How a Frozen Pipe Bursts | Ask This Old House
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey demonstrates how and why frozen pipes burst.
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Pipe insulation [amzn.to/2OLZO7N]
Steps:
1. Pipes can freeze if the temperature drops below freezing and the pipes are exposed to that temperature for a prolonged period of time.
2. When water freezes, it expands in volume by 9%. When this happens in a closed pipe, the ice displaces the water, which increases its pressure exponentially. If this is allowed to go on for too long, the pipe will burst.
3. When a water pipe bursts, an immense amount of water will come pouring out and will not stop until the water is shutoff somewhere upstream. Richard recommends labeling the main water shutoff in the house and ensuring every family member knows exactly where it is so it can be turned off as quickly as possible.
4. Once the water has been shut off, call a plumber to have it repaired. Be mindful of any nearby electronics or electrical wiring that may have gotten wet during the burst and be sure to steer clear of it.
5. Here are a few tips to prevent the pipes from freezing in the first place:
a. Insulate the pipes
b. Open cabinet doors on cold days to allow the warmer air from the house to keep the pipes warm
c. Slightly open the faucet that’s the farthest away from the water main. Just a few dribbles will work. This will relieve any pressure that could build up if the pipes freeze.
Resources:
Richard demonstrated that pipes, when frozen, expand in volume, which exponentially increases the water pressure and forces the pipe to burst. In these circumstances, shut the water off at the main and immediately call a plumber.
To prevent the pipes from freezing in the first place, Richard recommended keeping cabinet doors open and insulating the pipes with pipe insulation. This can be found at home centers.
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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. Ask This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment-your home.
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How a Frozen Pipe Bursts | Ask This Old House
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Hello fellow Texans
We don’t believe it. It’s a hoax! - a Texan
@@wengliu no one cares
@@amorymartinez2662 I agree with you. I’m sorry. Too much sarcasm?! :)
If anyone “Like” me, that guy is really dumb.
🤣🤣
😂 this comment was so good to see. I had water everywhere last week. 39 year old copper pipes so 🤷🏼♂️
I used to think that letting your faucets drip would cause the water to keep moving so it couldn’t freeze. I didn’t know that it would release pressure instead! Thanks TOH!
Same thing! Makes so much more sense
@Aramis3737 opposite of what you just said
I thought the same thing for many years.
Same here. Awesome.
It's a little bit of both. running water can't freezes as Easly, that's why rivers and streams don't. though if you get the right circumstances bodies of water can freeze.
Great info. City of Houston asked to stop dripping and guess what? Busted pipes the next day.
Who else is here after hearing what's happening in Texas?
I dripped all the faucets in my house and they still burst. In two places.
@@xfreeman86 I just turned off my main supply and opened all faucets inside the house not taking any chances any more. Will turn back on in the am. From lake Jackson tx
Shut off the main valve and drain any excess water afterwards i.e. tub faucet. Let it drip just slightly.
@@xfreeman86 That depends on the piping layouts and outside faucet location
Safest way is to turn off the main
Who else doesn’t care what you have to say U G
"It's the pressure that will make the thing go crazy, not the 10% ice expansion on its own"
This is crucial to understand why dripping faucet method works. The purpose of dripping faucet is not to prevent ice build up in pipes, but rather to relieve pressure.
Great video and saved my house during 2021 Texas freeze. In my case the pipe still froze as almost no water was coming out in the morning even when I left the faucet dripping, but the pipe at least did not burst. Thank you!
Hydrogen atom and oxygen atoms are attractive and leaves only about 3% of empty space between them so it could only compress 3%
That was actually a very informative and neat demonstration
Well here i am again after the Great Texas ice storm!! Luckily my pipes were all insulated and survived without issue!!!
@@JM-yx1lm Here in Austin, but originally from NH, these guys have saved me a lot over the years. Best advice as it relates to freezing pipes is right at the end about opening up a faucet or two for dripping to relieve pressure, works like a charm.
@@davidw2174 yes sir, glad yall have made it through the worst without out much issues...finding out today that gas stations here in DFW are all out of fuel everywhere...
Who else thought we’d actually see the pipe burst?
that's what i thought
Yes, very disappointed
Do you know now that you mention it I can't remember I'm gonna have to watch it again. When I went searching for this last year they had another video on the subject that was even older maybe I'm remembering that one.
