If you find a leak close the main shut off valve to your house and call a plumber immediately.
How to thaw pipes in attic.
Fixing frozen pipes in the attic or crawl space is more complicated.
Wrapping freezing pipes with thermostatically controlled heat tape from 50 to 200 depending on length is also an effective way to quickly thaw a trouble spot.
Here are four options for thawing an exposed pipe.
Frozen pipes can crack or burst because as water freezes it expands.
How to thaw frozen water pipes.
In this video house flipping brothers dave and rich show you how to thaw frozen pipes.
As you treat the frozen pipe and the frozen area begins to melt water will begin to flow.
How to thaw frozen pipes.
Otherwise you can thaw out the pipe by wrapping the pipe in a single layer of thermal tape or blowing air from a hair dryer back and forth across the pipe.
Where does the wate.
Ways to thaw a frozen pipe.
Frozen pipes in crawl space or attic.
It s the thawing pipes that leak and spew water after a hard freeze use a space heater heat lamp or hair dryer to thaw the frozen length of pipe.
An easy and safe way to thaw a pipe yourself is to use a high power hairdryer.
For exposed pipes like those in attics or crawl spaces inexpensive foam pipe insulation is usually sufficient.
If the frozen pipe is located in an area you can easily access you have several options for attempting to thaw the pipe.
Before anything else turn off the water supply to the frozen pipe.
With enough expansion pipes will develop cracks.
Keep the faucet open.
If the pipe hasn t ruptured or broken thawing the frozen pipe is relatively easy.
D uring cold weather pipes in your walls attic or under your floor can freeze.
You should continue to apply the heat until the water escaping from the faucet returns to full strength.
Here s why it won t get hot enough to create steam in the pipe.
The key is to know how your plumbing system works.
Thawing exposed pipes.
How to thaw frozen pipes.
First thing let s talk about how to do this job safely.
If you need to unfreeze water pipes leave your faucets open slightly to help thaw out the pipes.
You can supplement this with blown in insulation or rolled insulation throughout your attic.
Adding additional attic insulation can improve your home s energy efficiency and help prevent other winter problems like condensation.
Thawing frozen pipes with a hair dryer.
You can thaw frozen pipes using the various methods and plumbing tools described below.
If the frozen pipe did crack once the ice plug thaws out you could be faced with a torrent of water gushing from the pipe.
If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out suspect a frozen pipe.
