Guide To Frozen & Burst Pipes
Chicagoland Is a Climate Zone 5b where minimum temperatures range from -10 to -15° F. You need to be concerned about pipe freezes.
Man, has it been cold outside recently? With temperatures dropping well below zero recently, residents in the Chicagoland area are facing significant threats to home safety with frozen and burst pipes. When temperatures fall below zero degrees, pipes are incredibly vulnerable and cause incredible home damage. Since they can quickly turn into a very expensive problem for homeowners, the professionals at ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons have created this guide to give you a crash course in Pipe Freezing 101. Read on to learn how to prevent pipes from freezing, how to thaw pipes if they do freeze, and what to do if frozen pipes end up bursting and causing vast water damage to your home. But if you already have a frozen & burst pipe, stop reading and call us for Frozen & Burst Pipe Damage Restoration
How to Prevent Pipes from Freezing
While you might think that Chicagoland homes would be built to withstand the cold, many do a poor job of surviving the winter without significant damage. Within homes, there are areas where pipes are more likely to incur damage due to freezing temperatures. Some of these places include:
- Outdoor areas (hose bibs, water lines to irrigation systems, wells, or pools)
- Unheated areas (garage, attic, crawl space, or basement)
- Cabinets, where pipes cannot get enough heat when cabinet doors are closed (under the kitchen or bathroom sink)
- Uninsulated exterior walls
Once you’ve determined what pipes may be susceptible to freezing, you will want to take action to protect those pipes when temperatures plummet:
- Open cabinets. This allows the warm air to circulate around pipes.
- If there are pipes in the attic, open the door to allow warm air to move upwards
- Let water trickle from faucets. The constantly flowing water will prevent pipes from freezing. The small amount of water you waste is much less than the cost of a plumbing repair or the amount of water that will escape if a pipe bursts.
These tips may get you through a handful of cold nights, but in general, we recommend preemptively insulating pipes during your home winterizing process.
How to Insulate Pipes
Insulating pipes is by far the best way to prevent pipes from freezing. Here’s how:
After you’ve identified what pipes need insulation, visit the hardware store and pick up your insulating material of choice. You can use:
- Tubular sleeve insulation
- Fiberglass insulation
- Duct tape
- Foil insulation tape
- Heating blanket tape
- In a pinch, use newspaper and duct tape
Prepare the pipes. A simple wipe-down with soapy water will do the trick.
Wrap the pipes with the material you’ve chosen. Be sure to cover all exposed surfaces. Secure the edges and corners with duct tape. If you use fiberglass insulation, wrap the insulation with sheets of plastic or duct tape as well.
Other Ways to Prevent Pipe Freezing
If you have pipes in your crawl space, you may want to:
- Insulate the outer walls of your crawl space with foam board
- Close the vents (just during the freeze; crawl spaces need to breathe)
- Run a very low-temp space heater on the lowest setting in the crawl space (away from all flammable materials)
If you have a well, you can:
- Insulate the exposed pipes
- Install a low-watt heat lamp designed for this purpose
- Cover the well to keep heat inside and cold out (look for fiberglass rocks or well covers at the hardware store)
If you have an irrigation system or pool/pond lines, you should:
- Drain the lines
- Use the blow-out-method to remove the remaining water from the lines
If you don’t have time to insulate pipes, and you want to prevent Frozen & Burst Pipe Damage Restoration, consider using heat tape, a heat lamp, or a low-watt bulb to heat the space where the pipes are located, but be mindful of fire hazards and install with care. Never use a blow torch or a heat gun when thawing pipes, and exercise care when using a heat lamp.
How to Tell If Your Pipes Are Frozen
Sometimes, you won’t be able to protect your pipes until it is too late, and other times, pipes will freeze even despite your best efforts. If you suspect your pipes are frozen, you’ll need to take action right away. But how do you know for sure? Here are four major tip-offs:
- You don’t have any running water, or you turn on the water and only a trickle comes out of the faucet
- You notice frost or condensation on your pipes
- Pipes feel frozen to the touch
- The pipe is visibly cracked or split in a place you never noticed before.
Once you’ve confirmed a pipe is frozen, you’ll need to figure out where the frozen section is located. Oftentimes, an entire pipe won’t freeze – instead, just a section of a pipe will freeze ranging from a few inches to one foot. Since pipes with greater exposure are more likely to freeze, first check under the sinks, in the crawl space or basement, in the attic, along the main pipeline to and from your yard, and any other exterior pipes.
If one faucet is fine and another in a different room on the same floor isn’t, the pipe is frozen somewhere between the mainline and that room’s piping. If the faucets work on one floor but not another, the frozen pipe is located where the floors separate. If no faucets work, a section of the pipe near the main water line may be frozen.
Can’t find the cold section of pipe? It’s probably hidden in the wall or yard. Outdoor water lines can be trickier to catch because you probably don’t use the pipes leading to a pool or hot tub, irrigation systems or outdoor hoses during the winter. Inspect outdoor lines once in a while if temps stay low.
How to Thaw Frozen Pipes
Once you’ve found the section that’s frozen, you’ll need to carefully thaw the pipe without causing it to burst. Try the following:
- Aim a hair dryer on low or medium (not high) heat at the section of pipe
- Run a space heater on low—but be careful not to place it too close to the pipe
- Wrap the pipe with towels dipped in warm water (you’ll need to replace them periodically)
- Wrap the pipe with a heating pad on low or medium (not high)
Every once in a while, try running the faucet to see if you’ve been successful. When water is flowing once again, take steps (see above) to prevent the pipe from freezing again.
How to Tell if a Frozen Pipe Has Cracked
The danger of frozen pipes is cracking and bursting. Water expands when frozen, and pipes may crack under the pressure of the expansion.
Other signs of a leak include:
- A heavy flow of water, puddles on the floor and/or obvious water damage in the home
- The sound of rushing water inside your wall or floor
- Hot or cold spots inside the wall or floor
- Water stains on the wall or ceiling
Unfortunately, a lot of cracked pipes happen in hidden places where you can’t see evidence of the leak. After thawing your pipes, you will want to keep an eye on your water bill. If you see a water bill spike, there’s a very good chance you’ve got a hidden leak. A restoration professional will use leak detection equipment to locate the leak.
What to Do If You Have a Burst Pipe
When frozen pipes burst, you have an urgent and costly emergency on your hands. You’ll need to spring into action quickly after you notice a burst pipe in your home. Your priorities are first, to stop and/or minimize the potential water damage and then, to facilitate clean up. Here are three things we recommend doing immediately after a pipe burst:
- Shut off your main water valve and, if necessary your electricity
- Call a restoration company and plumber immediately
- Start removing water as best you can with towels to mitigate the growth and spread of mold or mildew
- Call ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons for emergency Frozen & Burst Pipe Damage Restoration
About Us: Co-Authors RESTORE your complete guide to protecting your home as your most valuable asset from water and fire disasters https://www.amazon.com/dp/1952779529. Recipient of 2022 award for Daily Herald Entrepreneurial Excellence. ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, is a SB100 Best of Small Business Award Winner 2021, Bronze Stevie® Award in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category in the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, recipient of the 2020 Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, and recipient of the 2020 Skokie Business of the Year Award, Honorable Mention Category. ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons (MBE/WBE) is a family operated, IICRC & OSHA Certified company serving Chicago, Oak Park, River Forest, and the North Shore. We provide commercial disaster restoration services including Water & Flood Damage Restoration, Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration, Mold Remediation and a wide range of interior specialty cleaning including COVID-19 Cleaning Services, Hoarder & Clutter Cleaning, Post-Construction Cleaning, Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning to residential and commercial customers.