» What to do if your pipes are frozen.
Inevitable thaw from this week’s freezing temperatures could bring a cold, wet mess for unsuspecting homeowners to deal with
Houston-area homeowners with frozen pipes are inundating local plumbers for advice and repairs as they prepare for an inevitable thaw that will restore water to their homes again.
“This morning a customer called and said that everything in the home was working except one toilet,” said Frank Wasily, plumbing supervisor at John Moore Services. “I suggested using a hair dryer on the pipe coming out of the wall and that was enough to work. It was a rare case, but it actually worked.”
News for many, though, won’t be as simple as a fix with hot air.
Here’s advice from Wasily, as well as Vicki Mendez at Chavez Plumbing and Kelli Victorian at Village Plumbing and Air:
Open cabinet doors: To prevent damage, open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors so warmer air inside can reach the walls where water pipes run from the sinks. Even if your home lost power and is chilly, the air inside your home will be warmer than the air outdoors, Victorian said. Even if a pipe has partially frozen, this can keep it from freezing completely and rupturing.
Drip, drip, drip: If your pipes are OK, keep them that way by leaving a faucet dripping in a bathtub farthest from the street to pull water through your system of pipes, Victorian said. Dripping kitchen or bathroom sink faucets can also help water move through pipes and avoid a freeze.
Turn off water: When frozen water in your pipes thaws, the pipes can rupture and water will flow freely wherever the rupture happens. If you suspect your pipes are frozen, turn off your water and flush out anything still in them.
Victorian said this can be done anywhere the pipe enters the home or at valves where water pipes connect to city water, usually in a box in your yard not far from the curb.
“There should just be a handle in there to turn. Get a neighbor, get anybody you can to try to help you turn it off,” she said.
Given that Houston is experiencing very low water pressure in much of the city, this same strategy can be used as a precaution, the experts said.
Some residents whose pipes were not frozen reported shutting off their water at the curb and opening their hose bibbs and faucets because the city water pressure was inadequate to keep every pipe dripping reliably.
Paul Abrams, a Roto-Rooter spokesman for 18 years, said that approach makes sense. “If there’s anything frozen inside the pipes, that will relieve the pressure,” he said.
Victorian, of Village Plumbing and Air, agreed.
“You’d want to turn off the water to the house and then make sure you drain your system,” she said, “which means just open the faucets and just let everything flow out until it stops.”
DIY thaw: If most of your faucets and toilets are working but one are two are not, they may have a blockage. You can try to resolve this yourself with Wasily’s hair dryer technique, or even use an electric heating pad. Do not pour boiling water on pipes, as that can crack your pipes.
Pier-and-beam foundations: Homes on pier-and-beam foundations likely have some plumbing underneath. If those pipes have not broken, you can still try to insulate them to avoid a freeze.
Slab foundations: Homes on slab foundations should have water pipes in the walls and attic. If water is flowing smoothly, you’re likely fine. If you notice water coming through your ceiling, that’s a sign there’s a burst water pipe in the attic, Wasily said.
Hose bibbs and irrigation systems: Hose bibbs are the faucets on the outside of your home, where you usually connect a garden hose or an irrigation system. If you see water spraying out of the side of your house, that likely means your hose bibb is cracked.
You found the problem: If you know your pipes are frozen and have suffered damage, turn off the water valve that supplies water to your home. That way, the only water that will leak is what’s already frozen in the pipes instead of a never-ending supply from city water lines.