Help! Frozen outdoor pipe and no water for 5 days!

zziplex

If the co council did your mains water you may have a case against them. I know a guy and the pipes were not dug deep enough into the ground so it was up to the council to sort the problem and re-run the mains water pipes. I dont know your situation but taught it may be of some help to resolve this happening again in the future im not 100% sure what you can do.

As for the people who do still have water it may freeze overnight so if you happen to wake up at any stage during the night its no harm to flush the toilet once or twice or leave a tap running for a few mins therefore the water is flowing and should not freeze whereas still idle water has a greater chance of freezing.

dawnymac

Lex Luthor wrote: »

just got my attic tank filled to the brim using a long hose from my kitchen sink...

still got a bucket to fill the toilet cisterns for flushing that I fill from my kitchen tap to reduce the amount of water needed to fill them after every flush.

Just keep an eye in the attic in case that frozen pipe bursts, It must be a frozen indoor pipe right? If you have a light in the attic try getting one of those red bulbs they use for keeping lambs etc warm and put it in, should keep nice steady temp in attic

Lex Luthor

Xcellor wrote: »

You dont need to fill the cistern to flush toilet. Just throw the bucket directly into the toilet and it will flush itself. Just empty the bucket quickly.

What I mean is I will fill the cistern with a bucket immediately after flushing so it only uses a small amount out of the tank..(keeps me from having to fill it as often with the hose until it gets back to normal)

dawnymac wrote: »

Just keep an eye in the attic in case that frozen pipe bursts, It must be a frozen indoor pipe right? If you have a light in the attic try getting one of those red bulbs they use for keeping lambs etc warm and put it in, should keep nice steady temp in attic

Not sure if the pipe is indoor. I guess it is where it comes from up the wall into attic...must be frozen around the bend I'm guessing

BostonB

Lex Luthor wrote: »

sorry to jump in on this and I can sympahise with anyone without water at the moment.

I've just noticed this morning that my tank in the attic was empty. Ball cock working ok, cold water to kitchen sink ok.

I've disconnected the pipe going into the tank in attic and disconnected it at the next fitting 6 foot down pipe and its clear....water flowing through it.

So I disconnected the black polypie under the sink and disconnected at the fitting in the attic and blew compressed air through and its not coming through.

I can only imagine that in some section of the pipe its got frozen water. This pipe though is inside the house if I was led to believe so I'm wondering why I've got a frozen section.

Next door neighbour checked his and its ok.

I don't see the point in trying to clear it with rods if I could, cos the water would just freeze again. Do I just sit it out and wait for the thaw?

I'm lucky at one level I still have water in my kitchen tap

Someone else rang me today with this same problem. I was surprised the pipe froze inside the house too.

c4cat

I had this problem with the exposed outdoor pipe freezing up and I resolved the problem by enclosing the pipe by using some bricks to build up a little dry wall on either side of the pipe running up the wall and covering the top with some corregated iron. I then placed a greenhouse kerosene heater in the alcove which is enough to keep the temp around the exposed pipe above freezing point. 4 ltrs of kerosene last 168 hrs approx and no frozen pipe

dawnymac

Lex Luthor wrote: »

just got my attic tank filled to the brim using a long hose from my kitchen sink...

still got a bucket to fill the toilet cisterns for flushing that I fill from my kitchen tap to reduce the amount of water needed to fill them after every flush.

Just keep an eye in the attic in case that frozen pipe bursts, It must be a frozen indoor pipe right? If you have a light in the attic try getting one of those red bulbs they use for keeping lambs etc warm and put it in, should keep nice steady temp in attic

dawnymac

Lex Luthor wrote: »

What I mean is I will fill the cistern with a bucket immediately after flushing so it only uses a small amount out of the tank..(keeps me from having to fill it as often with the hose until it gets back to normal)



Not sure if the pipe is indoor. I guess it is where it comes from up the wall into attic...must be frozen around the bend I'm guessing

Agree with Xcellor, instead of pulling the handle on the toilet just pour the bucket of water directly into the toilet, this "flushes" the toilet without drawing any water from your tank. Forget about the cistern... just pour quickly

Crispina

dawnymac wrote: »

Just keep an eye in the attic in case that frozen pipe bursts, It must be a frozen indoor pipe right? If you have a light in the attic try getting one of those red bulbs they use for keeping lambs etc warm and put it in, should keep nice steady temp in attic

Sorry to butt in here but just a little bit of advise ... You should keep your attic door slightly ajar , if possible , to let the warm air from the house to circulate. This helps to avoid frozen pipes.... I open mine everynight for a few hours - I know there is a cold draught but it is better than a burst pipe......

