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submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

First time homeowner here so please forgive the newbie question. I'm in Texas so our houses aren't built for the cold. We're going through freezing temps at night right now, with temps getting up well above freezing during the day. I woke up this morning to my kitchen faucet not having water (at all) when turning it to the hot setting. It's the type of faucet that you just turn left (hot) and right (cold) and lift to open. The cold water side is fine. The two other faucets found in the two bathrooms have hot water without issues, but they have separate faucets for hot and cold. I've been religiously dripping all our faucets every night since last week. Is it possible something froze? And what I can do to start figuring out the problem and possibly fix myself?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Here's what it looks like under the sink. The upper left tube is what I believe is the hot water, the right for cold, and the bottom goes to the dishwasher.

Update: Water finally came out! I left the faucet open on hot, then ran hot water on all the sinks and showers in the bathrooms to get the water heater pumping. After around 10 minutes, water started to trickle and eventually went full blast. I'll make sure to drip the hot water as well and not just cold from here on out! Thanks to everyone who responded!

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[-] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I had the exact same situation during Uri in 2021 following 36 hours of no power and dripping faucets, Houston area. Unfortunately I’d only been dripping cold water faucets due to bad advice and not yet understanding the mechanics of the plumbing system. Once I discovered the freeze I opened the faucet fully and once power was restored I set a space heater pointed to the pipes underneath the sink and eventually it started flowing again. No damage but we have pex which are supposed to be more resilient to freezing incidents. Since then I’ve dripped both sides and always treated that area with care in freezes since as that proved that was the weakest link.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Where is your shutoff valve in case your pipe froze and split?

Turn on the hot water to that faucet.

Feel the pipe under the sink. Is it frozen?

Pipes are typically in the wall, attic, or under the home. Try to get heat to the pipe by opening the cupboard doors to expose that wall to the heat.

Turn your home thermostat up a few degrees.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I'd take this a little bit further and turn the cold water off to the faucet before trying the hot water. If nothing comes out then a pipe is broken or blocked. If cold water comes out then something else is going on.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Hard to say without seeing your setup (and my first coffee hasn't hit my bloodstream yet) but ya, it's probably a frozen spot in the line between your hot water tank and the tap that isn't working.

It happens to me once or twice every year... I live in Canada in a very old house where the weather has been into the -30c (-22f) lately. Open the tap, and You'll need to pour some heat on that part of the line where it's frozen to help it thaw using either a heatgun/ hair dryer or torch. (Careful if you're using a torch or heatgun to not put too much heat on the plumbing joints where they're soldered... assuming you have copper lines.) Tapping on the line while putting heat on it helps a bit to break up the ice, but be careful not to hit it too hard.

If it's in a crawlspace you might be able to stuff a space heater in there and let it warm things up too.

this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
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