Hair Pipe
How long does it take for a water pipe that had been frozen to unblock?
Coinciding with the very cold weather, the shower in our loft hasn't worked these past few days and I've been assuming that the pipe has been frozen because of the extreme cold. I've been doing the hair drier thing where I can see pipe, but no joy.
However, the weather has eased up this last day or two and the shower's still not working. So my question is: how much of a time delay is it reasonable to expect between a thaw outside and an interior pipe to unblock?
Thanks ever so much for your help.
The length of time depends on how warm it might get. If the temperature around the pipe only gets to 1 or 2 degrees then it's unlikely to thaw at all before freezing again.
Ice expands just before melting & this is when pipes can burst if the temperature raises too fast. So one of the first things you should do is check you can switch off the supply of water to the pipe in case it does burst. Then rather than just waiting, you should get into the loft & inspect the pipe. Get some insulation around the pipe if it's on the floor of the loft. Just cover the top & leave a gap underneath for the warmth from the room below to help the pipe thaw gently & keep it from freezing again. If you can insulate over the pipe so that it benefits from warmth from the room below, hopefully it should flow again inside 24 hours.
If the pipe is away from the loft floor, as its already frozen there's no point in insulating until it unfreezes naturally. Depending on where you live & the weather, it might remain frozen for a while yet.
 |
 100 Antiqued Hair Pipe Bone Beads 15 Crafts $15.99 Time Remaining: 1d 7h 7m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 100 Hair Pipe Bone Beads 4 Chokers Jewelry Crafts $70.00 Time Remaining: 8d 6h 54m Buy It Now for only: $70.00 |
 TANDY LEATHERCRAFT 1 2 INCH WHITE BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS $15.99 Time Remaining: 19d 4h 15m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 TANDY LEATHER BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 1 WHITE 10 PACK $2.89 Time Remaining: 19d 4h 17m Buy It Now for only: $2.89 |
 TANDY LEATHER WHITE BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 1 1 2 10 PK $3.99 Time Remaining: 19d 4h 20m Buy It Now for only: $3.99 |
 TANDY LEATHER WHITE BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 1 1 2 100 PK $31.99 Time Remaining: 19d 4h 23m Buy It Now for only: $31.99 |
 TANDY LEATHER WHITE BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 2 100 PK $39.99 Time Remaining: 19d 4h 29m Buy It Now for only: $39.99 |
 TANDY LEATHER BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 4 WHITE 10 NIP $10.79 Time Remaining: 19d 4h 31m Buy It Now for only: $10.79 |
 TANDY LEATHERCRAFT 1 INCH WHITE BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS $23.99 Time Remaining: 19d 5h 25m Buy It Now for only: $23.99 |
 HAIR PIPE BEADS 1 IVORY WHITE CHOKER STRINGS $2.25 Time Remaining: 19d 8h 58m Buy It Now for only: $2.25 |
 100 Hair Pipe Bone Beads 2 BLACK Crafts $23.99 Time Remaining: 20d 6h 58m Buy It Now for only: $23.99 |
 100 Hair Pipe Bone Beads 15 BLACK REDUCED PRICE $15.99 Time Remaining: 20d 7h 21m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 100 Hair Pipe Bone Beads 1 1 2 Crafts Jewelry $15.99 Time Remaining: 25d 7h 9m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 TANDY LEATHER BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 1 2 WHITE NIP $2.05 Time Remaining: 27d 9h 43m Buy It Now for only: $2.05 |
 TANDY LEATHERCRAFT BONE HAIR PIPE BEADS 2 WHITE 10NIP $4.39 Time Remaining: 28d 2h 22m Buy It Now for only: $4.39 |