If you have a frozen outdoor faucet or a pipe, it can be really dangerous because it may lead to water damage, a pipe burst, and a flooding problem inside your home. If an outdoor faucet is frozen, it can result not only in water loss but also in wall cracks, leaks, and crawl base. Fortunately, you have a chance to undo this all.
The outer faucets can be protected from freezing by insulation. However, if you have a non-responsive tap that is suspected of freezing, I will tell you how to tackle this problem. Read this article to learn how to thaw a frozen outdoor faucet to protect your home from danger. There are tons of frozen pipes in cold areas that are inconvenient.
So if you are concerned about learning the solution, you should immediately take the first step in thawing a frozen faucet. Here are some tips to follow to avoid bursting into your pipe and damaging your property.
It’s better to prevent
I know you have the idiom prevention is better than cure because we should always be one hand further towards all the major issues in winter that come with frozen water. To winterize your faucet or install a frost-free model. It will reduce the chance of flooding.
- Insulate the faucet by using faucet insulating covers from cold weather, and they are easy to install
- You can also use a foam pipe insulation that comes along as it is very easy to install by sliding the supply line
- Make sure that you have insulated the exterior pipes like garage basement and crawl spaces
Steps
Let’s learn how to prevent a faucet from freezing in a few easy steps. You can learn these steps and do it yourself in no time.
Unscrew the faucet
In the first step, you have to unscrew the faucet. Let’s open it all the way. As you have done opening, there is an Interior stem washer inside the valve seal of the faucet. Once it is dislodged, the water can flow freely in the faucet.
Wrap the faucet
In the next, you have to wrap up the faucet. Do it properly and tightly. it can be done by wrapping an old towel around the water supply line but do not wrap around the faucet head because it is the place where water will flow from.
Pour up hot water
Fill up a large pot with hot water and gradually pour it over the faucet. Just make sure that the towel must be soaked completely and stop for any trickles that it is found. Eventually, the faucet will be thawed, but it can take more than one time for complete thawing.
let it drip
After pouring water several times on the faucet, it will start running but do not turn it so soon. Let it drip for a while. You may need to drop the water for several minutes before turning it off.
Then repeat the process, keep noticing the time difference in water flowing. The longer the water flows more the frozen section has been. In other words, you need to turn on the tap on and off until the water shoots back normally.
Other ways to avoid frozen water faucets
You must be thinking if there are other ways to thaw a frozen pipe, then why I have told you this one. It’s because the reason that pouring hot water over a faucet is the most reliable. nevertheless, if you are interested in trying something new, then I have some additional methods, but I prefer poring hot water more than any other to thaw a frozen faucet.
- A hairdryer is used in hairdressing, but it can also be used in the thawing of the frozen faucet. You can use a basic hairdryer, turn it on to the highest point, and put it over the faucet, but the problem with this kind of thawing process is you need an electric outlet and be more careful while using this technique. Although it is a reliable method, it can be a bit dangerous.
- If you want to replace the towels, then you can use heat tape for it. these heating tapes are usually sold in the market in various lengths, but the problem is the same you just need an electric outlet if you want to perform this procedure.
- Another option is using a heater or a lamp. It will not completely thaw the faucet, but it will slow the thawing. you can use any of these things, just use them properly and pay a bit more attention to instructions.
Since all of these methods are good but need an electric outlet, I will suggest you use a water pouring one as it is safe and sound.
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At the end of the article “how to thaw a frozen outdoor faucet”
In short, I want to say that winters are exciting, but they can make life difficult. Frozen outdoor faucet is a major problem in cold climate regions of the world, and in order to solve this problem, you must learn how to Thaw a frozen faucet. I have shared some easy tips and tricks for solving this problem.
A frozen faucet can also lead to many other problems like wall cracks, water flooding, and others. So always be ready before winter for all these problems, you can solve them by the very simple method. You just need to know which one is going to work and among all the procedures I prefer pouring some hot water on the faucet because the procedures involving electricity can be dangerous so you should avoid it and go with the safest one.