Cold snaps here are short and rare, which is exactly why Lower Mainland homes are so vulnerable to them. Pipes were run through exterior walls, garages and crawlspaces for decades on the assumption that it never really freezes. Then it does.
If A Tap Has Stopped Running
- Find your main shut-off and make sure you can close it. If a frozen section has split, the flood starts when it thaws. Knowing where the valve is beats searching for it with water on the floor.
- Open the affected tap a little. It relieves pressure as ice melts and tells you when flow returns.
- Warm the pipe gently if you can reach it: a hair dryer, a heating pad, warm towels, or simply raising the room temperature and opening cabinet doors. Start at the tap end and work back toward the frozen section.
- Never use an open flame. Every winter someone sets a wall on fire with a torch.
- Watch the wall and ceiling below for a day after it thaws. A hairline split leaks slowly at first.
If you cannot find the frozen section, or it is inside a wall, shut the main and call. Thawing a pipe you cannot see is how a small problem becomes drywall and insurance.
Where Homes Freeze Here
- Hose bibs with a hose still attached
- Pipes in exterior walls behind kitchen and bathroom cabinets
- Garages, crawlspaces and attic runs
- Suites and additions where plumbing was run along an outside wall
- Vacant homes with the heat turned off
Preventing It
- Disconnect hoses and fit frost-free hose bibs with interior shut-offs.
- Insulate exposed runs in garages and crawlspaces, and seal drafts near them.
- Keep the house above about 12°C even when you are away, and open cabinet doors on exterior walls during a cold snap.
- Let a vulnerable tap drip overnight when it drops well below freezing.
- Re-route plumbing out of exterior walls during any renovation that opens them.
A burst supply line in a finished room is one of the most expensive things that can happen to a house, and almost all of them are avoidable.
Related: fall hose bib checklist · 24/7 emergency service
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- Bathroom Renovation Plumbing: Costs, Permits And Order Of Work
- Pressure-Reducing Valves: Why Hillside Homes Wear Out Fixtures
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