What is THE single most important thing you can do in your home to prevent frozen pipes?
Turn on your sink faucet!
When the temperature drops below zero, your home’s water pipes may be at risk of freezing solid. If your pipes have been known to freeze or you have cold areas in your home, consider letting one sink in the house trickle before you go to bed. Running water is less likely to freeze. This is an especially important trick to know if you should lose power. If you ever face issues with frozen or damaged pipes, it’s wise to seek a professional pipe repair service to address the problem promptly.
How do you know if your pipes have frozen?
If there is no water coming out of a faucet, the pipes below the sink are ice cold and the weather outside is below freezing, chances are good that you have a frozen pipe issue.
How do you locate a frozen pipe?
You should be able to tell where a pipe is frozen with a simple touch test. Identify which faucet your water is not coming out of or go to the coldest area of the house. Carefully feel the pipes. If they feel ice cold you have found the problem area. However, it’s possible that more than one pipe may be frozen, in which case it’s best to call the expert plumbers at Stashluk to assess the problem and provide the best solution.
How do you prevent frozen pipes?
There are long-term preventive measures and quick fixes that can help prevent frozen pipes:
Long Term:
- Make sure drafty areas under doors and windows are patched up.
- Make sure water pipes and your home are properly insulated.
- Read our article on how to properly drain pipes and winterize your home plumbing in the fall.
- Install a whole home standby generator to prevent frozen pipes due to power outages causing the heating system to shut down.
- Make sure you know where your emergency water shut off valve is located in your home and make sure it’s in working order.
Quick Fixes:
- Make sure the coldest areas of your home are getting access to heat: open sink cabinet doors, keep doors open to cold rooms, turn on space heaters.
- Run a faucet at a trickle, both hot and cold lines, to keep water moving in your pipes.
How do you warm a frozen pipe?
The safest way is to gradually rewarm the pipe until your water starts flowing, and then keep it at a trickle if the temperature is still frigid. Never use a blow torch or extreme sudden heat. A knowledgeable licensed plumber like Stashluk can safely and effectively unfreeze pipes, diagnose any larger issues and assess any damage should a pipe burst and need replacement.
Call Stashluk for emergency frozen or burst pipe repair.
If one or more faucets in your home are not providing water, shut off your main water valve and call Stashluk Plumbing right away at 908.277.6200. We offer 24/7 emergency services and we’re experts at thawing frozen pipes before they burst.
