Okay, Its officially cold in the Midwest. I thought it was cold when I'd get into my car that's been sitting outside all day, and thinking how warm it felt. But, yesterday, I was able to experience the joys of a frozen water pipe. Luckily there was no burstage, as I was able to work it out over time. Here's how it went down.
Upstairs bathroom was not getting any hot water, yet the rest of the house, including the other upstairs bathroom were fine. Given the temperature, plus 18 hours of no water use, not too difficult to come up with the diagnoses: a frozen pipe along the outside wall on the main floor, as it makes its way up to the 2nd floor. After getting advise from the plumbers on the phone, I opened the cabinet under the sink, and removed the drop ceiling around the pipe in the basement, where it ascends. I also turned on the water, in hopes that the small drips we would get would increase as the water worked through. After about 6 hours, I had no results. After calling the plumber again, I added a small fan in the basement ceiling to help push warmer air up the pipes. After about 15 minutes of the fan, the water was free again.
Suspects? First, its been observed that there are several holes drilled in the ceiling around the pipe in the basement. This indicates we weren't the first with this problem, and makes me wonder if the last home owner failed to disclose the problem. Granted, those holes did let me blow heat up into the main floor wall. Another suspect I have is just placement of the pipes. They're in an outer wall, near the door, which has no heat vents near by. Insulation in a 40 year old house is probably crappy. But, the main suspect is and electrical outlet on the outside wall, just on the other side of the pipes on the main floor. After inspection of the outlet, I can see large gaps around the faceplate, likely feeding the cold air into the wall, and along the pipes. Duct Tape will have to do for now, until it warms up to do all proper like.
In other news, due to the arctic winds this week, President Bush has decided to temporarily rename Global Climate Change, back to Global Warming again, in hopes that folks will buy into his environment plan.
2 comments:
Do you have insulation around your pipes? ...good (up-to-date/reflective) insulation?
Are you keeping the thermostat in your house in the mid 60's? ...even when you're at work?
I heard there's an electrical product (heat tape?) that can be applied to pipes to keep them warm in certain areas.
Have you considered investing in a professional doing a blow-in insulation? They can get into spaces that do-it-yourselfers using batt insulation can't get into -- like exterior wet-walls.
- CT/NY
My heat was around 70, so I tacked it up a few more degrees. I'm familiar with heat tape, but it really needs it in the walls, where I can not access. I'll have to look more into it though. I too have considered blowing insulation (that outlet on the outside would be perfect) except that process would block out warmth from the house, as well as the cold. I'm also familiar with using spray-on insulation foam to put around that outlet, but its too cold for it to set right now.
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