Cabaal

mezzdon wrote: »

Hi, I know this is a bit late in your situation but everyone should do it. If you leave a tap dripping at all times your pipes will never freeze! My family have been doing it for 3 generations and my granddad comes from the Alps in Italy (now thats freezing).. I don't know how it works but none of us ever have frozen pipes..

Wait till water charges come in and then you'll see how much waste this causes for three generations

Cabaal

Crispina wrote: »

Sorry to butt in here but just a little bit of advise ... You should keep your attic door slightly ajar , if possible , to let the warm air from the house to circulate. This helps to avoid frozen pipes.... I open mine everynight for a few hours - I know there is a cold draught but it is better than a burst pipe......

We had to do this for years in our old family home in the top attic, worked perfectly

Sadly my bedroom was right beside the entrance to the attic in the hallway so it used to get pretty chilly

Crispina

Cabaal wrote: »

We had to do this for years in our old family home in the top attic, worked perfectly

Sadly my bedroom was right beside the entrance to the attic in the hallway so it used to get pretty chilly

Yes it is very cold as it is about -12 in my attic!!!!!....It is like entrying the Artic Circle when I venture up there........Some of my friends have the attic door open all day for the last week....BRR...........:eek: But anything is better than a burst pipe.......................

Crispina

Its me again and my water problem!!!!!! I am getting conflicting advice here ...People are telling me that as my outside mains pipe is frozen I should turn the water supply to the house off at the mains...... Why? Does anyone have any idean on this???????

Lex Luthor

I'm guessing aswell with all these people insulating and topping up their attic insulation is just leading to attics getting even colder.

I've removed the insulation completely from under my tank not that there was much there and the tank now is fully insulated around the sides.

BostonB

Crispina wrote: »

Its me again and my water problem!!!!!! I am getting conflicting advice here ...People are telling me that as my outside mains pipe is frozen I should turn the water supply to the house off at the mains...... Why? Does anyone have any idean on this???????

I assume because the pipe might burst cAusing a leak when it thaws.

steamengine

c4cat wrote: »

I had this problem with the exposed outdoor pipe freezing up and I resolved the problem by enclosing the pipe by using some bricks to build up a little dry wall on either side of the pipe running up the wall and covering the top with some corregated iron. I then placed a greenhouse kerosene heater in the alcove which is enough to keep the temp around the exposed pipe above freezing point. 4 ltrs of kerosene last 168 hrs approx and no frozen pipe

IMO this is an excellent piece of innovation. What I am wondering is if something similar could be tried for a horizontal run of pipe eg mains pipe ???

dawnymac

dawnymac wrote: »

What a great idea, will ask my neighbours if they would mind. Sounds so simple but genious, like so many great ideas!

Xcellor wrote: »

Same problem. My water has been off since Saturday. I've tried everything but at this point have given up. Whatever progress you are making (if any) is negated by the night when temperatures fall to -8 around here...

I have a temporary hose pipe going from my neighbours garden tap (which is frozen solid every morning even though its wrapped in insulutation and has two buckets on it!! I connected this to my outdoor tap and turned both on. I reduced the pressure from my mains (in case it comes back on...). This now acts as my fresh water supply and is filling up my attic water tank and providing enough pressure to run washing machine and dishwasher. Of course the pressure is less than regular supply but to be honest its a life saver.

I disconnect it at night when not it use... If the flow in the pipe stops for 5 minutes it will be frozen so I have to take in doors every night... Before we were relying on 25 litre tanks (we got from argos)... No fun when it comes to flushing toilets............

X

I just did this and it worked a dream, you are a lifesaver! Especially as it now looks like it will be weeks before we have water again! I recommend to anyone with the same problem!

Ciar0468

Xcellor.