Working a job years ago where the people went away for a few weeks ski vacation and the old steam boiler failed to fire one night. Fast forward a few weeks and their regular oil delivery guy noticed the house didn't take any product on scheduled delivery so peeked in the basement window to see LOTS of water. (mostly windows frosted over) Called the customer's neighbor to get inside and found the house had gotten so cold that the boiler and well tank had frozen to the point where the sight glass was broken on both. Spent a day dewatering the basement and put in temporary heaters so we could get the frozen stuff to melt over several days.... then the repairs could start! The biggest problem we faced was waiting for the well tank and boiler itself to defrost, because without water we couldn't heat the rest of the house. The good part was that steam pipes are always empty of water so no damage to them upstairs.
My solution… I purchased a digital irrigation timer at Lowes that you would normally use on your garden. I have a Orbit brand, Item #604469 Model #24600 about $30 bucks. I attached it to my kitchen sink with a quick disconnect. I set the timer to turn on once per hour around the clock and run for 2 minutes. It was really easy to set and works perfectly. I live in Northern Minnesota in a mobile home. It hasn't failed me yet. My water lines into the house have heat tape but this is my extra insurance….
I'm crackin it, I'm crackin it! He would've never yelled at Bob Villa like that 😮
The what, where, how, and why in one package. Nicely done!
I'm in the north Dallas area and have been using this to explain why the open tap doesn't prevent freezes but instead just stops the pressure buildup, great video!
This is the best video ever, explaining this subject. Very clear and concise.
Wow. Great knowledge. Had no idea it was the water pressure caused by the ice expansion and not just the ice expansion
My pipes froze before I had a chance to let them drip. I'm glad I watched this, as I have now disconnected from the source. Probably saved me a big disaster!
I never thought it was about the pressure! Very informative and interesting video
It's Christmas Eve and the Eastern half of the country is in a deep freeze, all the way from Vermont, where I live, to Florida in the South. I shared this video with my Facebook friends in hopes it will help. Thanks for some great tips.
Great video! There was great value added content mixed in.
Perfect demonstration and very simple to understand!
Thank you very much!
My Grandson just rented his first house in Burnsville Mississippi and found out he needs to drip his faucets at night when temps hit freezing which is almost every night back there. Great video Rich.
Surprising that would be a problem in the South
@@pavelow235 … The problem in the south is older homes that were retrofitted with indoor plumbing and almost no insulation, as in your typical (read: low budget) rental home.
Very informative. Thank you!
This is a great, very informative video. I have had pipes freeze so I leave the tap open as advised here. I like to run very hot water periodically to prevent a freeze.
Great demonstration
Thanks for the informative video. Will use this method moving forward.
As always another great tip thank you
Texas brought me here
We always let ours drip when it gets down to freezing. But, I never thought that did any good. I guess it does.
6996katmom … you have two things going on with a faucet dripping. The first is that moving water takes a lower temp to freeze. This is why a river freezes well after the lakes are frozen. The second is you are constantly allowing the pressure to drop if it does happen to freeze.
6996katmom it helps but running water will freeze. The Mississippi River freezes, Great Lakes Freeze, oceans freeze and so on.
@@rupe53 you're also replacing the cold water in the pioes with slightly warmer water from the underground pipes. It's not a lot but can help!
4:35 yeah good advice... A small (controlled) leaking faucet is better than a busted pipe
good thing I lived in the tropics... freezing is not my problem; its the humidity and rust.
Lmao... we have freezing AND humidity/rust, amplified by street salts. Temperatures ranging from -50C to +50C. Welcome to Canada
@@zamboner OUCH!
X Y Z … you have domestic water pipes that can rust?
A small controlled leak will take care of the rusting problem as well.
Love it. Great video!
So informational! Thank you!
Thank you.
Turn off if pipes burst.
Relieve pressure by letting faucet drip is the best tip and clarified why it's done.
Open space below kitchen sink to let ANY heat in there.
2 years ago when we had a cold winter and my parents weren’t home, a pipe burst. Long story short, we are still fighting with the insurance company 2 years later over all the damages.
are you sueing with winter or physics?
Хлебников Денис I’m afraid I don’t understand the question.
@@lionlinux ....yes
Most insurance company don't cover flood damage unless you have flood insurance and a burst pipe would be flood damage/ owners fault for not having heat/insulation/not turning off water good luck winning that battle
I'm watching Seals Sub training and the way they are taught to fix minor to severe pipe leaks is unbelievable! Can you show us how to easily fix major pipe leaks?
The great arctic blast in Texas brought me here.
No one cares.
@@amorymartinez2662 you cared enough to reply, bum.
Very useful. Thank you👍
Very useful information.
Cmon everyone!!! Say it with me 2:38
*FULL CITY WATER PRESSURE*
PainThe7thHokage Tap 2:38 over and over.
Imagine full countryside water pressure..
