Repair Frozen Pipes
When winter comes there is a chance for unprotected pipes to freeze over. When your pipes freeze, it is important to know how to properly thaw your pipes to reduce or eliminate damage to them. When water freezes it expands; so if the water in your pipes freezes there is a chance of the expansion causing the pipe to burst. Knowing the essential information below would lead to the avoidance of burst pipe repair which could cost you much. There are a few locations that are most likely to get freezing pipes are in an outside wall, under a sink in an outside wall, and in an unheated attic. There are most recommended methods to thawing a frozen pipe depending on where it’s located. Here are a few important things to know about the thawing of pipes.
- Pipe Thawing Preparation
- Thawing an exposed pipe
- Preventing frozen pipes
Pipe Thawing Preparation
When you have a frozen pipe, one of the first things you do is locate where the frozen blockage is. Once you know where the block is you need to turn off the water main connected to that pipe. Also taking off the faucet connected to the pipe is recommended to allow the steam to vent once you start the thawing process. You can have a bucket at each end of the pipe to catch the water as it thaws. A bucket at the top of the pipe by the faucet could be necessary to catch the water that will come back up as it melts the ice blockage.
Thawing an exposed pipe
When thawing exposed frozen pipes it is important to keep the water main valve open so that as you thaw the pipe the water can easily drain out and to heat the pipe from the faucet down to where the frozen part is. You can start thawing the pipe with a few different items. You could use a hair dryer, heat lamp, small portable heater, electric pipe heat tape. Using a high power is the safest way thaw the pipe, just make sure the faucet is removed and start at the top of the pipe. Using a heat lamp is a good way to thaw a pipe that is behind a wall. You can also put a cookie sheet or other metal piece on the opposite side of the pipe to help reflect heat onto the frozen pipe. The small portable heater works great on frozen pipes under the sink or other confined space to put heat towards the frozen part to thaw it. The electric heat tape needs to be wrapped around the part of the pipe that is frozen. You wrap it and plug it in, the temperature is controlled by a thermostat.
When the temperature outside cools severely there is a chance of your pipes freezing. Discussed above are some great methods of how to thaw your frozen pipes and how to prevent frozen pipes from happening in the first place. It may also be a good idea to keep an eye on the overall temperature as the seasons approach winter and as it starts getting warmer in the spring time.
While you may do the above to thaw and repair frozen pipes yourself, it is advisable that you also seek the help of professionals like the Best Plumbers Perth. We are experienced and equipped in handling all sorts of pipe problems as well as other plumbing issues you may have from leak detection Perth to gas pipe repair as well as burst pipe repair.
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