What To Do When Your Pipes Freeze

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It's the dead of winter, and the temperatures outside have gone well below zero in New Jersey. Now not only are you busy trying to stay warm, but you also have to deal with frozen pipes.

If you suspect you have frozen pipes, your first step is thawing them out. You can do so with a space heater, hairdryer, or heat lamp, as long as you can locate it. You should always call a professional plumber if your pipes burst.

How to Find Frozen Pipes

The most challenging part of fixing frozen pipes is figuring out where the blockage is. In most homes, you can determine where the pipe has iced over by checking your faucets. If the faucet in just one room isn't working, but the rest are, then you need to look where that sink line splits off from the main one. Your freeze is somewhere in that line. When the faucets don't work at all on the same floor of your house, for instance, the first-floor bathroom and kitchen sink are both inoperable, then the issue is where the first and second-floor pipes separate after the mainline.

Locating frozen pipes can prove to be challenging, especially if you don't have an easy way to access them. If you want to save time and energy, a local, experienced plumber can do the work for you much easier.

How To Thaw Frozen Pipes

The only way to thaw frozen pipes is by warming them back up. You can do so safely with the right heating equipment. Never use a propane torch or any other source of open flame as there is a fire risk potential that comes with those types of tools. You can prevent frozen pipes from occurring in the first place by wrapping your plumbing system with thermostatically controlled heat tape.

Do Frozen Pipes Always Burst?

Frozen pipes don't always necessarily crack or break, so your best course of action is trying to get them warmed back up slowly. When temperatures outside go below the freezing point, keep your cabinet doors open so the heat from your furnace can reach them and keep them from getting too cold.