Post here if your boiler has failed or your pipes have frozen!

BostonB

Sponge Bob wrote: »

It must enter the house no higher than 450mm below ground level, if it does then Homebond must remedy. Generally if they cock up outside they cock that up too.

Where are you getting that from?

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote: »

the standard is 450mm down, if any less then contact Homebond and the county council planning enforcement section who can call in a developer bond to do the job properly if need be.

I put the pipe about 600mm down, the only section less than that is the bit put in by the council at about 300mm down. Even that is OK in all but Siberian conditions, which this cold snap isn't.

There are plenty of water pipes out there that are almost visible they are so shallow! :mad:

SIL's pipe was less than one shovel's depth for most of the run and exposed on the surface for a couple of metres.

Graces7

Still wondering how a 4 year old house has exposed piping..:rolleyes:

Water came back into the loft y'day and all seems fine; kitchen tap is off again so all I have is the tank once more; but a lot stored also....

Oliverdog wrote: »

Same here - temperature is now 42F but no sign of a drip of water yet. It all depends on the temperature of the ground, this can take a long time to thaw even if the air temperature is quite high. I've heard ground here is frozen to over 300mm (12") - not that it affects our frozen supply, which is still solid though not buried at all !
It must be impossible with three little ones - there are only us two but it's still very difficult. Hope you'll be clear soon.

mud

mud wrote: »

Just found this thread

I've been without water (and therefore central heating) for a week now

Been holed up in my bedroom with a superser for most of that week

Tried filling the cistern with a bucket of water but alas the cistern is full . . . of ice.

The sun shone all day today but no thaw for me.

Ice is gone and water is back

I am a very, very happy camper.

Best of luck to everyone

RedB

Water came back to our house yesterday morning in Limerick city after 6 days without but I think some neighbours were still without it yesterday afternoon. Thankfully no problems with air locks or burst pipes - just a thaw.

ellieh1

Am still crossing my fingers and toes that my water comes back asap. Mains have been frozen since thursday evening and am in Limerick city.

davehey79

davehey79 wrote: »

Had no water Christmas eve night, Christmas day, St. Stephens day and half of the day after that. All was grand for a few days then lost it again this day week ago or possibly last Thursday evening can't remember which now. Also had a burst pipe in the shed where the washer and dryer are plumbed in but was only a plastic fitting so easily repaired. have an outside tap and water filtration system tank that has pipes plumbed down into the mains so reckon the frozen pipes are down there somewhere. Have been getting ballygowan watercooler drums filled and emptied into the tank in the attic so can have the heat on and fire lit as there is a back boiler and our jheating is through the tank too so no water in tank no heat!! Toilet is a bucket of water to flush job. Getting a heat lamp / cow shed lamp dont know the technical name on it and gonna leave it at the base of the pipes facing them see does it thaw them out at all. Not a nice thing to happen at all at all. In Longford by the way.

water still gone in my house here in Longford day 12 now and counting

ellieh1

Wohooo I got my water back, am so so excited!!

Sierra Oscar

Some of the consequences of burst pipes . . .

peanuthead

Water went off last night, as CoCouncil said it would.

Returned at 7am this morning like they said it would too.

However, the toilet and taps in the upstairs bathroom are not working again. The toilet and taps downstairs are all fine, and the ensuite upstairs is also fine. Shower in the main bathroom is fine too (electric) but there is nothing coming from toilet or taps in sink, and very very little amount of water coming from taps in bath.

Anyone any ideas? Would it be an airlock?

mossie110

peanuthead wrote: »

Water went off last night, as CoCouncil said it would.

Returned at 7am this morning like they said it would too.

However, the toilet and taps in the upstairs bathroom are not working again. The toilet and taps downstairs are all fine, and the ensuite upstairs is also fine. Shower in the main bathroom is fine too (electric) but there is nothing coming from toilet or taps in sink, and very very little amount of water coming from taps in bath.

Anyone any ideas? Would it be an airlock?

do you have water in the hot taps upstairs ??

peanuthead

mossie110 wrote: »

do you have water in the hot taps upstairs ??

no. And the hot tap downstairs has very little water in it too.

CrazyRabbit

peanuthead wrote: »

Water went off last night, as CoCouncil said it would.

Returned at 7am this morning like they said it would too.

