How you can safely thaw your frozen pipes

Experts advise you know where your home's water shut off is, and if you have to thaw frozen pipes, be sure to apply heat slowly.

[tomshady]

We find ourselves looking at videos we never thought we would need.

[BH-hxij]

So....what if your pipes are frozen AND the electricity is out?

Here's what worked for us.
1) Keep all your faucets open
2) Find a neighbor who still has water
3) Fill up large buckets with their water and bring it to a boil on a gas stove (hopefully you have one and it still works)
4) When the water boils, pour it into large pots and place the pots near all potentially frozen pipes---under sinks, near washing machine, etc.
Don't forget the area where the water supply actually enters the house, wherever that may be. (Ours was near the water heater) This is a prime location where the freeze may occur
5) As the water cools, keep reboiling it and replacing the pots.
6) Repeat this for hours if necessary. (I know, it's a pain. But it saved us big-time)
7) With any luck, water will begin to flow again

[jigfordtough]

In Virginia currently 12 degrees and my pipes are frozen. Bare minimum water flow out faucets. I really hope nothing expensive happens.

[muletowndown]

blow dryer? that's the tip? 2 minutes of filler and 3 seconds of a sleepy plumber saying use a blow dryer? are you kidding? have any of you actually tried using a blow dryer under your house in a freezing craw space?

[LindaKinsey]

Wow, so frustrated. I am having company for Christmas breakfast and no hot water at my kitchen sink. Pipe is apparently frozen. Still have cold water. Pipes are inside a wall, which goes into my unheated garage. -8 in Cleveland recently. I have a space heater under the sink with doors open. How long will it take to penetrate the wall and get to the pipes? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[guyhandsome]

"Hair dryer."

(That's the half-second version of this video.)

[moncreebrown]

It's like 16° here in Mississippi right now and it's supposed to get down to like 5° tonight and my pipes are already frozen and this is supposed to last at least another 2 days. We are not used to this kind of cold weather and it's so frustrating.

[beteljuice]

Who else showed up cuz they are confused by their pipes cuz they haven't had to deal with this sort of weather before? For whatever reason my hot water is fine but my cold water pipe in the bathroom just is not

[ShanesUnicorn]

Left the cabinet doors open and all faucets dripping but in -18 degree weather everything still froze! Ive been bringing 5 gallon buckets of snow in melting it with my pressure cooker its getting old real quick but at least i can keep the toilet going

[josexd]

This is exactly why I hate cold weather ugh annoying 🙄

[loganfnbr]

For people who still need help, I fixed mine this morning in Texas and made a video . . . the title is: "HOW TO FIX FROZEN PIPES BEFORE CALLING THE PLUMBER 💸" God Bless!

[christinamartinez]

I left my bathroom faucet dripping and it still froze up.

[jeffsawmessinaldo]

It's minus -2 degrees here in Indianapolis, my shower water frozen completely solid, everything everything else is working fine except for the shower.

[makeouthill]

Man I haven’t shitted in 3 days I can’t hold this Shit no more, literally. Water frozen... I’m also sick of washing my hands with water bottles like geez what’re we gonna drink 😳😭

[andyandcallie]

-19 last night, -15 tonight. My hot water froze. Ugh.

[Left-Earth]

Every pipe in my mobile home was fine because it had heat tape.
*Except the toilet, which froze and the commode won't fill.* 🚽❄️
_"A great way to start your day..."_ 🙄💩

[danielcook]

When you learn that every house even mansions are insulated with something that catches fire and shake your head at humanity.

[noy]

at what low temp in the house to make the pipe freeze?

[christopheremanuel]

My water isn't running and i can't go anywhere I'm in a townhouse what can I do?

[flaqko]

My whole crawl space is a whole foot of water when I woke up