When the cold weather hits, pipes can freeze, causing thousands of dollars of damage. If your water pipes freeze, SUB recommends that you call a plumber. Without experience, it's dangerous to try to unfreeze pipes yourself.

What to do
If a plumber is not available, here are some helpful hints:

• Use "heat tape," available from local hardware stores.
• Pour hot water on the pipes.
• Wrap rags around the pipes and pour hot water on the rags.

Once the water is flowing again, let it run until the danger of freezing passes. Run cold water rather than hot. Cold water will prevent re-freezing, and you won't waste energy heating water that will just go down the drain.

Preventing Frozen Pipes
The best cure for frozen pipes is prevention. Follow these basic steps:

• Wrap your hot and cold water pipes with at least two inches of insulation or with insulation tape specifically designed for pipes.
• Disconnect hoses from outside faucets. Protect faucets by wrapping newspaper or insulation around them or by installing specialized faucet insulators, available at most hardware stores.
• Drain sprinkler systems.
• If you're worried about pipes freezing overnight or while you're away from home, leave a small trickle of cold water running in faucets both inside and out, furthest from the meter. This is most important for pipes that run along an outside wall. The trickle needs to be a steady stream that's the approximate diameter of a standard pencil lead. Also, leave cabinet doors open in front of pipes to expose them to the heated interior of your home.