I have a half bath downstairs that I’m having a heck of a time keeping the lines unfrozen.
It’s a weird set up with bathroom having been built over a concrete slab and the water lines run over the slap, through the outside wall sill plate, into the wall. The wall itself is well insulated, but I think the lines are freezing at the sill plate. I can access only about a foot of line inside the wall before the lines run down into the sill plate. The line to the toilet, about 2-3 feet away is fine, but the ones to the faucet that run through the sill plate freeze, even with (one foot length) water line heaters on them.
I’ve been leaving the water run at a steady trickle when it gets as cold as it’s been, but rather than having the water run every time it gets below freezing, I thought I’d shut off the water before it gets to the bathroom (I can access the line from the basement crawlspace and there are shut off valves only to the half bath).
Is it safe to assume that if the water lines are turned off before they get the “freezing zone” and the faucets turned on until water stops running, that the lines are clear of water? I don’t want to assume there’s not water sitting in the lines, waiting to freeze and burst pipes.
I swear I hate plumbing almost as much as I hate winter.
Definitely not true, I froze within wall below a frost proof hose bib doing that at my old house, with water turned off probably 10 feet further down the line and well inside. What you really want is a shut off valve before the faucet lines with a drain on it. Ideally you can drain the line when off and then blow it out with compressed air to really get the water out.
Can you use a space heater in that room/space to keep it warmer so the pipes don’t freeze? Would using that electricity 24/7 during these coldest months be cheaper for you than letting the water trickle?
There is a space heater in the room–less than two feet from the pipes. The pipes also have a one foot pipe heat tape on them (and insulation), but the problem is that they’re not freezing where I can access them. The pipes go down through the sill plate of the outside wall and I’m 99% sure that’s where they’re freezing.
If you have a basement do you have a basement facet? If so then shut the water off and let it drain down to the basement. That clears out the pipe.
This is a problem that needs to be addressed sooner or later so I would think about cutting the inner wall along the length of pipe in the wall to expose it to warm air/heat tape. You can cover it with wainscoting or venting material.
The real problem is water pipes inside exterior walls. Here in Minnesota, we would <strike>strangle</strike> take away his license from any builder who did that.
You should try to fix that. Much easier now with pex pipe. But maybe wait till winter is over. So just letting the water run during winter is the easiest fix – and way cheaper than fixing frozen pipes.
Best bet is to let the water trickle, likely cheaper than using heaters. In the warmer months (above freezing) see if you can do anything to further insulate the pipes in/around the sill plate. Turning on and off the water is a nuisance. I chalk up running water to a “Winter Freeze Tax” but hey I’m in Chicago, its not so far fetched.
Just an update, 'cause I know ya’ll are on the edge of your seats with this.
This afternoon, my neighbor and I took a look at that side of the house. (The houses are similar to row homes, but the side of this room is actually in his back yard.) He’d had a line of cinder blocks along the bottom of this room, so we pulled away the cinder blocks and wouldn’t you know it, something had dug under the cement slab so cold air was rushing in there. (He’d chased off a groundhog last spring, which I’d forgotten about. Apparently it had started to dig in this area.) We filled in the hole, then put a piece of insulation board against the area and wedged it all in with the cinder blocks. Hopefully that will keep the cold air from rushing into that area and freezing the pipes. I’m still using the pipe heat tape and the heater and letting the water trickle. Not taking any chances.
But wait! There’s NEW PLUMBING DRAMA!
Now my hot water tank doesn’t want to produce hot water–there’s water, but it’s just not hot–not hot to any of the faucets in the house. Messing with hot water heaters is beyond my skill set and comfort level, so I’ll have to call a plumber. I can’t imagine how long the wait will be until a plumber can come. And of course, that means taking off of work to wait for him to show…and shelling out the money to have it fixed–I think it’s the upper or lower heating element, but again, beyond my skill set and comfort level to diagnose and fix.
My birthday is Saturday and this week is really sucking.