How to Deal with Frozen Pipes in Your Home This Winter

If you live in an area where it gets cold every winter, your pipes should be protected already. However, if they aren't protected, there are a few precautions to take in case an unexpected cold snap arrives.

Keep a pencil-sized trickle of water running from each faucet during the night. Moving water freezes much more slowly than water that's standing still. If possible, keep a light bulb burning near exposed pipes or put a portable heater in your basement for the duration of the cold spell.

For more permanent protection, wrap all exposed pipes in special pipe insulation. It usually comes with tape to keep it tightly and neatly in place. For even more protection, wrap your pipe with specially designed heating wires. They come equipped with thermostats so the heat is turned on only when needed.

If it's too late for prevention- the pipes have already frozen- there are ways to thaw them out.

Open a faucet near the frozen place in the pipe before you do anything else. If you're not sure exactly where the pipe is frozen, open all the faucets that are blocked. When heat is applied, vapor from the melting ice needs a place to escape, and if there is no opening through a faucet, the vapor may come through the side of the pipe. As you thaw a pipe, work back from the open faucet toward the frozen place.

If you are not sure whether the frozen pipe has sprung a leak, take precautions to protect furniture or floors from water before you thaw the pipes. Move items that might be damaged from the area or cover them with plastic drop cloths. Have several pans and pails handy to catch the leaks as they appear. If you detect a crack in a pipe, put a rubber pad and clamp on it before the pipe thaws.

One way to thaw a pipe is "grandma's frozen pipe cure." You wrap the pipe in rags and pour boiling water over it. This method works but is slow and very messy. A heating pad wrapped around the pipe or a heat lamp or hair dryer aimed at it works much better. Except on plastic pipe, the quickest thawing is done with a propane torch equipped with a flame spreader nozzle. Never let the pipe get too hot to touch and be sure to protect the wall behind it with a piece of asbestos or sheet metal.