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Check your basement/foundation walls for any holes or cracks that allow wind/cold air to blow on your pipes. In really cold weather like this, you should be sure that the vents for your crawl space are closed to keep the wind out.
Lots of times pipes freeze between a heated basement and an unheated crawl space if the seals between the two spaces aren't tight.
At my last house, before I remodeled the kitchen (contractor brought most of the pipes "inside") my kitchen pipes would freeze when temps got really low. It was pretty scary to get up, go to the kitchen, turn on a faucet, and have absolutely nothing happen. I would open the cabinet doors and place a small space heater inside aimed right at the pipes. It would always take several hours, but eventually I would get a trickle of water, and an hour or so later the water would be running normally again.
I would never have been able to use the hairdryer trick because it always took HOURS to thaw the pipes (wouldn't a hair dryer burn out before then, since it's normally used only a few minutes at a time?).
OP, what have you tried so far that hasn't worked?
Did your heater have a fan built into it? The reason I ask is because air circulation makes a huge difference. It's the reason why in cold weather, it's that much colder when the wind blows. Circulation increases the transfer of heat.
However, I would also worry about burning up a hair dryer attempting to thaw pipes. I'd wrap a heating pad around the pipe and a couple of towels around the heating pad.
If you have a welder and metal pipes you can clamp the leads to each end of the frozen section and set it to low amperage, like 40 amps. Careful, you don't want to melt the solder joints, so don't be putting 100 amps into it to get it to thaw faster.
If you have a welder and metal pipes you can clamp the leads to each end of the frozen section and set it to low amperage, like 40 amps. Careful, you don't want to melt the solder joints, so don't be putting 100 amps into it to get it to thaw faster.
You can get thermal electrical heating raps which you coil around the pipe , as long as there is no cracks there is no water damage on rugs or walls, if there is cracks then shut the water off .... If a pipe drain water in the sink then let the water run slow. Which will melt the pipe .... Keep a small heater in any room that has water pipes during the cold days
We woke up to no water in our house which is unbelievable since this is North Carolina in the Triangle area. We put a hot hair dryer on the pipes leading to the house and meter outside. All the pipes in the house were warm so I think its frozen outside. The pipes in the crawlspace are also warm and its well insulated. Nothing thawed all day and still no water at all. I called the plumber and he said it must be a line underground and we would just have to wait for it to thaw. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow afternoon and be in the 60s by Saturday. Do you think I need to worry about a broken pipe or line out in the yard once this thaws? This is making me a nervous wreck. Thanks so much!
In parts of NC they don't bury a lot of water lines very deep so it's highly likely that it did freeze underground. I would leave the water of at least one tap in the on position (kitchen sink maybe - drawing a little hot and cold water) and make sure all of the pipes inside your house stay warm.
It's always a good idea in periods of extreme cold to let your faucets drip overnight. Keeping the water moving keeps it from freezing solid. I had one problem wall at my old house and I found that just letting the hot water drip was enough to keep both pipes warm (since they ran just a few inches apart). The hot dripping water was just enough to keep the hot water pipe from going cold and gave off just enough heat to keep the cold water line from freezing.
Careful, you don't want to melt the solder joints, so don't be putting 100 amps into it to get it to thaw faster.
If a welder can actually melt solder joints on a pipe with water in it, I need to get one. Just had to replace a valve (did it just in time -- it was the shutoff for an outdoor faucet, and if it had remained unfixed the faucet would be an icicle at best), and since the thing was installed with the handle down, getting the water out was a nightmare.
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I would open the cabinet doors and place a small space heater inside aimed right at the pipes. It would always take several hours, but eventually I would get a trickle of water, and an hour or so later the water would be running normally again.
