SCOOTERDOG Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Well about 10 this morning I get a call from my daughter telling me no water is coming out of her bathroom faucet. I'm thinking freakin great, frozen pipes. This week it has been really cold, this morning it was -2 with a wind chill of -18. So I leave work and go home to see if I can remedy the problem. Her bathroom happens to sit on a raised foundation so there is a decent size area to work in. But it was so freakin cold under there and of course your laying on dirt. So I get my torch and make my way over to the pipes that go into her bathroom figuring this is a good place to start. After screwing with the torch for 10 min before I can get the sucker to ignite I proceed to heat up the pipes. After about 5 min I hear the sound of rushing water and it's like woooo hooooo. so I gather all my stuff up make my way out from under there freezing my buns off. I dust off remove jacket etc and go up to the bathrooom. Low an behold water is running and I'm thinking Yippie! Hold your horses sparky! It is only the cold water running and there still is no hot. So I go back under the house and end up spending about 45 min under there heating all the pipes until I hear the sound of rushing water...Woooo Hooo again! All in all it was solved but what a pain in the you know what. Anyone else have pipe issues lately. Sure blew my work day to hell. So what do I do? I come to work and read and post. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 scooter, coulda been worse, could have heard the sound of rushing water INSIDE the crawl space. Sounds like dear old Dad made the rescue just in the nick of time. You got lucky. Hope theres a more under the tree than a necktie this year. Now teach that girl to keep her cabinet doors open and water trickling when it's cold. A light fixture in the crawl space for a little heat wouldn't hurt either. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOOTERDOG Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 Michael, Great idea about putting a light in there. I think I'll get a portable flood and put it in the area where the pipes are. As far as dripping water, yea we do it in the other rooms and my daugter is supposed to keep hers the same. I asked her why she didn't leave her faucet dripping and she said it bothered her during the night. I told her next time it happens she will be the one crawling under the house and if a pipe burst becuase of her she can just consider handing me her payroll checks to cover any cost that are incurred. I think she will get use to a dripping faucet during this cold spell. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 if she hangs a washcloth over the dripping faucet, the little stream will run down the cloth into the drain, no 'dripping' sound. Or you can tie a small cord around the faucet where the water flow is and the water will run down the cord. Everyone is happy. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 pipe Insulation ...??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale W Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 pipe Insulation ...??? I'll second that .... Problem solved First law of thermodynamics : Heat flows from hot to cold ... If the pipe can't give up it's heat to the surrounding air then it will stay constant , in your case in a unheated crawl space i'd opt for a foilback insulation to control radiant loss first then address the issue of giving up the heat to cooler surroundings .. So the double wammy would be foil back and then say one of those styrofoam pipe condoms that come in four foot lengths ... My place was " MINUS 30 " two days ago ... thats without windchill ..so everything likes to freeze then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 I kinda wonder why you have water pipes running in a unheated space? Is the foundation insulated? The floor? I agree that you got lucky that you didn't hear gushing water in the crawl space. We normally heat our crawl spaces... as well as avoid passing water pipes inside exterior walls. Mind you it gets pretty cold here, and i've seen frozen Sprinkler heads blow in heated vestibules due to high people traffic. You have to get some sort of heat in there... even if you keep the thermostat at 5 to 10C (40-50F ?). It'll stay off most of the year anyways... ROb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 pipe Insulation ...??? Much simpler idea than mine which was move to Florida.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 I bought new foam insulation and wrapped it around the inlet with the tape, and buried the whole thing in leaves, and now it has a good 12 inches of snow on top. Whether the two latter measures help, who knows...... I've been lucky so far, that is not an approved installation, not to mention a HUGE FIRE HAZARD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranjith Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Here is a story of frozen pipes. Last winter my neighbours went out of town for the christmas break and I guess they wanted to save some money on the gas so they shutoff the heat to the house. Btw, these are univ students like myself. When they came back 2 weeks later they found the entire mainfloor and basement flooded and frozen. Glad you got to those frozen pipes in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuned4life Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 hang a 75 watt light bulb down there. 9 below in warsaw n.y. this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 that is not an approved installation, not to mention a HUGE FIRE HAZARD Ok then. Explain to the "Approved installation" before I perish in a burning home. Explain clearly, my safety counts on you, Duke...... Explain how heat tape with the foam pipe installation over it is a fire hazard. Explain why it's been this way for years, but yet the place is still here. Explain why several other trailers around have the same exact thing, but none of them have burned down yet. The neighboring trailer has the same exact thing, explain why his place still stands...... ever see a trailer burn, Mike ....?? it don't take long ..............15 minutes or so .... i can tell you, without reserve, that the Installation Instructions that came wih the Heat Tape ...... told you NOT to insulate over it not to mention with Flammable foam and LEAVES ........ trailers burn all the time .....Heat Tapes cause a lot of fires are You proud of tempting fate ...??? it seems that way .... whadda You think ..??? i'm taking the time to post this , just to be a [admin edit: please no name calling] ..??? personally ..... if I had old heat tape, buried in leaves, covered in dried out foam .... i wouldn't be able to sleep at nite if you have children , please change your set-up .... use the RayChen braided jacket heat tape............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Mike, I gotta go with Duke here. Please read, understand, and FOLLOW the instructions on that heat tape. The lives of your family depend on it. Think of it this way, it's just a toaster wire in plastic. If it gets too hot, something is going to melt and/or burn. Before you respond, would you pack a bunch of leaves in your toaster, turn it on, then sleep in the room with it? Didn't think so. Please be safe. There's lots of fires this holiday season. No utility bill is worth dying over. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockbobmel Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 pipe Insulation ...??? & Hay bales or Corning bales. & heating tape. The house must be freezing if the pipes can get that cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 instead of stuffing the space under the trailer with leaves, why not border the base with bales of straw, much more insulating value, you could use heat tape underneath, and any heat source under the trailer would keep the floor warmer. Just a thought the last post reminded me of. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygmn Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Move south.... hehehehe forzen pipes is a rarity....and well is easier to protect.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrol Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 with memories of crawling through the un-heated "crawl-space" under my childhood home in Ohio 2-3 times each year to thaw the pipes... (they somethimes froze even when left dripping when temps sometimes went below -10).. I decided to spend a couple hours in the unheated crawspace of my own home the summer I bought it... I simply wrapped the cooper pipes with aluminum foil and then covered them with the foam insulation. You may think "why bother, your in the south"... I told my neighbor the same thing when the pipes in his beach house froze and burst last winter btw Mike, Please take there advise... risking a house fire sux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Don't forget your drains as well as your supply pipes. Running water is no good unles you have drains that also work. I had just moved back south in 95 when we had a cold snap that brought our temps to 15 F just for two days. My supply pipes were fine, but my washer drain was frozen and so I had a cold, soapy mess to mop up after the washer drain backed up.[+o(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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