Frozen pipe thawing for North York homes

How to tell

• One tap gives nothing or a trickle on a bitter morning
• Frost on a bare pipe in a crawlspace or garage
• The hose bib line or a kitchen on an outside wall is affected first
• Toilet tank refills very slowly

Where it freezes

In North York houses, the usual spots are kitchen sink supplies on an exterior wall, pipes over a garage, lines under a bay window or a cantilevered floor, and the water service where it enters through a shallow spot near the front step. Side-splits are known for this: a pipe runs through the floor over the garage, with only a thin layer of insulation below it.

In North York houses, the usual spots are kitchen sink supplies on an exterior wall, pipes over a garage, lines under a bay window or a cantilevered floor, and the water service where it enters through a shallow spot near the front step.

From the counter

What we do

1. Shut the main if there is any chance of a split.
2. Open the affected tap so melted water and steam have somewhere to go.
3. Locate the cold section by touch and with a thermal camera.
4. Thaw with warm air or a pipe-thawing machine, working back from the open tap.
5. Restore pressure slowly and watch every joint along the line.
6. Repair any split, then insulate or reroute the run.

Stopping it next winter

Insulate pipes in cold spaces, seal drafts where they enter the house, keep cabinet doors open on the coldest nights and let a thin stream run from the at-risk tap. For a run that freezes every year, moving it to an inside wall is often worth it.

Questions

Next on the shelf

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• Residential