Its been cold lately. Cold as its been at any time so far this winter. I came downstairs to turn on the kitchen sink and while cold water came out, when I turned on just hot water, no water came out. I went to the other faucets in the house, including a nearby bathroom, they all give hot water.

I immediately called our home warranty people, fearing frozen pipes. I'm hopeful that's not the reason, so I wanted to know if I could troubleshoot the issues until I can get a plumber to come out.

  • What would the signs of frozen pipes be? Is there anyway I could tell they are frozen while they are frozen?
  • What other things could cause a single faucet to not give hot water. How could I look for those reasons?
  • Bad valve in the kitchen hot water faucet? – bib Jan 4 '14 at 22:44

Silly suggestion, but have you checked if somebody turned off the water shutoff for just this faucet's hot water pipe?

Is this faucet on an outside wall? You shouldn't have any pipes running within exterior walls, but this may be a factor.

Do the pipes out of your water heater show any indication of running water if all the other faucets / showerheads are turned off? That may indicate a broken connection somewhere.

  • I don't know how this pipe is run, one concern is that the sink is on the corner of the house. Underneath the kitchen is a garage. The garage was in the 30s when I went into it. I put a space heater in the garage and it seems to have thawed the pipes with no apparent damage (fingers crossed). – Doug T. Jan 5 '14 at 1:54

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