What to do to prevent, thaw frozen pipes when bitter cold strikes Kansas City
Extremely cold weather is coming Kansas City and that can mean trouble for your home if your water pipes freeze and burst.
As a general rule of thumb, temperatures have to be below 20 degrees for at least six consecutive hours for your pipes to freeze. Even then, the time it takes your pipes to freeze depends on the home’s insulation and where water pipes are located.
The supply lines that are most vulnerable are those in unheated interior areas like basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, exterior walls and kitchen cabinets.
The American Red Cross, and others, have tips on how you can prevent pipes from freezing and what to do to thaw them if they do.
What to do before the cold
If you haven’t already, you should shut off the water to your exterior hoses and pipes and should disconnect any hoses that are attached to them, according to KB Complete in Mission. You should also shut off water to any outdoor hose spigot, swimming pool supply lines or water sprinkler lines and drain them.
You should also consider adding insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces. While at it, check for water lines in unheated areas and consider installing a pipe sleeve or UL-listed heat tape to exposed water pipes, according to the Red Cross. Even newspaper can be used to insulate those pipes.
Another option is to relocate pipes that have a tendency to freeze in cold weather.
One final, but important step before the cold arrives, is to locate the water shutoff and become familiar with how it works so that if pipes do freeze and burst, you know how to quickly stop the flow of water into the house.
During cold weather
Once the cold weather has settled in, you’ll want to keep the heat on in your house. KB Complete suggest a minimum of 55 degrees. The city of Liberty, however, suggest at least 60 degrees.
When temperatures drop below 20 degrees, open the kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors under sinks to allow warm air to circulate around pipes. When you do this, make sure to move any cleaners and harmful chemicals out of reach of children or pets.
Keep your garage doors closed if there are water supply lines inside.
When the temperature drops to zero or below, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe, even at a trickle, helps prevent pipes from freezing, according to the Red Cross.
How to thaw frozen pipes
If you find, despite your best efforts, that your water pipes have frozen, there are steps you can take to thaw the pipes.
If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle or no water at all comes out, you might have a frozen pipe. Keep the faucet open. As you treat the frozen pipe, the ice will begin to melt and water will start flowing through the area. Running water will also help melt ice in the pipe, according to the Red Cross.
Apply heat to the section of frozen pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer or a portable space heater. Do not use a blowtorch or other open flame device to thaw a pipe.
If you have trouble finding the frozen pipe, it’s inaccessible or you can’t thaw it on your own, contact a licensed plumber.
If a pipe bursts, shut off the water. If you’re unable to shut off the water supply or the shut-off valve breaks, contact your water utility.
The emergency numbers for water utilities in the Kansas City area are:
Johnson County WaterOne: 913 895-1800
Kansas City Water: 311 or 816-513-1313
Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities: 913-573-9622.
If you are not serviced by those three main utilities, check with your local municipality or water service provider for their emergency number.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 11:03 AM.
