I'm currently having issues with running water. I have a utility sink that is running only hot water, but the hot and cold water throughout the rest of my home hasn't been working since yesterday. It's currently .5 degrees outside so I've considered the pipes to be frozen.. My home is on a slab and I know the pipes generally run along the back side of my house. I was curious if there might be an alternate reason for the lack of running water, as well as, what I can do to prevent the pipes from freezing in the future. Please Halp!
No water..
- Thread starter Riker
- Start date
Help Support House Repair Talk:
CallMeVilla
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 1,657
- Reaction score
- 598
Frozen cold side piping is your probable cause. Without opening the walls, you will not know where until the water melts and you get a mess. My guess is your walls have improper (missing?) insulation. I like spray foam but you have to completely remove the walls board to do a good job . . . same would apply to batt insulation.
How to prevent in the future? Rip off the walls and upgrade your insulation as needed, remembering to add a proper vapor barrier. Do not expose pipes to cold zones. Re-route as necessary to correct that problem.
How to prevent in the future? Rip off the walls and upgrade your insulation as needed, remembering to add a proper vapor barrier. Do not expose pipes to cold zones. Re-route as necessary to correct that problem.
nealtw
Contractor retired
Good luck with this. In the future on the real cold days let water drip from taps. Running water will not freeze. Often the problem starts when the outside hose pibes are connected under kitchen or bathroom sinks. Have you left a hose connected outside? This plumbing is expensive to rerun and insulate. You can adjust to toilet to drible water.
Redwood
Certified Lunatic
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2009
- Messages
- 887
- Reaction score
- 0
It sounds like you are indeed frozen up. I would crank up the heat and hope that does it. If you have copper pipes I would recommend calling a plumber ASAP as many plumbers have an electric pipe thawing machine that can safely warm the pipes without the danger of fire. It is critical that you get this done as quick as possible to avoid burst pipes.
Once the plumber knows where the pipes have frozen you may be able to do something to prevent it from happening again.
I would not recommend allowing fixtures to trickle as the fact is running water can indeed freeze and the running water in many cases can overtax a septic system if you are on one or, cause the sewer line to freeze which is a lot harder than thawing above ground pipes.
If Niagara Falls can freeze like it did in 1911 rest assured moving water does indeed freeze.
Once the plumber knows where the pipes have frozen you may be able to do something to prevent it from happening again.
I would not recommend allowing fixtures to trickle as the fact is running water can indeed freeze and the running water in many cases can overtax a septic system if you are on one or, cause the sewer line to freeze which is a lot harder than thawing above ground pipes.
If Niagara Falls can freeze like it did in 1911 rest assured moving water does indeed freeze.
nealtw
Contractor retired
Good points about the septic if it's installed above the frost level but the sewer is deeper and the falls never stopped running. Today it might as 90 % of the water goes thru turbines, evan when the picture was taken the power for New York never stopped.
Thanks a lot.
I realize it's a temperature issue. I raised the heat in my home and luckily the cold outside has been reaching 30 degrees late in the day. The exterior walls of my house are cinder block walls. Maybe I can get a blueprint for my home, see where the pipes run, and consider insulating them better.
I realize it's a temperature issue. I raised the heat in my home and luckily the cold outside has been reaching 30 degrees late in the day. The exterior walls of my house are cinder block walls. Maybe I can get a blueprint for my home, see where the pipes run, and consider insulating them better.
