What to do if your pipes freeze?

Step 1: Locate where the pipe is frozen

To do that you must turn on every faucet in the house, this includes the bathtub faucets.

If the faucet in the kitchen sink is clogged up but the faucet in the bathroom sink works, then you are looking at an isolated problem.

Step 2: Once you've determined which faucet is froze-up then you can turn off all other faucets that are working.

Step 3: Now you must turn off the water supply by shutting off the water valve. Most house water valve can be found at the basement of a home. Turning off the water supply is an important step in thawing pipes because a pipe may already have broken under the extreme pressure caused by the frozen line.

NOTE: If there is no shut-off valve, you have to turn off the water at the meter itself

Step 4: Once the water supply is halted, you can choose from the ff. options in thawing your pipe:

1. Use towels soaked in hot water to wrap the frozen pipe. When towel is wrapped, gradually pour more hot water to the towel until the pipe is completely thawed.

1. If using a hot towel won't work, your other option is to use a hair dryer or heat gun. The same principle applies, you must warm the pipe until the ice melts. Once water started trickling down the pipe because of ice melting, immediately turn on the water supply to put pressure which will help in breaking the clogged pipe.

NOTE: If the faucet issue is not an isolated problem then what you are dealing with is a frozen main water line - this is the pipe that supplies water to the entirety of the house. The steps above will still work, but keep in mind that all faucets must be turned on, don't forget to turn-off the water supply, and lastly, apply the heat directly to the pipe that connects to the home.