I live in central Kentucky and it’s currently 0 degrees outside. I got up this morning, used the bathroom and knew we were in trouble when the toilet didn’t refill. I’ve checked all the faucets and water is only coming out of the one in the basement (ironically).
My question is, should I turn on the one in the basement that’s at least working a little bit? Or should we just pack up the dogs, check into a hotel and pray for the best?
And I said to my husband last night, “Shouldn’t we leave some water running?” He said, “No, we’ve had worse freezes before and never had any problems.”
sigh
I would welcome any suggestions and yeah, I already know…we weren’t too smart so please don’t rub it in.
Open all of the faucets - it may prevent the pipes from breaking by releasing pressure. Definitly try to get it thawed asap - the longer it sits frozen, the more water will freeze, and the more likely your pipes are to split. Do not use any open flame, as this is the cause of many house fires every year. Use a hairdryer or towels soaked in hot water.
I don’t know of anyway to get to the pipes with a hair dryer. They’re all behind walls, except where the pipe goes into the water heater in the basement.
There is always a First Time. Yes leave a TINY DRIP at the end of the lines in each part of the house.
If the pipes are exposed using heat gun (from a big box home improvement store) is fastest, or in a pinch a hair dryer will thaw out the blockage(s).
To prevent future problems insulate all exposed piping with foam pipe insulation that comes in several foot lengths in sizes to fit common water piping. Close all openings possible to prevent cold air infiltration into the basement, crawl spaces, etc.
My outdoor thermometer read Zero deg. F. this morning in East Tennessee and no problems with the pipes. House temp. maintained at 69 deg. F during heating season. Pipes are insulated and crawl space has automatic louvered vent inserts.
CAUTION: OPEN FAUCETS VERY SLOWLY !!! Opening a faucet very slowly prevent the possibility of the entire pipe line freezing solid if the water is cooled below the freezing point under water supply pressure.
When all else fails call a professional that can use a welding machine on metal pipe to heat them electrically from end to end.
This is definitely NOT a DIY project.
If it’s a relatively new house, you might be in luck as far as pipes splitting goes. If the plumber who ran the lines used PEX (polyethelene, crosslinked) tubing, it’s flexible enough even in fairly severe cold to expand along with the freezing water in them to keep from splitting open. I have them in the house I currently rent. Unfortunately, the same plumber was also either extremely lazy, stupid or both because instead of properly mounting and insulating the lines in the crawlspace, he just dragged the lines into place and left them lying on the ground. :smack:
If you have to open up the walls to get to them, it’ll be worth it. You need to insulate them better, or this will happen again. The problem is figuring out where they are frozen, and no one can do this over the internet.
Just to point out the obvious - did you crank up the heat in the house? It may be enough to thaw out the frozen spot, and a little extra fuel is cheaper than the potential water damage.
Our house is about six years old but I don’t know what sort of tubing was used. The faucets are open but the one in the basement is still the only one with a trickle. I turned up the heat in the house, too, but that may be like closing the barn door after the cows got out.
I guess I’ll be heading to McDonald’s or someplace to use the toilet. We really didn’t need this on top of everything else going on in our lives.
I keep the heating on in the house all the time during Winter.
I consider the higher bill to be insurance agaoinst both damage and massive inconvenience.
Whatever you do, don’t open the faucets and then leave for the day.
Back in college, I rented a house with three other guys and we often had a problem with the pipes freezing up when it got cold. It happened once while three of us were gone on Christmas break. Roommate #4 got up in the morning to take a shower, pipes were frozen. He fiddled with the bathroom sink to see if he could get any water out, no luck. He wound up leaving for work that day without a shower. When he got home after his shift, the bathroom faucet was running full blast, the sink had overflowed and was spilling over onto the floor and down into the basement. He thought he had turned the faucet off that morning but actually left it all the way open. :smack:
Have you checked to see if both the cold and hot water are frozen?
In my mother’s house, the cold water pipe to the upstairs bathroom will freeze when it’s really cold (like the -31º F of this week) and there is a wind from the northwest. But the hot water usually doesn’t freeze; I guess the water is hot enough to not freeze.
So when that happens, we fill a pail with hot water in the tub, and use that to flush the toilet.
Although as previously posted it is very hard to diagnose where your frozen spot is, it will have very little to do with your pipe being for hot or cold water unless said pipe is insulated and others not.
In my experience there will be a particular spot especially in a basement where the pipe is very tight to a cold wall and if not corrected will continue to be “The Place” of future freeze ups. Certainly the whole water system may freeze in very cold spells, so the water running is a valid procedure, However some sewer systems especially in a mobile type home can freeze and that can be a stinking problem. The solution is in insulating and sometimes heat tapes. Remember heat tapes are dangerous, Many people have lost there homes due to heat tapes.
You don’t know if pipes have burst from the ice so to prevent flooding I suggest you turn of the water from the source. You still will have to deal with water in the pipes but you won’t be adding hundreds of gallon to your walls.
There have been heat tape fires when they go bad. People do use flammable insulation and the tapes have a flammable insulation too. Once they short the plastic burns. I don’t plan on looking up an instance. Google away.
The fact they can start a fire doesn’t stop me from using one as my home wiring could do the same thing. Inspect heat tape for cracks and brittleness before each winter.
