Before you start snaking or pouring chemicals, take a few minutes to diagnose the problem. The difference matters—using a plunger on a frozen pipe won’t help, and applying heat to a simple clog could be a waste of time (or even dangerous).
When water suddenly stops flowing down a sink, tub, or toilet, your first instinct is probably to reach for a plunger or a bottle of drain cleaner. But if you live in a cold climate, there’s another possibility that requires a very different solution: a frozen drain pipe.
Here’s a detailed text to help you figure out whether your drain problem is a simple clog or a frozen pipe.