However, the toilet and taps in the upstairs bathroom are not working again. The toilet and taps downstairs are all fine, and the ensuite upstairs is also fine. Shower in the main bathroom is fine too (electric) but there is nothing coming from toilet or taps in sink, and very very little amount of water coming from taps in bath.

Anyone any ideas? Would it be an airlock?

Low water pressure perhaps? Not enough pressure to push the water up to the tank in the attic. Either that, an airlock or some frozen pipes inside the house.

To fix the airlock issue, if you have a joined tap in the kitchen, block the tap with your hand and turn both hot & cold taps on. The water from the cold mains should be forced back up the hot water pipes and be enough to clear the airlock. See my post above for frozen pipes.

peanuthead

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Low water pressure perhaps? Not enough pressure to push the water up to the tank in the attic. Either that, an airlock or some frozen pipes inside the house.

To fix the airlock issue, if you have a joined tap in the kitchen, block the tap with your hand and turn both hot & cold taps on. The water from the cold mains should be forced back up the hot water pipes and be enough to clear the airlock. See my post above for frozen pipes.

Yeah thats what my boyfriend said, and that should work downstairs alright, but what about upstairs? Any Ideas? It's probably off again now anyway but ideas for tomorrow?

Millie

My water came back today thankfully however the tank in the attic isn't refilling itself and the what I think is the pressure gauge is at 0.
Should I call a plumber or should it work itself out??

Millie

Millie wrote: »

My water came back today thankfully however the tank in the attic isn't refilling itself and the what I think is the pressure gauge is at 0.
Should I call a plumber or should it work itself out??

Wait a while for the water pressure to "normalise", it's probably too low at the moment to get water up to the attic but OK for the kitchen sink.

btw where is the gauge?

Lynfo

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

To fix the airlock issue, if you have a joined tap in the kitchen, block the tap with your hand and turn both hot & cold taps on. The water from the cold mains should be forced back up the hot water pipes and be enough to clear the airlock. See my post above for frozen pipes.

How would one know if there was an airlock in the pipes? I mean, there's no way (for me) to know if the pipe has actually defrosted and now there's an airlock in it.

If I were to try the above, and the pipes are still frozen, would it cause damage or is it safe enough?

Lynfo

Lynfo wrote: »

How would one know if there was an airlock in the pipes? I mean, there's no way (for me) to know if the pipe has actually defrosted and now there's an airlock in it.

If I were to try the above, and the pipes are still frozen, would it cause damage or is it safe enough?

Safe enough, just don't do it for too long in case you caused a tank to overflow, if it's an airlock it'll clear within seconds.

Lynfo

Ok, thanks dolanb, I'll try that this evening.

WolfeIRE

Still awful probs here in Clare. water being shut off for hours at a time in many parts in order to conserve water supplies. Ennis and Shannon have been without water for days.

Looks like clare isn;t the only place suffering:pac:

km79

water back after 3 weeks:D everything seems fine so far . one quick question the toilet cisterns are refilling as normal after flushing but water level in bowl itself remaining quite low???

Oliverdog

Watch out for blockage - if lots of 'solids' have gone down with not much water in the last few days/weeks, chances are that it's not had enough to get it away to mains. Try flushing a few times, but if it starts to back up, stop and call a plumber.

BigAl81

Good tip on the blockages. Our washing machine just packed in, red light with Pump Blocked came on. The good news just keeps coming!!

Redsunset

My washing machine packed up too but i poured hot water into the drum and it heated up the inside electronics and now its fine again.new machine so might help someone here.

nchamoh

I have the problem and i have been advised to try and heat up the wall which i have been doing for the past 24 hours with no happiness

arctictree wrote: »

OK, so who else is suffering out there?

Our boiler seized up last night and wont start now. The plumber says we will have to wait for the 'thaw', whenever that will be. Lucky we have a wood stove so at least some heat.

Just wondering if this is getting widespread with the current temps. Down to -7c here now. I'd say our water pump will be next thing to fail...

Sierra Oscar

People should try leaving their central heating on continuously at a low setting to prevent internal plumbing becoming frozen.

nchamoh

Thanks Oscar, we learn every day from mistakes we make

Sierra Oscar

Hey nchamoh, do you know if your water tanks in your attic are frozen over? Or did the plumber reckon the water in the actual pipes are frozen too?

If you suspect that the pipes in tha attic are freezing, you should open the trap door to allow some of the heat to rise and thaw/prevent freezing.

Only downside is it chills the house.

nchamoh

Never thought of the attic i will go up and have a look