Summer, we got a new deck. As part of the build, our contractor extended the spigot, which was already too low, to above the deck level. He was supposed to insulate it, but he forgot. Since the new pipe is against the house, Mrs. L.A. and I hoped it wouldn’t freeze. Oops.
Friday night, Bellingham got down to 14ºF. When I got up in the morning, The Weather Channel site said it was 18º up here near the border. I think I posted elsewhere about the lack of cold water in the laundry room, and the frozen drain in the deep sink. Sunday afternoon, the water line unfroze. (The sink still had water in it when I went to bed, but was empty this morning.) A little after 21:00 last night, Mrs. L.A. reported water running under the deck. Yep, that outside spigot’s pipe had burst. I left a message for the contractor to call me ASAP. Mrs. L.A. thought I wasn’t ‘urgent’ enough, so she called him again while I was out with the Water Dept. guy finding out where the valve was at the street. (It was covered with dirt, so I couldn’t see it.) So the water is off, and we have no running water in the house. There’s enough water in a five-gallon bucket to flush the toilet one more time. I did have the foresight to fill a pitcher with water so we can have coffee.
I decided not to wait for the contractor, so I called a plumber this morning. I went out to get a tool for turning the water on and off at the street, just in case this happens again. While I was out, the contractor called to say he’s in California. The plumber should be here in a couple of hours. I don’t know if he’ll want to crawl under the deck, or remove the short planking by the pipe. Either way, it will no doubt be expensive.
Also, the chimney sweep is supposed to come today.
Note in some areas the “special tool” shutoff valve is property of the city and you can be fined if they catch you turning it off/on. That is partly because people have in the past turned it too much and broken the pipe. Then they need to turn off the water main for the whole street to fix it!
The best thing is to have your own main water valve installed on your side of the water meter. Then use that. This could be turned with your hand.
Not here. When I called last night, the guy told me where the valve was in relation to the meter and said I could turn it off myself. But I had him come out anyway. Even when he first pointed out where the valve was, I couldn’t see it until he unburied it.
That’s what Mrs. L.A. said. In fairness, our contractor’s specialty is wood floors and cabinetry, plus he does a lot of carpentry. He’s not a plumber.
Not having water is terribad but look on the bright side: you caught the leak now, not after a three week vacation.
Debatable, because the contractor may have assumed the homeowner would cutoff outside supply lines in cold weather, but I don’t live in the NW.
Question: Is it standard in the NW to not have a main water nor outside supply cutoffs? Or is this one of those “only in the Northeast/cold climate” things like sunken foundations/basements?
Indeed. We spent a week and a half in Puerto Rico after Thanksgiving. I expected we’d come home to rain, and temperatures in the mid-40s. Instead, the morning after our return, we awoke to snow. And then it got cold for a couple of days.
We didn’t have Winter the last two years. We have La Niña this year, so we’re expecting a ‘normal’ or colder than normal season. It’s been in the teens before. My friend I bought the house from said he had plastic piping put in, which is supposed to expand if it freezes. The contractor insulated those pipes when he repaired them a couple/three years ago. The outdoor spigot was just about at ground level. It was so low, it was difficult to put a hose on it. I’m guessing that’s why it never burst before. But the extension was just put on in June or July.
Coincidentally, I’m waiting on the plumber myself this morning. Just an hour ago, I got a call from the dispatcher telling me about a delay:
“The technician assigned to your call had an emergency, he’s on his way to the hospital.”
“Oh dear! What happened?”
“A pipe broke in one of their exam rooms. He needs to go out there and fix it.”
“Oh, umm…well I guess that’s good news, then.” :smack:
[QUOTE=Me_Billy]
Note in some areas the “special tool” shutoff valve is property of the city and you can be fined if they catch you turning it off/on. That is partly because people have in the past turned it too much and broken the pipe. Then they need to turn off the water main for the whole street to fix it!
The best thing is to have your own main water valve installed on your side of the water meter. Then use that. This could be turned with your hand.
[/QUOTE]
In this city, the water department prefers people call them to turn that valve on or off, no charge for the service. They do warn that if you take things in your own hands and damage the valve, you’re going to be hit with a big repair bill.
The risk isn’t so much from turning it too far - there’s usually a 90 degree limit on them - but people either mangle it with pliers or they try to throttle the flow with it. These need to be either 100% on or 100% off, and anything else can wear them internally.
Actually, you probably have more water in the house than you may think, from ~20 to 50+ gallons - it’s in the water heater. Water heaters have a spigot near the bottom to drain the tank. Simply run a hose from the spigot to your bucket(s), voila! The humble water heater, your emergency survival tool…
Not debatable at all. He said the contractor agreed to insulate the line, then ‘forgot’ to do it. That’s negligence and he’s liable for it. In most states there is an implied 12 month workmanship warranty on contracted work.
The plumber is heading dow to the hardware store for heat tape and a ‘shark bite’. Good news: The pipe didn’t burst. It became disconnected at the ‘shark bite’. He said it’s the second one today. He pulled up the short planks in the corner, so he doesn’t have to crawl under the deck. He’ll put the heat tape on, and we’ll just have to remember to plug it in if it’s going to be cold. Looks like it will be about $195 for the job, after the $50 coupon. He suggested I could buy a ‘shark bite’ and he’d put it on, and I could buy some heat tape and put it on myself, and he’d only charge the $38.50 ‘response fee’. But he’s the professional, so I’m having him do it.
I’d suggest wrapping the pipe in insulation and electrical heat tape.
Heat tape only costs $28 for 12 ft. It may come in shorter lengths. The plumber needs to wrap the valve, the riser, and the supply pipe under your deck.
I plugged mine in last night. We got down to 18 F in Little Rock. I only plug it in on nights that drop below freezing. That only happens 2 or 3 months a year in the South. Even then, it’s not every night. We may warm up next week and have lows in the 30’s.
I have the insulation the handyman forgot to install. The plumber is going to put it over the heat tape (per the instructions with the heat tape.) Apparently, the heat tape has a thermostat on it, so it will turn on automatically.
Overnight lows are forecast to generally be above freezing for the next week or so, with a lowest low of 28 on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