FULL 👏 CITY 👏 WATER 👏 PRESSURE
PainThe7thHokage … Not sure why we never have FULL WELL WATER PRESSURE, but I could have missed an episode.
𝓕𝓾𝓵𝓵 𝓬𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮
amazing work and or information you got there....
Great info...thanks!
Great video
I never understood why pipes burst when thawing! thank you!
My dad always had to climb into the crawl space to heat the pipes up until I told him to let them drip over night. The running water is harder to freeze than water sitting still in a pipe. Never had our pipes freeze since but common knowledge for anyone is to shut the main off before leaving your house for a long time in the winter. Also keep your heat at at least 60.
Or just empty out your pipes be extracting everything out before going out on long holiday
I used to have a bedroom in a basement and my bed was right below the exterior spigot. There were two different winters when that pipe burst in the middle of the night and gave me a nice cold shower. 🥶🥶🥶
Lmao 🤣 that was funny .
at least you were able to stop major flooding immediately.
Bed wetting isn't fun 😆
@@Randy-xh2bp I suppose that's a silver lining. Can't say I enjoyed being the canary in the coal mine 😅
@@Shadow__133 🤣🤣🤣
GREAT vid!....walt
Very interesting information.
I remember back in junior high getting back from Christmas break to discover that a pipe had burst in the locker room. When they first opened the door there must've been about two feet of water and the coach said all of our old gym clothes were just floating around everywhere. They finally got the main shut off and after that all they could really hope for was that the water would drain out through the shower area and urinals.
We were all happy as kids though though, because PE was cancelled for a couple days.
Random Stuff In Oregon why are you lying about that burst pipe?
@@Iwillnotbepushed
Why do you think I'm lying?
Thank you
Had a recent snow storm. Lost power to the house for over 24 hours , temps reached under 30 degrees in the house. Pipes burst after the power came back and the house started to heat up (assuming it had something to do with temperate and expansion too rapidly changing). Was running the faucet slightly the entire time. think the next time the temps drop this low I am just going to turn off the main and drain the lowest point until it heats up again.
Wow great videos
right right absolutely that's right yep
Taking advantage of the situation
Worked at a 150 apt retirement community with a 4 story atrium at the very top was a gable peak with windows and there were sprinkler heads... They burst water poured into the atrium for over two hours until we could get someone to figure out how to turn off the main. I was brooming the water out the front doors trying to keep it from spreading to the residential areas. Several thousand gallons poured in, it was raining inside.. craziness
@Conr S - wow; not something I’d want to witness!
@@jrh11254 yea I was in my office and heard rain inside.. it was a very confusing moment
I freakin' love science and DIY. A pipe fitting popped off at my parents old house while I was at work. When I got home, water poured over the kitchen step on my feet as I let myself into the house. The whole floor was covered in 1/4 inch water in this single level home. I was finally able to get the main shut off, and solder the fitting to close the system to get indoor plumbing working again, but damage was done. Dead of winter, there was nowhere to pull up area rugs and dry them outside, or any chance to open windows to sunlight. Installed carpeting was ruined, and hardwood floors popped their screws, buckling throughout rooms; the crawl space was a bathtub of water and waiting for spring thaw, the house developed black mold. It was a mess.
I was wondering if ... is there's a way to install a blind pipe in a water line inside the house to absorb and prevent catastrophic hydrostatic pressure buildup by compressing the dead air inside the blind pipe, instead of pressuring pipe walls elsewhere behind walls? You know, kind of like the blind pipe on drain systems to keep them from banging? Or maybe a pressure relief valve on top of the pipe designed to equalize pressure in the pipe with ice ebb and flow, and catch overflow? It would be useful in northern homes to be sure.
If they work, maybe they could be used in branches of plumbing layout to isolate trouble areas so hydrostatic pressure isn't distributed throughout the system. Of course, it wouldn't keep vulnerable pipes from freezing, but it might stop catastrophic cracks in the pipe which are the real problem after defrost. No water for a few hours waiting for defrosting is mere inconvenience compared to actual pipe damage.
Notes: (1) Bursting pipes are not caused by the expansion of ice, even though the ice expands while the pipe contracts at low temperatures; (2) Bursting pipes are caused by high fluid pressure once an earlier section is "plugged" by ice and starts expanding, as such, the fluid pressure builds up very quickly; (3) Allowing an end faucet to drip relieves the fluid pressure, and it may prevent (though not intended) water from freezing.
It's gray flannel day! Yay!!
Wow easy fix just let it drip drip. Great show for apprentices
Muy interestante!
We used to live in a small mining town outside of Sudbury, Ontario (Northern Ontario) and we had our main supply pipe freeze one winter. It didnt burst, it just froze.
