Frozen Water Lines

[rc508pir]

I forgot to drain the rain barrels...

 

[CutBaitNBlowSh*tUp4ALivin]

Ours was frozen in the garage. Moved two space heaters out there and had water in 30 mins

 

[CutBaitNBlowSh*tUp4ALivin]

This doesn't happen to my friends that have insulated garage doors but for the life of me I don't know why I still haven't made that particular trip to lowes

 

[garry]

Just a word of caution to those of you that have frozen water lines. The longer they are frozen the more likely they are going to break. i know that is common knowledge but you might start thinking about taking some action to remedy the problem. Just because you have PEX pipe does not mean you are exempt from breaks. Yes the pipe will withstand a lot but its the fitting you need to worry about. If the fittings are plastic pex vs brass pex you stand a lot better chance of withstanding breaks. As the forecast calls for colder temperatures i sure hope those of you that are froze up can get help soon

 

[chuter]

My main worry at our place is frozen sprinkler heads on our aerobic septic system.
So far I can only find one of the three. It was covered in ice; I kicked the ice off and it popped back down, so hopefully it will flow.
I'm going to keep looking for the other two.

 

[Snattlerake]

We're lucky, seems we've still got everything. I think. We left some dripping, but also we have all interior pipes, nothing on an exterior wall, nothing close to a north- or west-facing wall, and no crawlspace.

I left a little heaterfan thing in the garage, blowing directly onto our concrete slab. I know it isn't much to heat up a massive mass of rock, but it is about 10 feet from a spot we have a "belly" in a drain pipe that runs under our kitchen. This spot has frozen up in the past and caused a backflow of water from our washing machine drain hose, so I thought it might just give us a few more degrees of heat in that area to help. Who knows, I'm probably just wasting energy, but I thought it was worth a shot and we haven't frozen up yet - so I'm gonna claim credit! lol

But if you claim credit and it still breaks you have more egg on your face.

 

[Tanis143]

My washer hookups are on the cold intake and hot output lines of my hot water tank, which is in a closet off the garage. Somehow on Saturday I mistakenly opened the garage door while bringing in the last of groceries and the garage stayed open all night long. We had water dripping in two sinks but it was just the cold water line. So, the water lines to the hot water tank froze up. Called a plumber when we realized this at 8 am. While waiting I place a space heater by the water pipes in the laundry room (we don't have a washer and dryer right now). At 1:30ish the plumber shows up and right as he walked in the door the open hot water tap in the tub started pouring water. Tested all the faucets and had hot water pressure, and surprisingly had warm water.

Worked out though, we are getting the water tank replaced (its 15+ years old) and the washer hookups moved (someone moved them directly over the 220 for the dryer, not safe, which is why no washer and dryer right now) for a good price. Was going to today until the plumber and I decided to wait til next monday when it will be a balmy 50 degrees.

 

[Mr.Glock]

If you guys on water wells and have tanks in the garage or? The nipple below the pressure switch will freeze first. Most will over look it when wrapping heat tapes and such. A light hanging in with a good built insulated well house will help. Light and heat tape on crappy well house. My well house has no insulation, but has a heat tape on every line and the nipple. -6 and nary a issue.

If pressure tank is inside, a good space heater will suffice, but I like heat tapes. I remember back in the early 70’s when they hit the market. On frozen up city water to homes, best advice I can give is one the cabinets and faucets in whole home to help with thawing. Crawl spaces we use a kerosene force heater blowing under the home, set it back a couple feet from entry to crawl space and let it run. We have electrical current machines two, but good ole heat blowing under is faster. Good luck out there! And dripping don’t work in these temps, need a steady stream going!

 

[Jack T.]

My main worry at our place is frozen sprinkler heads on our aerobic septic system.
So far I can only find one of the three. It was covered in ice; I kicked the ice off and it popped back down, so hopefully it will flow.
I'm going to keep looking for the other two.

We're fixing to go feed and bust ice for cows. . .I've gotta find our septic heads before I come back in.

Reason #129838 to hate those damn aerobic systems. I'm building a shop in a few weeks. . .we'll put a "real" septic system in that and not ask for permission.

 

[freewookie]

Just a word of caution to those of you that have frozen water lines. The longer they are frozen the more likely they are going to break. i know that is common knowledge but you might start thinking about taking some action to remedy the problem. Just because you have PEX pipe does not mean you are exempt from breaks. Yes the pipe will withstand a lot but its the fitting you need to worry about. If the fittings are plastic pex vs brass pex you stand a lot better chance of withstanding breaks. As the forecast calls for colder temperatures i sure hope those of you that are froze up can get help soon

Yes my worry is our fittings. From what I can tell around the hot water tank is that we have brass. I can’t get heat to where they’re frozen.

Hoping this sun will help!


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