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Saturday, February 13, 2016

Winter Issues : Frozen Pipes

Frozen water pipes???



Older houses always have issues. One issue that is nearly always present is that of frozen water pipes. Since the weather around here has been quite chilly (down right cold) there is no real surprise. The scary part is that frozen water in the lines has the capability of busting the pipes




 There are things that must be done to ensure that pipes do not freeze.

Insulate all water pipes from cold moving air and keep them dry

Heater tapes wrapped around the pipes or a heated reflector lamp in dry enclosed space works great.
allowing the water to run at a slow constant drip this is cheaper than repairing it

Thaw out a frozen pipe by checking to see where the pipe is frozen at. Some plastic and copper pipes will split and flood and area when thawed out. In this case it is better to call a plumber.

an electric space heater placed around the frozen part or a hand held hair dryer can help to unthaw local frozen pipes.

5 comments:

  1. Great info! This happened to our house when I was a kid. And it happened at our school one year, too. That wasn't so bad. No school! Haha. AND this in California. I'm sure this is a huge issue elsewhere!

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  2. oh my that in california many times we think of beaches when we think of california and yes this is a serious problem else where

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  3. Omg I feel your pain. We don't live in an older house but we lived in a single wide mobile home and one year our hear tape died. So our pipes froze. Then we had an issue where the skirting was open exposing the pipes and that did it!! It was horrible!! Then once the water came back on, we discovered a leak. Now we live in a double wide with cement cinder blocks around the underneathe and heat tape. We've lived here for two winters so far and knock on wood, we have had no issues. Good luck!!

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