Hot Water Pipes Frozen!
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My hot water pipes froze 3 nights ago. We still have cold water but when you turn the hot tap on, no water comes out. It just makes gurgling noise. This goes for all faucets in the house. The hot water heater is still running. Its gas and i can hear it heating. But its now been above freezing for 2 days (45 yesterday and 53 today) and they havent seemed to have thawed. My landlord doesnt want to send someone out if it could thaw out since it will be in the upper 60's this weekend. I just want opinions on the matter. Neither my husband nor myself know much about plumbing but I personally think it should have thawed by now.
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https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-thaw-a-frozen-water-pipe-2124986
It could be leaking out. Do you have a crawl space under the house. If so your husband could go under neath and check it out. Then let the landlord know the issues. If not, water could be soaking into the ground. Look around the outside of the house. You still might not see anything. It sounds like your water heater is still working, but leaking. Even the landlord shoud check it out.
Try one faucet... turn on BOTH and let the cold water run slowly... less than half open ....
It (Cold water) might back up into the hot pipe, and meet the blockage.. once thawed, you'll get both. If / when the hot start to run it will be at the full force you've allowed, so be alert, or open it (the hot) halfway or less.
I would ask the landlord if he would like to put you up in a hotel til he can get the water back on and credit you for the days you have no hot water.
use a hanging light next to pipe to defrost it till you have some one look at it or ???? etc
The gurgling sound is air being pushed out by the frozen water. Hot water heater heats water in the tank not the pipes. No sign of any leaks means the pipes have not burst. It does take time for the confined ice in pipes to thaw. Also depends on how much of the pipes froze. Since you have cold water the meter has not froze. Leave the hot water faucets open a little to force and speed up the thawing. If they don't thaw out by the weekend make sure you let the landlord know so he does something about it and also has a solution to prevent it from happening again.
When mine did that, the first winter, we moved in, we used a hair dryer, to slowly heat them. After that, we used "heat wrap" to keep them from freezing again. Since, our pipes all are in the crawl space, we insulated that area, also. Even with that, when it gets really cold, I open the doors on my lower level bathroom and kitchen sink, to allow warmth to those pipes. Haven't had a pipe freeze, now, in 38 years.