Frozen Pipes in Kokomo, Indiana
If a faucet just stopped running and it’s below freezing: leave that faucet open so pressure can escape as the ice melts, find and shut off the main water valve so a split pipe can’t flood the house when it thaws, and open the cabinet or wall where the pipe runs to get warm air on it. Then call 765-236-1212. Phones are answered 24/7 and after-hours emergency service is available across Kokomo, Howard County and Tipton County. Every January, Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling thaws frozen lines in Kokomo crawl spaces, garages, exterior walls and farmhouse basements from Greentown to Tipton. Caught early, a frozen pipe is a thawing job; left alone, it’s a burst pipe and a wet floor. Our plumbers are licensed, drug-tested and background-checked, they run out of 1609 Rank Parkway Court with the equipment to thaw a line safely, and the price is in writing before work starts. Book pipe thawing or call 765-236-1212.How to Tell a Pipe Is Frozen
- One faucet runs a trickle or nothing while others work. The freeze is on that line, usually where it passes an exterior wall, a crawl space or an unheated room.
- No water anywhere in the house on a sub-zero morning. The main line is frozen where it enters the house, or at the meter pit. Call right away; this one also puts the water heater at risk.
- Frost or condensation on an exposed pipe, or a section that’s noticeably colder than the rest.
- Gurgling, banging or whistling when you open a tap, as water tries to move past the ice.
- A toilet that won’t refill after flushing, in a bathroom on an outside wall.
- A damp spot or drip after it warms up. That pipe already split; see burst pipe repair.
What Not to Do
Don’t use a torch, propane heater or any open flame on a pipe. Every winter somebody in Howard County sets a wall on fire trying to thaw a water line. Don’t pour boiling water on it; the shock can split copper. Don’t keep opening and closing the faucet hoping it’ll start; leave it open. And don’t assume it’s fine once water flows again: a line that froze hard may have a hairline split that only shows under full pressure, which is why we check the run after we thaw it.What a Summers Frozen Pipe Visit Looks Like
- You call 765-236-1212. We tell you what to open and shut while you wait, and give you the after-hours rate on the phone if it’s after hours.
- The plumber traces the line to find the frozen section, usually by temperature and by where the pipe passes through an exterior wall, a crawl space or an attic.
- You get the price in writing.
- We thaw the section with an electric pipe-thawing machine or controlled heat, working from the open faucet back toward the freeze so pressure has somewhere to go.
- Once water is moving, we pressure-check the run and look for splits or weeping joints. If something let go, it’s repaired on the same visit.
- Before we leave: why it froze, and what to do so it doesn’t again. Usually that’s insulation, heat tape, closing a crawl space vent, or rerouting a line that should never have been run in an outside wall.
