should You Begin?

If you are doing the thawing on your own, you should start the process close to the faucet and work your way slowly down the blockage point. This aids in ensuring that the steam and melting ice escape via the open section. If you begin the process nearer to the blockage, the melting ice will probably get stuck behind your blockage, create more pressure in your pipes and increase the chances of your pipe bursting.

Tip #4: Thawing the Exposed Pipes

If your frozen pipe is in an area that you can access easily, there are numerous options for trying to thaw the pipe. You should not stop applying heat until the water running through the faucet runs at full strength.

Here are your options for thawing exposed pipes.

  1. A Hair Dryer: A hair dryer is the easiest way to thaw a frozen pipe. Just turn on your dryer and point its heat at the frozen pipe, beginning with the section near the faucet.
  2. Heat Lamp: Another good way to thaw pipes is with a heat lamp. You should, however, position this device in a manner that the heat reaches the frozen pipe. The indirect heat aids in quickly thawing pipes.
  3. Hot Towels: Wrapping towels that have been dipped in hot water around frozen pipes is another easy way to thaw, and it helps to thaw blockages slowly.

Here’s a video from Ace Hardware which explains how to thaw a frozen pipe…

We hope that these tips on thawing frozen pipes have helped you. However, if you need professional pipe repair services for a frozen or burst pipe then call Plumbing Emergency Rescue and we’ll send a plumber out to you quickly.

How to Keep Your Pipes From Cracking or Clogging

As the weather begins to get cold here in the Long Island/New York City area you need to attend to all of your exposed pipes by adding insulation to them. Pay particular attention to pipes located in crawl spaces and the outside walls of your residence. Taking this step will help ensure that your pipes continue to function throughout the winter.

When concerned with plumbing, you need to know what can cause noisy pipes. This is important because it can mean the difference between an annoying noise and flooding in your house. Do your research to distinguish between the different noises and hire a professional if any serious risk is posed.

Do not pour grease or oil down any of your household drains. Put them in containers and place in the fridge until they are solid, then throw them away. If you pour them down the drain, they can solidify in cold pipes. These solid masses will clog your pipes and are very difficult to remove.

Make sure that you disconnect all hoses outside your house when the fall season hits. This is important to reduce the chance of freezing, which can cause damage to the connecting pipes. Disconnect all of your water hoses and store them safely to put your family in the best position for the fall.

We hope these tips provide you some much needed insight on how to keep your home’s pipe from cracking or clogging. However, if you do have damage to your pipes that need to be repaired please use the information on this site, www.plumbingemergencyrescue.com as your main resource.

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