WEBVTT - Gary Sullivan talks on frozen pipes 12/4/2025 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:02.960 Boy, you better lean on this guy if you want 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.440 to know what's going on. It's our buddy Gary Sullivan. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:10.880 You can listen to him in nearly three hundred stations 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:13.280 across America, and of course we're lucky to have him 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:18.160 our sister station wuk RC starting at nine o'clock Saturdays 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:20.880 and Sundays. Gary, I really enjoyed catching up with you 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:26.680 last night. How was the grandchildren's holiday concert last night? 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:32.120 Exhilarating? Exhilarating, exhilarating. It was fun. 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.280 It's nothing like watching a bunch of fourth graders sing 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:36.680 to you Christmas. 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:37.240 No doubt about it. 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.280 Now, I tell you what's not exhilarating if you get 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.000 a frozen water pipe. Oh all right, So let's start 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.559 with the very basic kind of thing, okay, and that 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:52.600 is where do most people find or know if they 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:54.800 have a frozen water pipe? 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:58.280 Well, usually you find out one of the faucets that 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.000 you use. I know when I had one one time. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:01.880 My daughter was probably in the eighth grade. 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.840 Dad, there's no water in my pathtop? 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.440 Uh, well, right behind that walls the attic, so the 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:09.839 frozen pipe must be there. 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.920 So a lot of times people find out, really because 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:14.119 the water's just not working. 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:17.800 But those water pipes are usually located along an outside wall, 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.720 especially in older homes where there's no insulation in the walls, 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:26.000 basement crawl spaces, those aren't heated. And up near the 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.119 silt plates and the joist pockets where you get outside air. 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:33.720 That's a place unheated. Garages, you know, the old garages, yeah, yep, 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.240 and some of our older subdivisions where you pull down 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:39.080 underneath the house and there's you know, the heat rises 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:43.759 and got an old rackety garage door. That's a that's 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:47.160 a prime spot for pipes to freeze. Underneath sinks on 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:49.840 exterior walls. Those are the main places. 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.600 So right now, even though you were telling me last 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.680 night that it's probably not cold enough yet, but we 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:58.880 know that that is on the way. In fact, we're 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:00.920 going to be the coldest we've been in as far 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.080 as a high today is concerned, as far as a 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:04.520 low tonight is concerned. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:04.720 Right. 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.400 So what I mean, is this the kind of thing 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:09.120 that you can begin to address now? 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:09.519 Oh? 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:11.960 Absolutely, Okay, I've been appreciating it on my show for 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.280 a while. You know, where people get in trouble, it's 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:15.800 not the people that have lived in the house for 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:19.760 twenty five years. They've probably experienced it. They've probably rectified 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.120 it over the years. But you know, somebody it's moving 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:27.160 into a new home, but it's an older home, you know, 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.680 and they've not been through a really cold winter's It's 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:32.639 not really. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:34.520 Cold enough now unless the pipe is outside. 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:36.760 You know, it's twenty nine degrees, but it gets down 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.880 to five degrees or zero degrees, those addicts get really cold. 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.560 The cross spaces get really cold, those outside walls get 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.400 really cold, and then. 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:46.800 You're going to have problems. 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.560 So really trying to understand your house and where the 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:52.800 pipes are and where they're vulnerable. There's easy ways to 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.320 keep them from freezings. Some just opening up a cabinet and. 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.080 Letting the heat of the room in there. 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:02.400 Put foam wraps around the pipes that are against outside walls, 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.360 if you know you don't have any insulation, those are 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:05.919 great ways to prevent the problem. 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:10.280 Okay, now there is a difference some of the material 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.240 makeup of some of these pipes. Let's start with, do 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.320 you thaw copper pipes pecs plumbing the same way. 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.240 Yeah, so pes is. 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:20.600 Kind of you know in newer homes, but you know 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.920 they can be vulnerable too, so they can freeze. 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:26.840 Pecks. Pipes can freeze. If you're not familiar with what 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:27.440 pecks is. 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:29.720 It's kind of like a kind of a rubber hose 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:31.639 instead of a copper pipe. 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:37.520 So they both freeze. And when water inside of pipe freeze. 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.080 You know, they when it turns ice, it kind of expands, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.240 it's it breaks the pipe. 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:43.560 It can stretch the pipe. 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:45.760 Copper can get a big bubble in it, and then 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:50.280 a split pecs can just crack. But sometimes they're just 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.800 frozen and there's no damage, and that's really when you 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.440 want to catch it, and when you find where the 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.800 frozen pipe is. So if you're not getting water out 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.960 of the tap, you got to kind of figure out that. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.280 Where that pipe goes, and you can usually quickly find 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:07.760 where it's vulnerable. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:09.520 May it's supposed to be in a walll cavity with 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.440 insulation around it, and yet it you know, when they 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.360 built the house, maybe the plumber missed the cavity. 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.960 And that happened to me, and you know, so you 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:20.720 got to get up there. 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.960 But doing it before it gets really cold is a 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.239 good time to do it. But once you're not getting 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.560 water out, find a pipe, and that's when you start 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:30.680 the process. 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:31.400 Of falling it. 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:33.560 The first thing you do is open up the faucet 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:35.919 that wasn't delivering the water. 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:37.840 Keep it open, and. 