The season for frozen pipes is currently in full swing, so it’s a good idea to review some practical advice for avoiding frozen pipes as well as safe methods for defrosting them. One of the greatest methods to safeguard your house is to prevent frozen pipes. In addition to flooding your property and requiring expensive repairs, frozen pipes can also explode. With this blog, we want you to understand how to avoid frozen pipes and properly defrost them. It will also be very helpful to know when water pipe repair is essential in the future!
What You Should Know About Avoiding Frozen Pipes
The solution is to keep pipes from ever freezing in the first place. Insulation should be applied to pipes that are situated in unheated regions of your home. All you need is to is a quick Google search for a plumber near you to identify the frozen pipes. The typical unheated spaces in a home are:
- Attics
- Under cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom
- Carports and basements
- Rough Spaces
You may get heat cables, UL-listed heat tape, and insulating pipe sleeves at a hardware shop. To avoid frozen pipes, properly install the package according to the instructions. If you lose power, it’s always a good idea to have a backup heat source. Your backup generator will save you! You’ll not only have a warmer house, but you’ll also keep your pipes from freezing.
Be sure to close the garage door! Through the big opening of your garage, a lot of heat (and money spent on energy) escapes from your house. By doing this, exposed pipes won’t freeze. Allowing a very slow leak to continue during severely cold weather can help protect pipes by allowing water to pass through the pipes. Water that is moving will prevent pipes from freezing. Any plumber near you can use this preventative advice just during the coldest weather.
Simple Methods for Defrosting Frozen Pipes
Frozen pipes may be easily thawed, but caution should be used. Turn on the water taps first. When little to no water can flow through the tap, a frozen pipe will become apparent. Additionally, you will probably discover additional frozen pipes to thaw out if one pipe is frozen.
Make sure the tap is turned on once you’ve located the frozen pipe. The cold and hot water taps need to be open. Moving water will hasten the thawing process and drain the pipes of their cold water.
You might open the cabinet doors and use a space heater to melt frozen pipes found beneath kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Frozen pipes can be defrosted using a variety of methods, including hairdryers, heated towels, heat lamps, and electrical heating tape. Starting closest to the tap and working your way towards the obstruction using a hairdryer, heated towels or even electrical tape can stop melting ice from being stuck behind the obstruction.
Sometimes a frozen pipe will be hidden behind a wall or in a hard-to-reach place. In these circumstances, it will take some creativity to thaw frozen pipes, but it is possible. The simplest solution is to simply increase the heat throughout the entire home and wait for the frozen pipes to defrost. When you know where the pipe is behind the wall, infrared lights come in helpful. The infrared lamp’s heat is frequently warm enough to melt the frozen pipe behind the wall. If everything else fails, and only if you feel confident doing so, you may always make a hole in the wall to access the frozen pipe.
Whatever you do, AVOID using a blowtorch or anything else that has an open flame to defrost frozen pipes. By taking extraordinary measures to address your frozen pipe issue, you may protect your pipes, your possessions, and even yourself.
When Do Water Pipe Repairs Need to Be Done?
If frozen pipes are not thawed, eventually, you will notice that your pipes have burst. Run to turn off the house’s main water line. It is quite useful to know where to find the main water shut off valve. The main shut-off valve is often situated close to the water metre, but just in case, be aware of its location. Make a call to your neighbourhood plumber to fix the water line.
Hire the right plumber to do the job!
Hiring the right plumber is crucial to ensure that your plumbing problems are fixed quickly, effectively, and safely. A licensed and experienced plumber will have the knowledge and skills to diagnose and repair a wide range of plumbing issues, from minor leaks to major system failures. When choosing a plumber, be sure to look for one who is licensed, insured, and has a good reputation in the community. Ask for references and check online reviews to ensure that the plumber has a track record of providing quality work and excellent customer service. Additionally, choose a plumber who provides upfront pricing, so you can avoid surprises and unexpected costs. By hiring the right plumber, you can have peace of mind knowing that your plumbing problems are in capable hands.
