Leaky, frozen pipes happen to good people. Really, they do. So stop beating yourself up for not winterizing your outside faucets three months ago and start rounding up some of the tools you’ll need to thaw frozen pipes. Water expands as it freezes; it’s this expansion that cracks pipes causing leaks. Your mission is to gently thaw frozen pipes to prevent further damage to the pipes.  So gather up towels, hair dryers and perhaps a heating pad to bring some warmth to the job.

Before we go any further, though, you need to find the frozen pipes.  Turn on all the faucets in your home and monitor water flow and pressure. If water is running in all but one part of your home, then the blockage is probably inside your home. Conversely, if none of the faucets have water pressure, then the outside line is blocked. Once you’ve located the frozen pipe, it’s time to bring the heat:

Here’s How to Thaw Frozen Pipes!

• First things first, turn up your heat so you don’t create anymore frozen pipes. You got to remember you need to keep your home warm enough not to freeze all of your homes pipes. Heating, thawing, repairing and replacing frozen, burst and leaking pipes for an entire home is extremely expensive messy job.

• Hairdryers. Great for gently warming plastic pipes or pipes located inside walls. Remember to keep the dryer on a low setting and continually moving.
• Warm towels. Wrap towels heated to about 110 degrees around frozen metal pipes. Replace the towels once they begin to cool.
• Heating pad. A grounded, water resistant heating pad can be wrapped around a pipe to gently warm the frozen section.
• If your frozen pipe was in a wall, put insulation around the thawed out pipe to prevent this pipe from freezing again.

One more bit of advice as you work to thaw frozen pipes. Take your time and work slowly to prevent further damage to your home; hidden cracks in the pipes might cause water leaks to appear as the pipes thaw. We recommend calling a professional plumber to repair the cracks in the pipe unless you plan on repairing the pipe yourself.