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:42.120 Then pecks is going to be a little bit more sensitive. 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:42.560 Of how you thought it. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.400 Never use an open flame, boy, I remember back in 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.080 the winters when we had really harsh winters, people trying 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:52.040 to fall pipes with torches propane torches. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:53.320 Never do that. 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:58.520 It's such a huge dramatic change in temperatures. You can split, 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.520 you can split the pipe, and you could melt the pecks. 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:06.440 So for a copper pipe, you can you know, you 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:10.880 can use a heat gun just to put it on medium, 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.800 just kind of warm it. You could use a hair dryer, 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.039 That's what I was wondering about. A blow dryer. Yeah, sure, sure, 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.360 I've thought many a pipe with a hair dryer. I mean, 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:20.120 you gotta be patient. 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.760 You got to sit there for five or ten minutes, 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.080 you know, when you're sitting in the attic on Christmas morning, 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:29.000 which I was, and then when you hear the water run. 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.159 And say, yahoo, right right right right. 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.200 Warm towels can even thaw it. But you know, with pecks, 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.080 you want to you know, again, no open flame. You 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.080 want to be a little less aggressive. I don't know, 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.240 a heat gun might be pushing a little bit. I 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.240 prefer a hair dryer, but you could use a heat 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.960 gun if you put it on low. But you know, 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:49.880 just don't use an open flame. 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:51.520 I know there's still people that do that. 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.040 It falls it fast, but a lot of cases that 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.599 pipe will burst, and it will burst maybe behind a wall, 0:05:57.680 --> 0:05:59.000 and then you got a real problem. 0:05:59.120 --> 0:05:59.919 Ah, you talked about it. 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:05.279 Wrap styrofoam wrap, But is that the best thing to prevent, say, 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:08.279 future freezing. You know, maybe they haven't frozen yet because, 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.359 like you talked about, what, we're not there yet. But 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.520 is that the best thing to do as far as 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.000 preventing it happening anytime soon? 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:19.160 Yeah, unless you're in a really really like maybe a 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:24.279 garage and you, I don't know, have virtually a really 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.479 really old door where that garage can get down to 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:33.280 zero degrees when it's below zero outside. You know, the 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:37.120 foam wrap will help ninety percent of the time if 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.680 it's a really exposed area. I don't know why you 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.000 would have a copper pipe. Let's say there's one running 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.120 underneath the deck or something, and you didn't shut off 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:47.400 the water on the inside and drain it in the fall. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.039 The only way, you know, a heat or foam rap 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.120 is going to help you there. You almost got to 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.320 have a heat tape. And a heat tape is about 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.160 let's say an inch wide. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:00.000 You don't over. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.480 App a heat tape, but you wrap around the pipe 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:05.799 with about a three in space between it. 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:07.320 It's got a thermostat in it. 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.200 You set it at thirty nine degrees and it keeps 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.040 that pipe warm and water flowing. 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.200 Make sure its UL approve though. 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:20.200 Okay, and you would be able to tell that what 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:21.760 what do you mean be able to No, I mean 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:24.920 there's markings on it that it is approved. 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:27.160 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah right, you don't have the UL 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.080 tag on it for sure. Yeah, good question. Okay, all right, all. 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.640 Right now, And just for the record, if you don't 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.200 address these things, and all of a sudden you have 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:39.560 a water pipe burst, yeah, you are looking at some 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.320 serious cash and maybe significant damage. 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:47.840 Well, absolutely, because unless you shut off the water, you'll 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:49.200 still have water into pipes. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:51.240 You'll still have a disaster. 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:54.520 But you know, if you have a pipe that's frozen, 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.840 and let's say you discovered maybe a day later, like 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.480 right now, we don't use the upstairs kids have own. 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:02.360 And when it. 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.239 Gets down, I would say when it's down in single digits, 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:11.120 are below zero, that's when pipes inside the home become vulnerable, 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:16.720 if they're exposed to areas that aren't heated, attics, cross spaces, garages, 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.080 outside walls, just as we talked about. And you know, 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.280 if you if you find a frozen pipe and you 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.200 know you're on your way to work or something, I 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.960 would certainly shut off the water, maybe drain the water 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:29.320 out of the pipes with the other. 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.680 Faucets, because if you leave. 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:35.679 Water in those pipes under pressure and it's frozen and 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.720 that copper line splits, you got the full force of 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.760 that whole water system spewing water on the inside of 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.319 the walls. That's a big, big problem. That a big 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.880 that's a big problem. That's that's when it gets real expensive. 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.880 And then you know, you know, you still got to pipe, 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.760 prepare and everything else. But that's the least of your problems. 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.280 No doubt about it. Great catching up with you. My 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.240 friend really enjoyed it last night. 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.280 It was fun. It was fun, all right, buddy. 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:02.719 You have a great rest of your weekend and we'll 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.720 listen to you on fifty five KRC starting on Saturday. 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.920 Very good, Thanks Tonning, Gary Sullivan kind enough to join 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.760 us as he does every single Thursday. Hope that helped you. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:16.760 I mean believe you heard it from him. He's the expert. 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.319 You have one of those bad boys freeze up and 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:22.240 you don't have the water turned off, and that thing 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.800 splits or ruptures entirely. Lord knows the amount of damage 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:28.920 that can be done to your house and things that 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:30.240 are important to you.