How to Unclog Frozen Drain Pipes
- 1). Run a pipe snake down into your drain to make sure your drain pipe is actually frozen and not just clogged. Pull the pipe snake back up and examine the end you sent down into the drain. If there is no hair or food stuck to the end of the pipe snake, your blockage is likely ice.
- 2). Turn your taps on. Allow a small drizzle of water to run down into the frozen pipe from each faucet. This gets water flowing through your drain pipes from all inlets.
- 3). Apply heat for 20 minutes to the section of the pipe where the ice blockage is located. This may be in your basement, crawl space or even outdoors. A hair dryer is ideal for this task. If you do not have a hair dryer, you may also use a heat lamp.
- 4). Turn on your faucet and allow it to run on "hot" for several minutes. If the water backs up, the blockage is not entirely melted and you will need to work on it some more.
- 5). Check the pipe again while the water is running in the area where the pipe was frozen to make sure that the freeze did not damage the pipe and result in a leak. If you find a leak, have it repaired immediately to prevent the pipe from bursting.