I have the same setup with a hose to my neighbour as you do.
I am wondering do you have to turn off your outside tap when your attic tanks are full? I had a cheap hose on first and it burst when my tank was full. I now have one of those reinforced rubber hoses, but I have been turning the taps off everytime the tank is full as I am afraid i might burst this hose too. Its getting very annoying as I have to keep hopping the wall to the eighbour to turn on and off their tap. Also the outside taps are then freezing, even during the day. Its a hose so I can take in in at night too. I am going to buy some lagging for the taps today though as lastnight the freeze travelled down my pipe to under the sink, which took my an hour to defrost today. Even though heating in now on 24hr in the house so its warm inside.

Thanks.

dawnymac

Ciar0468 wrote: »

Xcellor.

I have the same setup with a hose to my neighbour as you do.
I am wondering do you have to turn off your outside tap when your attic tanks are full? I had a cheap hose on first and it burst when my tank was full. I now have one of those reinforced rubber hoses, but I have been turning the taps off everytime the tank is full as I am afraid i might burst this hose too. Its getting very annoying as I have to keep hopping the wall to the eighbour to turn on and off their tap. Also the outside taps are then freezing, even during the day. Its a hose so I can take in in at night too. I am going to buy some lagging for the taps today though as lastnight the freeze travelled down my pipe to under the sink, which took my an hour to defrost today. Even though heating in now on 24hr in the house so its warm inside.



Thanks.

Hiya,

I've just left an inside tap running slightly and left the outside taps on, it's working so far. When I took the hose in last night I left my kitchen tap runnng so all water drained out to stop any freeze. I know someone will probably give out about leaving the tap running but the alternative is no water and since there is no one in officaldom offering any assistance this is the best I've come up with.

Ciar0468

Great thanks for reply.

I have left an inside tap running slightly so far today and have kept an eye on it. It seems to be ok.

We actually left the hose outside last night and left it dripping, it didnt freeze. I have the whole hose pipe elevated above ground, someone told me this will hepl stop it freezing. I have just bought some lagging, so i am going to lagg the hose and see how it goes.

The running hose did not freeze last night, but my outside tap (which did not have anything connected to it) froze all the way insde to under my sink. took ages with hot water and a hair dryer to defrost today.

My thinking is if the running hosepipe did not freeze last night, then if I attach it to my outside tap and lag everything, maybe it wont freeze and I will have water as if the mains was working.

Then again it might freeze and I will have to thaw the hose out tomorow, but I think its worth a try. We were without water for a week untill yesterday when we got this working. I would do just about anything to have water in my house at this stage.

I never realised how much we depend on running water untill it was gone.


On another note, KEEP YOUR ATTIC DOOR OPEN if your pipes are not lagged or your atic is well insulated in the floor. My poor neighbour has had pipes burst in the attic. I have seen them taking out beds, matresses, floor boards, wardrobes. Its worth turning your heat up a bit and leaving the door open than going through that.

markyboy

Xcellor wrote: »

Here is a rough diagram below.

[ Neighbours tap - connect this and turn on... water should come if not defrost with warm kettle.
|
|
|
|
[ Outside tap - turn this on to allow the flow to come through.
|
|
Kitchen Tap - Now kitchen tap should have water.
|
Mains water - turn this to low (if frozen nothing should be coming but atleast this gives the opportunity for flow if it comes back)
|
Dishwasher/Washing machine
|
Water tank (listen to see if you can hear tank filling)


I recommend leaving a dripping tap so the pressure is not to great on hose pipe.

Thanks a million for this. Greatly appreciated!

highlydebased

In my house this morning the mains pipe froze coming in-The shower wouldnt work so we assumed it was only something small then everything stopped...

On our driveway theres a small little shutoff valve covered with a small little manhole type thing (very small!) Basically we boiled a kettle and poured it in on top of the valve and now the water is flowing again

Ciar0468

Glas that worked for you. We tried that on both manholes we have for three days in a row with no luck.

I have seen people out today with giant blow torches, heating up the driveways and pavements. Dont know if it worked or not. Another neighhbour is digging up the pavements and pipes to try and find how far they are frozen.

It seems half of our estate of over 100 houses have frozen water pipes today.

:mad::mad:

Spurs101!

Some good answers and knowledgeable people here
Question: .....
I've a private house with water outside frozen so no mains coming in, heating was on last night and this morning Hot and Cold water taps ran dry(coming from Cylinder and tank upstairs) ...... Looked in attic and saw tank had frozen slightly, so by my understanding pipes are frozen in attic going to taps and cylinder .... my question is can I turn on central heating if no water in Hot water cylinder ?

