When water inside your pipes freezes, it expands and can cause your pipes to burst. Follow the steps in this guide to unfreeze your pipes carefully before they crack or burst.

When a cold front or long freeze occurs, it can freeze the water inside your pipes, interrupt your water supply, and cause your pipes to crack or burst. While prevention is the best way to avoid frozen pipes, it’s helpful to know how to safely unfreeze your pipes without damaging them. In this guide, we’ll provide tips on how to thaw indoor and outdoor pipes and how to stop them from freezing in the first place.

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How To Identify Frozen Pipes

Most of your home’s pipes are hidden, so it can be hard to tell when they’re starting to freeze. The sooner you detect signs of freezing, the lower the risk of burst pipes or water damage.

Look for these signs that your pipes are starting to freeze:

• Frosty pipes: If you see frost developing on the outside of your pipes (which is most visible with metal pipes), either the interior of the pipe is colder than the air outside of it (causing frosty condensation to form) or the pipe surface is so cold that frost starts to build. Both issues indicate that the water inside the pipes might be nearing freezing temperatures or turning to ice.
• Low or no water: If your water pressure is low or some faucets don’t work at all, your pipes may have ice and water that can’t flow through the system.
• Solid pipes: If you tap a pipe with water in it, it should sound and feel hollow and not empty. If you tap a pipe with frozen water, it will feel solid or heavy.
• Strange gurgles or clunks: Because pipes tend to freeze slowly, water will funnel through a smaller and smaller radius until completely blocked. You may hear the water gurgling through the system or hear small chunks of ice break free inside the pipes.

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How To Thaw Frozen Pipes Inside Your Home

The only way to thaw your pipes is to heat them carefully and with the right precautions. If done incorrectly, you could damage your pipes or cause expensive water damage. 

Follow these steps to thaw your interior pipes:

1. Determine the extent of the problem: Analyze how frozen your pipes are before thawing them. If you turn on a faucet and there’s no water, you likely have frozen pipes. If you notice a thin stream of water when you turn on your faucet, your pipes haven’t completely frozen and you may be able to thaw them.
2. For serious freezes, turn off the water: If you see cracks in your pipes or none of your faucets work, turn off the water to your home. This will reduce the water pressure in the pipes to minimize additional pipe damage and limit the amount of water that will come out of the pipes. If you notice damage to your pipes, we recommend calling a professional plumber who can replace the damaged plumbing. Place towels and buckets near visibly damaged pipes to collect moisture if they thaw or start to spray water.
3. For partial freezes, open the valves: Turn on all the faucets throughout your home so water can drain out of the pipes as you start to thaw them. This also facilitates more water movement and can slow freezing.
4. Slowly start thawing the pipes: Open all the cabinet doors around your pipes. This will allow your home’s hot air to reach them. If you can, increase the temperature of your home.
5. Work backward to start heating your pipes: Start at the faucet or end of the supply lines for each of your plumbing fixtures and use gentle heat, such as a hair dryer, heat tape, or a heated blanket to warm the pipes to room temperature. Move slowly and make sure each portion of the pipe thaws before continuing on to the next section of the pipe. Start near the faucets so unfrozen water doesn’t suddenly surge forward and hit the faucet with pressure.
6. Diagnose the severity of the damage as you go: As you warm the pipes, visually inspect them for any potential cracks or leaks in the joints and listen for gurgling or leaks.

Once you unfreeze the pipes, keep the cabinets open and consider placing heaters nearby. Never use an open flame to thaw or heat pipes.

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How To Thaw Frozen Pipes Outside

If your home has a pier-and-beam foundation, the pipes under it can reach freezing temperatures. Irrigation systems, pool pipes, pipes leading to barns or detached buildings, and other pipes outside of your home may also be at risk of freezing.

Cracked pipes outdoors are much less likely to cause water damage inside your home, but they can still be an expensive problem and are more likely to freeze than indoor pipes.

Take these steps to thaw your outdoor pipes:

1. Check to see if you have a frozen or cracked pipe: If you have a frozen or cracked pipe or the pipe has already burst, don’t thaw it. Turn off the water and call a plumber.
2. Slowly thaw partially frozen pipes: Similar to thawing interior pipes, use a blow dryer or similar heat source to thaw partially frozen pipes and cover them with heated blankets or hot towels so they don’t refreeze. Take your time—a low, slow heat is much less likely to shock the pipes.
3. Insulate the pipes: While you’re thawing the pipes or promptly after, cover them in thick pipe insulation to prevent a refreeze.

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Thawing Frozen Pipes in a Mobile Home

Pipes in a mobile home are more susceptible to freezing. The main water supply will come in through the floor or wall, and your home’s walls will have thinner insulation. If you notice your pipes freezing, act quickly to halt the ice and reverse it.

Work backward from the faucet to find where the pipe is starting to freeze. Apply heat with warm towels, a space heater, or a blow dryer, and slowly start thawing the pipe. Continue to move further and further back toward the main water supply until the pipe thaws completely.

Once the pipes are working again, open all your cabinets and increase the heat inside your home to reduce the risk of a refreeze. Additionally, keep one of your faucets dripping so the water stays moving, or turn off the water connection altogether.

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Thawing Frozen Pipes in a Wall

Sometimes, the pipes inside your walls will freeze. These are much harder to reach, and you can’t inspect them for damage before thawing them. If your pipes run through the attic, visually inspect both ends of the pipe as much as possible. If the pipe isn’t completely frozen in the attic, you can start thawing the pipes and the heat will transfer through to the obscured pipe.

Alternatively, you can use infrared lamps, heat lamps, and heat guns to try to heat the pipe through the wall. This process is slower and harder to verify. Depending on the position of the pipe, you can remove a portion of the drywall around it to access more of the pipe’s frozen area.

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Our Conclusion

Frozen water pipes are a severe risk during winter. They can prevent you from accessing water in your home and can cause burst pipes and water damage. During cold weather, prepare your pipes and continually monitor them for the first warning signs of a freeze. Thaw partially frozen pipes with towels soaked in hot water or a hair dryer. We recommend calling in a professional plumber for fully frozen pipes.

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FAQ About Frozen Pipes

What are the first signs of frozen pipes?

The first signs of frozen pipes are low water pressure, visibly frosty pipes, and no water flow.

What is the fastest way to thaw frozen pipes?

The fastest way to thaw frozen pipes is to apply a heat source such as a hot blow dryer. However, you don’t want to thaw pipes too quickly, as that can shock and damage the pipes and increase the risk of a crack or leak.

Can frozen pipes thaw without bursting?

You can sometimes thaw frozen pipes without bursting them. If the pipes are only partially frozen, they may not be cracked or damaged. However, homeowners should call a plumber if their pipes have completely frozen.

How can I prevent my pipes from freezing when I’m not home?

You can prevent your pipes from freezing when you’re not home by keeping your heat on and exposing the pipes to heated air. If you’re going to be away for just a few hours, leave a faucet dripping. If you’ll be away for several days, turn off your water supply at the shut-off valve.

Should I call a plumber to thaw frozen pipes?

You should call a plumber to thaw frozen pipes if they’re completely frozen or if you see indications of a cracked or burst pipe.

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