Accent Foundation - Just in case it freezes this Winter

Just in case it freezes this Winter

21/12/2011

Frozen pipes can cause problems in our homes and make your lives miserable. It is very difficult for us to do much with them until they thaw out.

If you are having problems with your water supply, and you think it is because of frozen pipework, try thawing your service pipe. This is the pipe that carries water into the first incoming tap. This can be the cold tap in your kitchen, your utility room or your downstairs bathroom. Use a hot water bottle or a hairdryer to try to thaw the pipe, starting at the end nearest the first incoming tap. Make sure you apply the heat in short bursts.

Never use a naked flame near the pipes.

Here are a few tips to avoid losing your water, freezing pipes or, even worse, burst pipes in your home this winter:

Keep some warmth in every room in your home.
Take care with downstairs bathrooms (often behind kitchen areas) with flat roofs as these can suffer from frozen waste pipes as well as water pipes.
Keep your heating on low all the time. This will not necessarily increase your heating costs.
Don't change the thermostat during the day - keep a consistent temperature.
Don’t shut unused rooms off, allow heat to flow around your home.

Risky locations

Pipes are most likely to freeze when they are:

In an outside wall.
Under a sink on an outside wall.
In an unheated crawlspace.
In an unused room with heating switched off.

In the situation where your pipe is frozen but not yet ruptured, you need to quickly thaw it out. Never use a flame torch because of the fire hazard. Open flame torches are the most common cause of pipe thawing related home fires.

Pipe thawing

As soon as you realise a pipe is frozen you need to take action straight away.

Open the water supply from the frozen pipe even if you do not know where it is frozen.
Find the frozen water supply pipe and where the blockage is.
Follow the pipe back from the faucet to where it runs through cold areas, such as outside walls, unheated crawl spaces or, in some cases, unheated basements, if the pipe is near an outside wall.
Often the frozen area of the pipe will be frosted or have ice on it. If the state is critical, the pipe may be slightly bulged or look slightly fissured.
Turn up the heat in your home if you can.
Apply a warm towel or low level heat (such as a hair dryer) gently to the affected area. Do not use high levels of direct heat as you may cause more damage.

When working on thawing the pipe, leave the main water valve open (near your water meter). Remember to heat the pipe from the faucet toward the frozen area. This way, the water can flow out as the ice melts and the water pressure in the pipe will force the ice out once it melts sufficiently.