How to Thaw Frozen Water Pipes

Frozen water pipes are usually the culprit when you awake on a freezing cold morning to no running water. If your pipes run under the house and are not well insulated, or your home was originally built as a summer home and is poorly insulated, you're more at risk for frozen water pipes. But you don't have to wait for the weather to warm up to have flowing water to your sink again -- just follow these steps to thaw your frozen water pipes.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    
   Turn on faucet

   Turn the indoor sink taps on just slightly, in order to draw water from the frozen water pipes as they thaw. The steady flow of water through the pipes, even if it is nonexistent or just a drip at first, will eventually help melt the ice blockages. If you do have a drip or light flow from the faucet, simple turn on the hot water at each tap and as the water comes through the pipe, it will thaw them fairly quickly.

2. 
    
   Frozen water pipes

   Locate uninsulated spots on your frozen water pipes. These are generally the coldest areas of the pipes and the best place to start. If any of your water line piping is in a colder area than the rest, such as outdoor in the shade, focus on that section as well.

3. 
    
   Heat frozen pipes

   Use a small space heater, blow dryer or other heat source to direct hot air toward your frozen water pipes. The closer to heat is to the pipes, the better, as long as you are monitoring it, but don't use flame or fire to warm your pipes.

4. 
    
   Thawed!

   Check the water flow inside to see if your frozen water pipes have begun to thaw. If they have, and there is any water coming out of the tap, you can simply use the water flow (keep the taps on) to melt the remaining ice.

Tips & Warnings

• Prevent frozen water pipes in the future by insulating all exposed sections of pipe and using heat tape on uninsulated pipes or those exposed to the outdoors, even if they are insulated.

Resources

• Heat Tape to prevent frozen water pipes

[infoalley]

on 2/1/2009 My friend just went through all of this ~ thanks for the reminders.

[psychonurse]

on 1/11/2009 Good, and timely article. Pipes need to thaw slowly, as the last thing you want is a busted pipe and the destruction of property that entails!