Ciar0468

Im no plumer but as far as my knowledge goes, your hot cylinder should not run dry, they have some kind of protection to stop water leaving the cylinder when there is no water entering from the cold tank.

When we got our system refilled we instantly had a lot of hot water so I am asuming that was the water in the cylinder.

Hoever it may not be that same in your case. Can you post what type of heating system you have, it will help someone who knows more about this to help you.

If you have frost in your attic, i would advise you to turn off your mains water under your sink, even if it is frozen, turn off your water valves in the hotpress and consult a plumer. If your pipes are frozen in the attic and they burst it can be totally disasterous. Plummers are a lot cheaper than repairing the damage to your home if pipes burst in your attic.

Our heating is a closed system gas boiler, with an imersion heater also fitted to the tank. We can use our heating safely after I drained both hot and cold taps. I checked and rechecked with my plummer to ensure it was ok to use.

Spurs101!

Kerosene Oil fired 'Firebird' burner, sealed system with 3 zones (downstairs, upstairs and hot water but water seems to heat no matter which zone is on)

Pipes in attic are not copper but plastic and are completely frozen, there is a red pressure ball in attic which has pipe coming from is also frozen

There is water in the tank but alot of ice as well - put my hand in and outlets to cylinder,cold taps upstairs and shower etc are frozen solid

Can i turn heating in house on ?

steamengine

Spurs101! wrote: »

Some good answers and knowledgeable people here
Question: .....
I've a private house with water outside frozen so no mains coming in, heating was on last night and this morning Hot and Cold water taps ran dry(coming from Cylinder and tank upstairs) ...... Looked in attic and saw tank had frozen slightly, so by my understanding pipes are frozen in attic going to taps and cylinder .... my question is can I turn on central heating if no water in Hot water cylinder ?

Generally the heating system is a seperate system so the answer would be "Yes". When you get the heating back on, open the trap door to the attic so that the rising heat can thaw the attic tank. The hot water cylinder outlet is normally from the top of the cylinder and you can't empty it really.

Ciar0468

It sounds like your pipes are really frozen, I would say to be careful allowing heat up to defrost them without consulting a plummer. They may of already burst and you wont know until they thaw out. If they burst in the attic and thaw out, all of the water in your tanks may come down.

If your pipes are still frozen and you can close the valves in your hotpress, drain off the tank somewhere else and isolate any burst pipes and you can get away with minimal or maybe no damage.

I had a plummer check my attic pipes and tank just incase before I refilled my system. I am since keeping the attic door open and light on with 24hr heating to ensure none of my inside pipes freeze.

Spurs101!

Thanks to you both .......

Called plumber and he said to use heating (especially as it was on numerous times last night) ...........he also agreed that cylinder would not be empty as it releases water from the top (hot water rises and will only release it as new water enters from tank in attic)

Heating is now on and operating normally with attic door slightly open - hoping for the best!!

Last question - should i leave taps slightly open also to prevent pressure build up if thaw starts ...... dont think things will thaw until 2nd half of next week to be honest.

gsxr1

Just a few tips that are working for me while my neighbors have frozen mains and tanks.


I keep the fire burning downstairs all day. As the chimney breast runs through nearly everyones attic it will keep the frost out.
And even at night when you are in bed, the concrete blocks will hold the heat long after the fire is out. This constant strong heat should keep the frost a good 12" from the outside walls as your house sinks the heat.

I have used a few spare bits of kingspan on the main pipe run to the house. Laid flat on the ground with a brick to hold it down.

I have also loosely stuffed some fiberglass inso into the stop cock hole out side. I guess a towel would also work. Just to keep it warmer than above.

worth a try .

dawnymac

Spurs101! wrote: »

Thanks to you both .......

Called plumber and he said to use heating (especially as it was on numerous times last night) ...........he also agreed that cylinder would not be empty as it releases water from the top (hot water rises and will only release it as new water enters from tank in attic)

Heating is now on and operating normally with attic door slightly open - hoping for the best!!

Last question - should i leave taps slightly open also to prevent pressure build up if thaw starts ...... dont think things will thaw until 2nd half of next week to be honest.

It might be worth calling the plumber again about this. If pipes burst inside it will be disasterous so better safe than sorry... I'm leaving my taps open after I disconnect my hose but my freeze is on an outside pipe...