Frozen pipes? Argh!

[Rayotech]

Been a real crappy week! If you read some of my previous posts you'll understand why.

So I got up this AM and guess what no water! Had water yesterday and it was colder the nite before than last. Been here eight years and no water problems.
Still dark here so trudging out in the back yard is a no no till the sun comes up. Once There's some light I can run some drop lights into the crawl space and see if I can find the problem, If it's us?
I know last year a guy down the block had his street meter freeze so the town had to thaw it out. Kind of hoping what's going on here?? Course towns shut down today due to cold weather so phone calls are animated on there end.

So with all that said what should I looks for as far as freeze points on the pipes? Copper pipes so if they need repaired or soldered I can do that. what is the best way to thaw them out without doing more damage? I do have a hand held bottle torch.
We put a water heater in this past summer and looked at the main water line, comes up out of the ground and branches off into the house. Tried testing the heat tape that is on it but could not figure out where it is routed to and from. There's a switch in the house to turn it on and off, least that's what we were told by the previous owner. Also there is a wall outlet near the pipe, tried testing it but it grounded itself while testing and blew a fuse. Replaced the outlet and it is fine but still unsure if there is a T in it somewhere for the power to the heat tape, has two power cords coming out of it, one in one out. Probably going to get a new heat tape and try to wrap the new tape under the old and re-insulate and plug it into the outlet.

55+ years being on this rock and never had to learn or deal with frozen pipes!

Any suggestions or input/ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Steel2It]

First, shut off your main valve so that you won't have a flood should the pipe burst. If the problem is in your house and not the street meter, then somewhere you've a pipe running too close to an outside wall with no nearby heat source. Call a plumber. Using heat guns or torches around wood house frame members can start a fire. Sorry I can't be of more help, but the first priority is to prevent more damage.

 

[borwish]

Living in the south I've had little experience dealing with frozen pipes. What has worked for me is a heat gun. You just have to keep moving it on the frozen section. As Steel2It points out a high power heat gun will burn wood. The slower but easier method my father has used is to use one of those old high wattage work lights. He'd set it nearby shining on the pipe and walk off.

 

[Steel2It]

Living in the south I've had little experience dealing with frozen pipes. What has worked for me is a heat gun. You just have to keep moving it on the frozen section. As Steel2It points out a high power heat gun will burn wood. The slower but easier method my father has used is to use one of those old high wattage work lights. He'd set it nearby shining on the pipe and walk off.

Yes. My father built a box around the supply pipe where it came out of the ground in his shed, and kept a 100w bulb lit in the box all winter. Did the job, and this was in Maine where things get chilly and stay that way. A 150w garage bulb would be even better. You would need an extension cord with an adequately-rated bulb socket safely wired into it. I was going to suggest that but figured you might not have such fixture available. Might be something to look into for future preventative.

 

[Rayotech]

Thank you everyone for all the great ideas!

We now have running water again! No broke or cracked pipes!

It was the main line, the 30+ year old heat tape around it died who knows how long ago? Of course will all these extremely low temps these past few days everyone in town is sold out of heat tape. Got one on Amazon, by Wednesday. Will install it then and put a few good layers of insulation around everything. For now at night will set the faucets to a dribble so the main don't freeze again.

Smiling a bit today, finally.

 

[BanjoCowboyMartaTobes]

I have used the Govee $15 Bluetooth hygrometer/temp sensors for years. Besides in the freezers/fridges/instrument cases/cigar totes and tobacco pipe cabinets……I have a few around the colder areas where our water pipes run. Cheap, work perfectly and the replaceable battery lasts more than a year. Glad your pipes weren’t damaged and Merry Christmas!

 

[Ron R]

Thank you everyone for all the great ideas!

We now have running water again! No broke or cracked pipes!

It was the main line, the 30+ year old heat tape around it died who knows how long ago? Of course will all these extremely low temps these past few days everyone in town is sold out of heat tape. Got one on Amazon, by Wednesday. Will install it then and put a few good layers of insulation around everything. For now at night will set the faucets to a dribble so the main don't freeze again.

Smiling a bit today, finally.

That is a terrible feeling when you turn the tap on and nothing(what now?). When it gets cold and do not want issues keep the kitchen cold water tap just at a small trickle will also help. It does not allow the pipe to freeze as quickly.
Glade to hear your water is running with no issues to your plumbing!
We live in the northern Alberta, Canada area and it has been very cold for the last 3 days in the morning, -45C, -43C and to day -37C, the cold snap is finally & is moving eastward slowly.

 

[OldSaw]

Two years ago we wintered through in my brother-in-law’s three season cottage while our house was being built. The one freeze up that we had was near an air leak that was blowing-20 degree air across the pipe from the pump. I was able to thaw it out with a hair dryer. On the bitter cold nights my wife and I took turns getting up about every two hours to check the water, so it wasn’t frozen for very long.

WARNING!!! When installing heat tape, NEVER overlap itself. Each wrap must be spaced from the previous wrap according to the instructions. Overlapping heat traces can burn your house down.

 

[OldSaw]

That is a terrible feeling when you turn the tap on and nothing(what now?). When it gets cold and do not want issues keep the kitchen cold water tap just at a small trickle will also help. It does not allow the pipe to freeze as quickly.
Glade to hear your water is running with no issues to your plumbing!
We live in the northern Alberta, Canada area and it has been very cold for the last 3 days in the morning, -45C, -43C and to day -37C, the cold snap is finally & is moving eastward slowly.

