What To Do If My Pipes Freeze?
Winter is here again, and along with the problems of bad and cold weather, we also have to worry about our pipes freezing. So bearing that in mind, we here at CW Services Plumbing and Heating thought that we’d put together a few helpful tips to answer the question of “what to do if my pipes freeze.”
Don’t overlook other possible causes of lack of water
If the weather drops down and below freezing, any unlagged water pipes you have at home could become frozen. To check whether or not they have indeed become frozen you’ll have to carry out a few simple checks.
Don’t lose sight however, of the fact that you could have been cut-off by your water supply if you’ve missed payment; or of course there might be a blockage somewhere, or the water supply to the immediate area has been temporarily cut off by the suppliers due to an external problem. Check with your neighbours to see if their supply is okay.
If the neighbours supply is okay and your account is up to date, then you’ll need to carry out the following actions to establish whether or not your pipes are frozen.
Next steps
The first thing to do is to carry out a visual inspection of your pipes. You’re looking for a split. Don’t forget that if the water is frozen, there won’t be any sign of a leak of course, until the water unfreezes.
The next thing to do is to close down the water supply where it comes into the house, which mean locating and closing down the stopcock.
Now you need to close down the supply to the central heating (if you have it), and also shut down the supply to any water fed apparatus or equipment.
Next you should drain the cold water system. This means flushing any toilets, and opening all of the cold taps in the sinks and bath(s).
If you didn’t find any signs if split pipes in your visual check, you must now open up all of the taps and unfreeze the pipe using something like a warm cloth or towel, or a hot water bottle.
Once the pipes have thawed out, you know no damage has occurred and you haven’t spotted any leaks, shot off all the taps again and now turn the water supply back on by opening the stopcock a little at a time.
Finally you need to check all the pipes again now that they are under pressure, looking for any signs of damage before you switch the supply back on to any of your water heating appliances.
Time to call CW Services Plumbing and Heating
If by the end carrying out the above actions you discover that do indeed have a spilt or burst pipe due to it being frozen, it’s time to call a plumber, and we here at CW Services Plumbing and Heating are ready and waiting for your call to repair your burst pipes if you have problem and you live in the London area.
We operate a 24/7 emergency call out service and you can contact us on anytime on 020 7733 6812 or 07949 095 184.