Even though the supply pipe was under at least 2' of ground and by then, covered by 4' of snow, it had frozen solid. It had been a week after our "January thaw" and the cold had penetrated that deep.
Once the mine maintainence crew had come around to thaw the pipe that was what we had to do for the rest of the winter and all the following winters that we lived there - leave the tap open in the basement laundry room so that it went drip, drip,....... We never had a problem after that.
Bill Campbell … I have a friend in northern NY who is living in what was once a seasonal house. Pipes to the well are not below the frost line so he adds a few bails of hay along the pipe route outside the house to aid with insulation. I have also seen areas with too much rock to get water lines deep enough. They run the pipe through a sleeve / conduit and allow the air space to do the insulation. That seems to work well and it's certainly cheep enough if the trench is already open.
Fascinating. I wonder if additional (or larger) expansion tanks (like on a water heater) could help absorb some of that pressure?
Theoretically yes, however you would need one on both sides of the frozen pipe. I don't think it would make much sense to have one on the exterior side of the house. It would be exposed to the same elements that froze the pipe initially.
Big Mo no they won’t but that’s a good question.
Texan here waiting forever for plumber
Well done, saw it on my not local PBS station ( in WV can't get WVPBS ,
Get MPT lol ). days later I thought I should share it with somebody who
was having some issues. Coincidently I thought of that just before
walking into the basement to find 2" inches of water, And then Life as
we know it ended a month later..... Turns out the frostproof hose spigot
had a split just after the valve so is soon as I turned it on to water
the chickens...... 15 minutes later I went to the basement....... Thankfully I got it all fixed days before everything shutdown, unfortunately other things that happen to me that day are still being dragged out.
One key piece that they just barely mentioned, drip BOTH hot and cold lines, if you have a blending valve then you need to mix it so you get both.
Here’s what most people do when they find they have a frozen pipe:
They wait to see if it will thaw out because the plumber is expensive.
BIG MISTAKE. If you call your plumber soon enough most times he can thaw the pipe before it splits, thaws and floods your house causing a huge insurance claim. Not to mention sentimental things destroyed that can never be replaced.
Awesome
Can pipes burst if they only have a little water left in them or if the pipe has a open end? Asking becuase im worried about my inground pool i think some water got in through the skimmer after i blew out the pipes
About to go into a freeze, should I drip the outside water that connects to a hose
My experience in Colorado and Oregon, it was the HOT water pipes that burst, not the cold!
Dang this should be required viewing in Texas tonight! Great video!
Watching it in Austin, TX
@@daphnemiller5910 lol, Pflugerville here. Stay warm!
@@daphnemiller5910 - watching in Baytown, TX
Govt has completely failed to educate the public on this matter. They should be ashamed. Of course all of us should search the info out like we have here, but many won't and so we have a disaster on our hands.
HOLY CRAP. I learned SO MUCH. WTF. WOW
At the apartments I work at will still had pipes burst even with dripping. They were all outside in the storage closets where the water heaters and main lines are for each unit. Arkansas has not seen this kind of weather in who knows how long.
it is my understanding that the pressure buildup is from the metal pips contracting when they get cold (which causes the liquid pressure which is difficult to compress) to build up very fast and to high pressure. Is this correct?
People just turn off water but don't drain the system. Come home to find thier place ruined by water damage. If you leave your home turn off water supply, open spigot outside ,then turn on every faucet ,shower or bath and turn off electricity at the panel for your water heater. Your pipes won't break from water trapped in pipes and your water heater won't be destroyed .
Here from Texas
What about baseboard heaters? How do you avoid frozen pipes and or pressure when that zone doesn't work?
For the last 15 years here in Missouri, I average 2-3 bursts each winter in my house. The first few years I used galvanized and the cheap Chinese made steel would not hold up,even with electric pipe wrap. I switched to PEX and that's just as bad,but easier to fix. I finally bought my own PEX tools as I got tired of renting them at $6 per day and having to wait for the hardware store to be open.
Insulate your house
@@seriouslyreally5413 It gets more done each year and had zero when I purchased it. Being built in 1870 and a large home,it's quite the undertaking. The only real solution is to add a large wood furnace, which I had,but gave to my friends to help keep their children warm. Things could always be worse and I'm thankful to have a roof over my head,although it needs that as well. lol
i'm surprised the galvanize breaks on you. I would use some of that spray foam in a can and try to foam the wall so air doesn't blow against the pipes. I'm in Chicago area, so i've had plenty of copper pipes bust on my other properties when I'm not around, it does suck.