Running a trickle of water is a great way to keep the supply from freezing. Just make sure you don’t have any drain lines that run near exterior walls. A slow trickle in the drains could freeze gradually and eventually close it off, especially if you have a septic tank instead of a municipal sewer. During normal usage the drains get a nice flow of water, which will easily traverse a frozen section if it is not closed off by ice build up. Slow leaking toilet flapper valves have caused many septic lines to freeze in my neighborhood. Then you have to get the septic tech out there with a steam line to open it up.

 

[ColtRevolver]

We are waiting on frozen pipes right now at our farm house. Wind took down a transformer pole last night. The house has no electricity and has a well pump, so letting the water trickle is not an option. It has a gas wall heater, but it's nowhere near the plumbing. At this point, the best we can hope for is no burst pipes.

 

[nortac]

I live in S.E. Louisiana in a raised frame house. Whenever we have a "hard freeze" (is there any other type?) I dribble the faucets, both hot and cold, and any outside hose faucets. I route the hoses away from the house. I have a swimming pool, so I make sure the filtration system runs over night or however freezing temps last. In my chicken coop, I drain the watering system as it has frozen and burst the PVC pipes in the past. During the day, I have a hanging waterer that I fill with warm water so that it won't freeze and empty it in the evening once the chickens have gone to roost.
When I have failed to do these precautions, I've had burst pipes. That has happened only once. I learned my lesson.

 

[Ron R]

Running a trickle of water is a great way to keep the supply from freezing. Just make sure you don’t have any drain lines that run near exterior walls. A slow trickle in the drains could freeze gradually and eventually close it off, especially if you have a septic tank instead of a municipal sewer. During normal usage the drains get a nice flow of water, which will easily traverse a frozen section if it is not closed off by ice build up. Slow leaking toilet flapper valves have caused many septic lines to freeze in my neighborhood. Then you have to get the septic tech out there with a steam line to open it up.

Our drainage goes into Municipal sewer, sewer field beds for sewer grey water could give issues no doubt.

 

[Old Hippie]

That is a terrible feeling when you turn the tap on and nothing(what now?).

Happened to us a couple years ago in January, our traditional cold month. Mrs. Hippie was using the kitchen sink and the water just went to zip. Long story short the well pump died. I have a lashup to be able to feed community water into the house system while blocking off the pump to prevent backflow. That required a hose from one hydrant to another, and I had to go out in the cold to hook it up in the morning and again to unhook it and drain it for the overnight. Two weeks of that and I was ready to kiss the pump guy when he showed up.

We live in the northern Alberta, Canada area and it has been very cold for the last 3 days in the morning, -45C, -43C and to day -37C

Uff Da! I remember prairie cold like that. We were warmer but still broke the 1891 record by 6C.

Cold enough for me, youbetcha. You gotta remember I grew up in a place where freezing was considered cold.

O.H.

 

[borwish]

Mrs. Hippie was using the kitchen sink and the water just went to zip. Long story short the well pump died.

Several years ago on Christmas eve my folk's well pump went out. 2019 my brother's well pump went out on....Christmas eve.

I keep a pump, pressure switch, foot valve, and assorted fittings just incase.

 

[ColtRevolver]

We are on day two with no power at our farm house. It was a few degrees below 0 last night. It's not looking good for the plumbing.

 

[gpjoe]

We are on day two with no power at our farm house. I was a few degrees below 0 last night. It's not looking good for the plumbing.

That stinks.

We're rural and have had frequent power outages, about six or so per year. It's tough in winter with no heat or well. We had a wood stove installed as a backup heat source. I aslo picked up a 10,000W portable generator and installed an outside socket and 50A breaker to be able to power the heat and well if necessary.

Best of luck to you, hope your power comes back on soon.

 

[BanjoCowboyMartaTobes]

That stinks.

We're rural and have had frequent power outages, about six or so per year. It's tough in winter with no heat or well. We had a wood stove installed as a backup heat source. I aslo picked up a 10,000W portable generator and installed an outside socket and 50A breaker to be able to power the heat and well if necessary.

Best of luck to you, hope your power comes back on soon.

10,000w portable? I can barely move our 4k around lol.

 

[CANES]

Add me to the list last night. Ran the water in the faucets and all the pipes outside are wrapped. Well line froze. Noticed it about midnight when water pressure dropped. Trekked outside in 10 degree weather (coldest it's been in South GA for over 40 years) but couldn't do much. Put some heat lamps on the pipes today and after about 2 hours everything is working fine, again. Going to leave those lamps running until it gets warmer, I guess. Supposed to be in the 70's next week.

 

[gpjoe]

10,000w portable? I can barely move our 4k around lol.

Well, it has wheels, so "portable".

 

[ColtRevolver]

Well, the power came back on about 7 pm on the 24th. We turned on the well pump. The pipes are frozen in the bathroom. The expansion tank is in a detached garage. It looks like there's some kinda leak there. Then things got worse. The oil furnace would fire, run a bit and then pop the reset button. I could push the button and it would do the same. After several tries, I concluded that the heating oil has gelled. At that point, there was nothing much that we could do. We turned the well pump breaker off, lit the gas wall heater, and locked the place up. There's not much that we can do until it warms up.