How to Repair Frozen Plumbing Pipes

On a cold, winter day, have you ever turned a faucet on in your house and nothing came out? I have on more than one occasion. If you have too, then you know the sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. Instantly, you know that, somewhere in that long maze of water pipes that runs through your house, one of them has frozen up.

Frozen water pipes are bad news. Not only are they an inconvenience, but, if they are let go, the pipes can burst. Burst pipes can mean water damage, a flooded basement, perhaps, and expensive repairs to your home.

It doesn't matter if the water pipes in your home are PEX or copper- both materials freeze equally. Both types of material need to be thawed out just as soon as possible.

First, you should check the other faucets in your house. Find out if the problem involves just one faucet, or if it's a widespread problem. If only one faucet is out of order, that pinpoints the problem to being between the faucet and the line that leads to it.

Next, the most obvious place where a pipe freezes is where it's not insulated. Also, pipes that are located along an outside wall, such as in a basement or crawl space, are more likely to freeze in the winter weather. Sometimes, pipes that are located underneath a kitchen or bathroom cabinet can freeze too. The closed up cabinets keep the warm air in the room from reaching the pipes.

Sometimes, you can actually feel the pipe to help determine exactly where the frozen water is located. Obviously, the icy area will feel much colder than the rest of the pipe.

Open the faucet that corresponds with the line that's frozen. That is, if the hot water line is frozen, then open that side of the faucet. Same with the cold water side. If your cold water doesn't run, then turn that faucet on. By doing this, you can tell when you have the problem fixed. That, and turning the faucet on can actually help to alleviate pressure in the line.

Use a hair dryer- preferably an old one- and turn the heat and fan to "high". Move the hair dryer along the pipe that you think is frozen. You'll need patience to do this, especially if the pipe is frozen solid. Work from the faucet down the length of the supply line.

If the frozen water pipe is located in a kitchen or bathroom cabinet, sometimes a heater positioned in front of the open cabinet can help thaw the pipe faster.

When the pipe begins to thaw out and the water begins to run again, leave the faucet open for several minutes. This will help to clear the ice out of the line. Then, turn the water off and inspect the affected line for possible leaks. If you happen to find a leak, you'll need to shut the water off at the main valve and patch or replace the pipe.

Now that you have your frozen water pipe thawed out again, you should take steps so that this problem doesn't occur again. Here are some steps you can take to effectively eliminate the problem:

1. Insulate the Water Pipes

You can purchase insulation that is specially made for water pipes. This type of insulation is inexpensive, and it's readily available at your local hardware or at your local home supply center. This product comes in lengths. The lengths are round, and they have a slit along one side so they may be cut to size, then slid over the pipe.

2. Install Heat Tape on Exposed Pipes

This is also readily available at your local hardware or at your local home supply center. However, it is considerably more expensive than insulation. It also takes time to install and use.

For safety's sake, only buy a product that is "UL Listed." That means that it has been approved for use by the Underwriters Laboratories.

Be sure to follow the manufacturer's directions in order to achieve the best results. Basically, though, you'll need to wrap the heat tape around the water pipes you want to protect from freezing. You'll then need to plug the cord into a household outlet. The heat wrap will keep the pipes warm so they cannot freeze.

3. Let the Water Slowly Drip

This is the best prevention to avoid having a frozen water pipe in your house when the mercury drops down low. You shouldn't need to let all of your faucets drip, only the ones that are prone to freezing.

Source: Associate Content.

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PEX Pipe – Why it is Best for Domestic Water Supply Systems

Cross link polyethylene or PEX pipe is best tubing materials for domestic water supply systems. These pipes are increasingly being employed for potable water systems because they are easy to install, cost-effective, reliable, durable and most vitally free from corrosion or chlorination. These tubes are not at all prone to filming or chemical attacks and for this reason the water supplied through them is completely clean and safe for drinking. PEXMall pipe are excellent to be used for domestic water supply systems because of following reasons:

• The tube has the capability to withstand high temperature rating of up to 200 F. It can even bear exceedingly high pressure rating with full stability.
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• There is very negligible or zero amount of heat loss caused by these pipes when used for hot water supply systems. It can be therefore employed to best meet requirements of hot water supply systems.
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It is more flexible and compatible to rigid metal pipes and can easily adapt to sudden changes in temperature so as to provide uninterrupted working means.

 

Users are able to secure more practical piping solutions for their homes in comparison to those obtained through metal based tubes. These pipes hold great resistance to freeze damage, corrosion or chlorination. Even the internal surface of these pipes is smooth and free from chemical reactions.

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of the benefits offered by PEX pipes are as follows:

·         The PEX tubes possess excellent resistance to extreme temperature conditions. No kind of breakage or leakage occurs to them even when exposed to extreme temperature conditions.

·         They hold great contraction and expansion ability.  In addition to this, they also hold superior flexibility which allows them to withstand different temperate levels with ease. So, even when they are used under extreme temperature situations they do not tend to cause any sort of breakage.

·         Another benefit of these pipes is that they hold great resistance to corrosion. The percentage of corrosion to it is very high. Also, these pipes are not crafted with metal and so there are no chances of them being getting reacted with water or any other liquid substance.

·         Cost effectiveness of PEX tubing is it’s another benefit. Not only the price of these tubes is cheaper but even their installation cost is also very less. This is because there are only fewer fittings and less amount of energy is required to bring it into accurate position.

·         The pipe made with PEX also possesses excellent capability to be used along with other kinds of pipes. They can be comfortably employed with PVC pipes and metal tubes. This provides them multiple varieties of uses. They can be employed for expansion and extension of various pipes.

·         Another advantage of these units is that they hold less number of fittings, so, this makes their installation work highly simple. This also adds more reliability to them as less number of fittings means less chances of breakage or leakage.

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