@ The galvanized split the easiest, especially on tees and elbows. Even when leaving the faucet trickling,the drain would freeze solid,creating a frozen waterfall all the way to the faucet. I've replaced so many faucets and toilets that have frozen solid and cracked.... It makes me appreciate the daily things we take for granted each day, such as a working toilet/indoor plumbing.
You need to fix the cause of the freezing instead of spending 15 years repairing damage what you spent in repairs in 15 years you could have fixed the cause 10 times for cheaper
that happen to me a couple years ago
Didn't realize it is the pressure build up that causes the pipes to burst. Always thought it was from ice expanding. Now I know.
@M Detlef You must be a bitter person in real life to be so rude online, lol.
Full City Water Pressure, the classic plumbers lament.
pavelow235: well...in all fairness, in some communities city pressure exceeds recommend house pressures - which is why pressure reducing valves (PRV’s) are ofter Installed.
My house is running on 160 PSI right now.. The plumbing was built to handle it so there is no reducing valve.
User 2C47: Yikes! 40-80 is considered normal in our area. Your shower must peal the dirt off like a power washer
@@user2C47 except modern appliances aren't built for it
@@USAFTACP ... after I connected to "full city water pressure" and disconnected my well system, I had no issues till I did my first load of laundry and heard every pipe in the house banging as the water went on and off. I knew I had enough hammer arrestors in the house because I did the plumbing myself. What I didn't check right away was the difference between the old well pressure (40 psi) and the new public water.... 100 psi! The following weekend I installed a pressure reducing device and set it to 40 psi.... no more problems.
Good, I don't have to freeze proof our pipe. Our house is so old, most of the faucets leaks a little anyway.
This segment has been brought to you by Richard’s gloves.
He realized there is Sars-NovelCoronavirus D19 going around.
And a gauge that says “avoid freezing” 🥶🤣
Good for now
just one faucet needs to be dripping no or all of them?
If you turn the main off in an unheated house, will the pipe burst on the supply side of the valve?
When it gets well below freezing at night while asleep:
* should both the cold and hot water at a sink be left to drip, or only the cold?
* should all the sinks and bathtubs in the house be left to drip or just one?
During the day, when some of us are home, how often do we need to turn on sinks momentarily to avoid pressure build up and bursting pipes? Temp here in Ohio is supposed to hit 5 degrees F overnight, and below 0 in the coming days!
Both, assuming the hot and cold pipes are subject to potential freezing.
How often is subjective, it depends on how well your pipes are protected. I assume code might be different in TX vs WI, which could have an impact on freeze time.
@@EricVandenAkker Thank you. Good info.
0:00 Richard I love it, what is it?
I turned my water off at the main and opened all the faucets. Had water off from 14th to 20th. I should have waited one more day as the line to the washer in my garage went. Now waiting on parts to fix.
Why didn’t Texas advise this to all residence before the snow storm?
Unfortunately, one of the pipes in my house have exploded due to cold when I was away from home for two weeks. When I got back home, the whole house was filled with water. It is horrible
Who's here from Texas, BEFORE it happens to your house!
If I’m thawing out my pipes do I heat it and open the valve?
I would
i am surprised that someone has not created a pressure release valve that will release drips as pressure goes above a certain pressure and then stop the release as the pressure drops back down to a certain threshold. and having these valve places to rlease the drips into the drain pipes at strategic places.. like, as he suggested the furthers hot and cold water facet. Wouldn't that make this a self maintaining system? and then perhaps once a year or so.. there could be a way to test it? like his demo, to see if it engaged and disengaged at the proper presures to relieve pressure in the line?
Guess I don't need to really worry about an outside faucet's slow-leak drip this winter. Right?
We have simple switch off points for the water now. They resemble power points and you just flip the switch to turn off the water.
If your temp starts going down quickly, turn off the main and open all the faucets in the house.
if this is true why does my plastic rain gauge that has an inch of water in it freezes and breaks ?
I say, the smartest thing to do is insolate your pipes, and keep some warm air moving through by any means, so your pipes don't burst.
I still don't understand what is causing the pressure build up. Non-frozen water trying to get past the ice and come out of the faucet? But where he showed there was a pressure build up seemed to be on the faucet side of the freeze. I can't get my head around this.
Richard; since it is the pressure not the expansion that makes the pipe burst, why does the sewer trap under the sink burst, also when I left my coffee mug outside the next morning it had burst. In both cases there was no pressure only expansion??????
The mug broke because ceramic is brittle and cannot handle any expansion, whereas plumbing pipes can handle a little. Can’t explain the sewer trap.
You just don't find authentic guys like this cast anymore. We wont have these guys forever. Let's show them the love they deserve.
also the running water will stop water from freezing