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

steamengine

gsxr1 wrote: »

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 .

+1 ............. This is the second post I've read where the use of insulation has solved the frozen mains problem. If necessary and in addition - apply heat to the stopcock or other exposed area of the mains pipe.

Spurs101!

dawnymac wrote: »

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...

Is the actual best option to leave heating off, mains water off, taps slightly open, head away for a few days and come back and check once or twice a day... This is an actual option!!
Just dont want to create any damage - I've dont have money to spend on something that could be avoided.

chillyhills

Hi I'm at a loss at the moment, it's my first winter in my house and despite reassurances from the plumber that all pipes were properly insulated, two seperate sections have frozen up...the hot tap to the kitchen and the hot&cold taps to the ensuite. The pipes dont run through the attic but down through th wall cavities and ground floor...if they are insulated how is the frost getting to them indoors? Any thoughts out there

suitseir

But it may be that the pipes leading from the outside are frozen and water not getting into your property?

chillyhills wrote: »

Hi I'm at a loss at the moment, it's my first winter in my house and despite reassurances from the plumber that all pipes were properly insulated, two seperate sections have frozen up...the hot tap to the kitchen and the hot&cold taps to the ensuite. The pipes dont run through the attic but down through th wall cavities and ground floor...if they are insulated how is the frost getting to them indoors? Any thoughts out there

meercat

sounds like no water getting into water tank .have you checked your attic tank.is it empty or full.seems that you have mains water to kitchen sink so problem may be from there to attic tank

suitseir

According to weather forecast, tonight is the last night of a real HARD frost so I would gather from that that there will be some thawing tomorrow. Spoke to the guy who built my house a few years ago and he says thaw will start tomorrow even though we will have snow. And snow is an insulator!!!

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.

meercat

suitseir wrote: »

According to weather forecast, tonight is the last night of a real HARD frost so I would gather from that that there will be some thawing tomorrow. Spoke to the guy who built my house a few years ago and he says thaw will start tomorrow even though we will have snow. And snow is an insulator!!!

even if there is no severe frost its unlikely that a thaw will begin for at least 4 days after temperatures rise above zero and ground temperatures will take longer.try using heaters where possible

suitseir

True.

Have fire going all day....and stove in the kitchen which heats the immediate area 24/7...really warm. And then central heating coming on a few times a day right up to midnight.

What more can we do....

meercat wrote: »

even if there is no severe frost its unlikely that a thaw will begin for at least 4 days after temperatures rise above zero and ground temperatures will take longer.try using heaters where possible

meercat

Sorry not much more .your builder is right snow will insulate but if your pipes are frozen then they will stay frozen.they arent burried sufficiently .he is only covering his arse.there are regulations for depth 2ft i think.

dawnymac

Spurs101! wrote: »

Is the actual best option to leave heating off, mains water off, taps slightly open, head away for a few days and come back and check once or twice a day... This is an actual option!!
Just dont want to create any damage - I've dont have money to spend on something that could be avoided.

I would say under no circumstances turn the heating off. You can turn the mains off, this won't affect the heating as far as I know, though I'm not a plumber. I have Firebird indoor boiler too and it has it's own tank in the attic, doesn't require mains and only uses miniscule amount of water.
Turning the mains off will stop flooding if pipe bursts outside but if you have a pipe inside in the attic for example, turning the mains off won't help.
Check if you have a valve or valves coming out of your tank and turn them off too.

Probably better if you can stay in the house because at least then you can act immediately if any leaks happen.

kdouglas

Just wanted to say Thanks to all who offered advice on this thread. Got my mains water running yesterday by heating pipes with hot air gun and pouring hot water on the mains supply outside.
Leaving kitchen tap running to help prevent mains freezing again and have the heating on timed for 10 mins once every hour or so during the night to help prevent further freezing.

dawnymac

kdouglas wrote: »

Just wanted to say Thanks to all who offered advice on this thread. Got my mains water running yesterday by heating pipes with hot air gun and pouring hot water on the mains supply outside.
Leaving kitchen tap running to help prevent mains freezing again and have the heating on timed for 10 mins once every hour or so during the night to help prevent further freezing.[/quot


Hi there, can I ask how long your mains was out? I tried the hot air gun/water with no luck. This is day 8 of it being out so I gave up trying as I figured the ice will have travelled my now.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who responded on here. I live alone and didn't have a clue as to what to do but thanks to this thread I have water again (via the neighbours) and it's starting to feel less like a scene from The Day After Tomorrow. Thanks all!

suitseir

Actually, I was there when the builder put down the water pipes and they went down further than 2`. In a lot of cases where I live, it is the County Council who did not lay mains water pipe low enough!

meercat wrote: »

Sorry not much more .your builder is right snow will insulate but if your pipes are frozen then they will stay frozen.they arent burried sufficiently .he is only covering his arse.there are regulations for depth 2ft i think.

ned rierson

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 copied your plan and its working fine. thanks so much for this. a life saver

luap_42

In West Clare, we have barely gone to -2 degrees, although we had a lot of snow this Sunday. I'm in a new estate of about 20 houses with 7 permanent residents, all are fine except my water mains. No kitchen, utility, garden taps working or dishwasher/washing machine which are spurs of kitchen/utility, and no attic water tank refilling.

When it first froze I put boiling water down the stopcock hole on public footpath and also down the outside back wall where garden tap is and kitchen mains comes in. I thought this had worked, but now realise it was more likely to be the sun heating up the ground instead, as the first time it I did it, it took a few hours to restart, and the second time it took a day and a half, third time it didn't restart, which was last Tuesday. So I've been on 5 litre drinking water containers and buckets for toilet flushing since then.

Now builder has come and inspected mine and all neighbours and agrees that there is a problem with mine specifically. Says they will dig up front garden to check and then back footpath and possibly kitchen wall as last resort.

I'm of the opinion that it is the kitchen wall, as there was a hole going out through floor when I moved in with a gale coming through it. I filled it with expanding foam, as I was having kitchen installed the next day, but now realise that the other end of that wind tunnel, which contained my water mains coming in is probably at wind chill temperature -1 to -2 and has frozen the water mains. The hole must've been deep as an entire large can of expanding foam dissappeared into it.

Now my dilemma is: how will I know they have identified the problem and fixed it?

They cannot dig anything until the ground thaws and softens or they will break pipes, but by that time the pipes will probably thaw, so I won't know whether they have got the problem or not.

I am also wondering what to look for when they do dig it up, what kind of pipes should be coming in from the public mains to my house, what colour, material, size, depth? What should they be insulated with?

Tempted to get my own plumber to come at the same time to oversee what they are doing, I think it would be money well spent to check that what they are doing/saying is correct or not.

Any advice?