B-b-b-rrrrrrr! It looks like we’re in for another really cold winter here in the Hoboken/Jersey City area. Extreme cold temperatures come with their own set of difficulties that you may not even think about until they’re upon you. One of these difficulties is frozen water pipes.
If the pipes in a house freeze, it can mean anything from a mere nuisance to a major disaster. Freezing water expands and that means, if your pipes are old or not properly connected, the pipe can spring a leak. Of course, you may not even know there’s a leak until well after the thaw.
Take heart. There are ways to deal with the problem. Prevention is the best answer, of course. Insulation with a “pipe sleeve” or various other products available at hardware or plumbing supply stores is a good idea, especially where the temperatures drop to zero degrees or below.
If you know the temperature is dropping and your pipes aren’t insulated, you might consider turning the faucet on very slightly so a trickle of movement in water is sustained. If you normally lower the house temperature at night, maybe you should keep the temperature up during the extreme cold snaps. Also, opening the cabinet doors on sinks in the kitchen and bathrooms will allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing.
When you turn the water on and nothing comes out or just a small trickle flows, you may already have frozen pipes. Don’t panic. It doesn’t mean they have actually sprung a leak. Heat is your friend in this case. You need to use heat to thaw the water in the pipes. First, turn off the main water supply and open all the taps. This will tell you whether the whole system is affected or just one or two pipes.
Please, please, PLEASE! Do NOT use an open flame like a torch to thaw your pipes. Many fires are ignited that way. If you have a blow dryer for your hair, you can use that or rags soaked in hot water. Another word of caution is that if you use something electric like a blow dryer, be sure that you aren’t standing in any water, or that no water is dripping in the area. You should begin close to the faucet and proceed outward with your warming.
There are lots of resources on the internet to help you with the problem of frozen pipes. Here’s a link to the Red Cross version.
I hope you’ll stay warm and unfrozen this winter!
Edward