Frozen pipe remedies

[the1kidd03]

Is it blue?

Yep

 

[Bunnykid68]

What is the temp inside your house if you have lines freezing inside your house?

 

[the1kidd03]

What is the temp inside your house if you have lines freezing inside your house?

Thermo says 70....but that master is about the coldest area of the house, and that corner where this toilet is feels to be about the coldest spot in the house. A noticeable difference, but I not enough to freeze IMO. It was definitely colder on the other side of that wall, or so I noticed after I knocked the small hole in it.

 

[Rookie]

It's PEX. My suggestion, like others have said, run that hair dryer. Stick it in the hole you made. Since you made a hole that needs repaired, go ahead and make it a little bigger to get the heat in there. When you can, get some pipe insulation and wrap it after it's thawed.

 

[perry]

First or second year mom (2000-ish) was in her house she had her kitchen pipe freeze; it sat on an outside wall. She had a pump installed that circulates hot water through the pipes all the time. It just gets turned on in winter and is bypassed during the rest of the year. She hasn't had a problem since. May be something to look in to now that you know you have a potential for problems. Plus side is she has hot water at her faucets almost immediately.

 

[Bunnykid68]

It's PEX. My suggestion, like others have said, run that hair dryer. Stick it in the hole you made. Since you made a hole that needs repaired, go ahead and make it a little bigger to get the heat in there. When you can, get some pipe insulation and wrap it after it's thawed.

Pipe isn't in the wall though is it?

 

[the1kidd03]

First or second year mom (2000-ish) was in her house she had her kitchen pipe freeze; it sat on an outside wall. She had a pump installed that circulates hot water through the pipes all the time. It just gets turned on in winter and is bypassed during the rest of the year. She hasn't had a problem since. May be something to look in to now that you know you have a potential for problems. Plus side is she has hot water at her faucets almost immediately.

For water to flow through a continuous system like that, wouldn't you have to add/change a lot of piping to create a loop...or am I missing something?

 

[the1kidd03]

Pipe isn't in the wall though is it?

It's not in an ordinary wall. It's in a corner which is the back of our fireplace insert so there's a rather large open area in there. The pipe just runs over a few inches then down through the slab.

 

[churchmouse]

You need to make a removable panel by the line so it can be removed. Take it out in cold weather like we are having and the heat from the house will keep it from freezing.
Also look for any way cold air may be getting into the wall. Be surprised how often this is the culprit.

 

[mike45]

ONCE THE WATER IS RUNNING AGAIN. TAKE THE LID OFF OF THE TANK, LIFT THE RUBBER BALL AND CLIP A CLOTHES PIN ON IT SO THE WATER WILL RUN IN THE TOILET JUST A LITTLE. WHEN IT WARMS BACK UP ON WED. TAKE THE CLOTHES PIN OFF. i HAVE DONE THIS. IT TAKES A LITTLE WORK TO GET IT CLIPPED IN JUST THE RIGHT SPOT.


Sorry about the caps . not a good typer.

 

[perry]

For water to flow through a continuous system like that, wouldn't you have to add/change a lot of piping to create a loop...or am I missing something?

She has a couple extra pipes and valves in her garage... I don't know the specifics of her setup. This video sorta shows how one is installed, but I know hers isn't right at the water heater.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCe_eg7PexE

 

[the1kidd03]

You need to make a removable panel by the line so it can be removed. Take it out in cold weather like we are having and the heat from the house will keep it from freezing.
Also look for any way cold air may be getting into the wall. Be surprised how often this is the culprit.

Yeah, I peeked in as far as I could see and all I could see was insulation. There could be areas without it that I couldn't see, but I was thinking of getting one of those small HVAC vents to put in there.

 

[Arm America]

Correct, insulation alone will not prevent freezing. You need a source of heat or warm air movement.
I perfer heat tape in your situation. The product I use has a thermostat included that energizes at 42*.

 

[sig-guy]

Dude...lol That was awesome. Blow dryer took all of about 10 seconds. Now to rig it so water will continue to trickle a little

I'm happy to hear you have it up and running.

 

[mike4sigs]

glad to hear you r up and running and you are right in your thinking about keeping it running

 

[Jason91887]

Our well pump froze today, even with all the water running, so I feel ya. Guess I will have to get out and get some better insulation in the well box once it warms up. Right now i have a space heater going inside the well box to keep it running.

 

[Booya]

Our well pump froze today, even with all the water running, so I feel ya. Guess I will have to get out and get some better insulation in the well box once it warms up. Right now i have a space heater going inside the well box to keep it running.

Same happened to me, but we caught it just as it happened. We'd been doing laundry and all kinds of stuff just fine, then boom no water. I opened the valve leading out of the well pump (40' underground) into the pressure tank and opened all the house faucets. Turned up the boiler to kick on and cycled my softener all to get water moving anywhere I could. after about 10 minutes it started to trickle in every where and now I have the closest faucet and the farthest both cracked. Seems to have worked for now. If it freezes solid, I'm in trouble. My pump is buried, I can't heat it!

 

[actaeon277]

In place of a hair dryer, a halogen work light will do. But dont enclose the area, such as closing cabinet doors, or it'll get too hot.

Smaller bulbs, 40, 60 100, can be used to prevent freezing.

If you have a line that freezes, get heat trace from hardware store. Follow directions. Wrap insulation around heat trace.