February 3, 2011
● by
Ben Hubbert
Plumbers are getting a lot of calls from customers who are without water because of frozen pipes. This could end up being a big problem as we move on with the week, since the cold weather isn’t going away. Bottom line: it would be REALLY nice if the temperature got above 32 degrees here in the next few hours and stay that way for a while, but we’re not sure if that will happen.
If you turn on your faucet and there’s only a trickle of water coming out, you can assume the pipe is frozen. Keep your faucets open since there’s a chance the water may thaw out the pipes. If the pipes are exposed, you can also apply heat from things like an electric heating pad or a hair dryer. NEVER apply blowtorches or anything like that to a pipe.
I realize not everyone will want to call a licensed plumber to thaw out these pipes. I realize there is a lot of DIY advice for how to do this on your own. I can only ask that you be as careful as possible if that’s the decision you make. Having water damage in your home is an absolute mess, but it certainly beats burning down your home. The real concern is that these pipes don’t thaw today and then we have another hard freeze overnight. Let’s hope the temperature goes up a bit this afternoon and as many pipes as possible thaw out over the next few hours.
