os frozen pipe unblocking help please

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

my shower plughole is blocked in the loft bathroom and its cold in the access cupboard, the bloke says its frozen so can i pour anti freeze down to unblock it, does anyone know please?

Penelope_Penguin

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

my shower plughole is blocked in the loft bathroom and its cold in the access cupboard, the bloke says its frozen so can i pour anti freeze down to unblock it, does anyone know please?

Try warm water and a sink plunger first

Edinburghlass_2

Have a read of this article...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/insurance/2010/12/big-freeze-dont-let-burst-pipes-ruin-your-christmas?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=box

and be careful of what you do!

greenbee

I had a dripping tap in the bathroom last year, which meant the outlet pipe froze. Because the pipe is open at both ends, it is unlikely to burst - but I found warm water left me with lots of warm water to bail out of the basin. What worked best was pouring salt in, leaving it, waiting for a bit of ice to defrost, then adding more. It took time, but eventually thawed out and the pipe didn't burst! And make sure there are no drips...

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

tried hot water, salt, vinegar, soda crystals, warm radiator blowing into access cupboard and plunger...nothing, not sure what now...

Penelope_Penguin

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

tried hot water, salt, vinegar, soda crystals, warm radiator blowing into access cupboard and plunger...nothing, not sure what now...

.... patience Are you 100% sure it's frozen and not blocked with something else?

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

.... patience Are you 100% sure it's frozen and not blocked with something else?

Dont know, all the methods I've used have worked before and the drain is new too, I only had it put in a few months ago, ooh, I used soda bic too to try...nothing..

annie123

Would take a few hours to thaw out with even with a heater near it.
Can you get to it to wrap hot water bottle or wheat bag around it and some towels or a foil space blanket? or plastic bottles filled with warm water maybe.
Leave the access door open so it gradually warms up may help too.
Eventually all that salt and heat should work. Watch it closely afterwards for leaks.

sandraroffey

id be resorting to dynamite by now. but mr muscle works very well.

have you tried a hairdryer on the pipes?? if its frozen, it can be very effective.

Farway

sandraroffey wrote: »

id be resorting to dynamite by now. but mr muscle works very well.

have you tried a hairdryer on the pipes?? if its frozen, it can be very effective.

Just be careful if it is a plastic pipe or you may melt it if not careful, many drain ones are plastic these days

Butterfly_Brain

I had this problem yesterday but it was the outside pipe that was frozen - DH and DS had hairdryers on the pipe outside while I ran hot water down the plug - it took a while but it worked