If you don’t want to pay too much money for having your frozen water pipes fixed and be greatly inconvenienced, then follow the steps below to keep your water pipes in tip top shape.
1.) Make sure that you keep your water pipes completely dry by putting them in a place where they won’t be affected by cold air. Find the main water supply of your equipment and turn it off if necessary.
2.) You can place a reflector lamp near your pipes or wrap them with heater tape with a built-in thermostat. Check the condition of the lamp from time to time especially during the winter season.
3.) If you have temporarily lost electricity inside your home, then make sure that the water inside your pipes are dripping and not excessively flowing. This step is needed to be done for you to prevent doing any damage to the pipes.
4.) If you have a basement, then make sure that you heat and insulate the drain lines in that part of your home as well. You can even make a box that would protect those lines from cold air.
5.) If you already have a frozen pipe at hand, then inspect the frozen area of the pipe especially if it’s made of copper and plastic. This is done to prevent your pipe from completely falling apart when thawed.
6.) Also, to prevent you from causing a fire inside your home, it would be best for you to melt the ice on your pipe with the use of a lamp, a hair dryer or an electric heater.
7.) Don’t forget to remove your water hose from the spigot once you notice that the weather’s starting to get cold and that winter is fast approaching. Always maintain a presence of mind.
8.) Make sure that warm water continuously flows inside your cold and hot waterlines with the use of a recirculation valve. This is something that can easily be bought at a plumbing store. Nevertheless, only get a valve made of high quality materials.
9.) To maintain the condition of your pipes, you can consider buying an item with the name ICE-LOC. This product can prevent your waterlines from tearing apart in the future.
10.) Your pipes can get frozen not only because of cold air, but they can also become frozen due to the cold water inside it. Thus, you are recommended to purchase a RedyTemp which can tell you the temperature of the internal water of your pipes.
Additional Tip:
If you are really uncertain that you can go a great job on your frozen pipes, then you can always call a professional plumber for him or her to do the task for you.
Caution:
NEVER apply an open flame to your pipes. This can only destroy them. If you don’t know anything about fixing pipes and water lines, then don’t hesitate to contact a plumbing company which can help you out.