Pipes keep freezing up, Help!

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

We underpinned our house this summer with river rock hoping it would take care of the problem, and also replaced pvc with quest pipe, just in case it did freeze. It is still freezing up. You aren't supposed to use heat tape on the quest. It didn't work with pvc anyway.

It got down to 10 degrees last night. It's usually in the teens, although it will get in the single digits at times. We are fairly new to the area. To people who are in colder climates, what do you do to keep your pipes from freezing?

-- Lena(NC) (breezex4@go.com), November 21, 2000

Answers

Lena, this time of year, not much. What I would do at this point is keep one or more faucets trickling at night (and hope your sewer line doesn't freeze up), open all cupboards and access panels leading to pipes to keep heat from the house on the pipes. More complicated would be to get back under the house and box in all water and sewer pipes with insulation. Next summer you might want to consider digging up your lines and burying them deeper. That will help keep the water a bit warmer a bit longer. You also might want to install insulation around the outside of the house, possibly behind the river rock to retain as much heat as you can. I don't know exactly what you have, but it might work to heat the underhouse area for a while at night. But that could be tricky and lead to burning down your house.

Whatever you do, pay as much attention to the sewer pipes as you do the water pipes. Sewer pipes that freeze are an especial joy of living in the North Country. Gerbil (new address)

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@shymail.com), November 21, 2000.


I vented our dryer exhaust under the house and have used a cold frame against the southern crawl space to passive heat underneath to keep pipes from freezing.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 21, 2000.

Our first few winters here we struggled with this. We have a 140yr home with cut granite block foundation, when running an oil central heating furnace the basement was warm enough to prevent pipes from freezing. Anyway we wanted to use the basement as a root cellar and heat on the main level with wood. To make this shorter, we discovered that the cold was not bothering our pipes as much as a draft would. We hung old blankets by the door and other areas where a draft was coming in. Works pretty decently but we still leave the taps dripping a bit if it is going to be really cold. Terri, Nova Scota, Canada

-- Terri (Terri@tallships.ca), November 21, 2000.

Hi, Lena. Where in NC are you? We live in the Sandhills and don't have problems with our pipes but we do leave the water dripping ever so slightly on the coldest of nights. We have wrapped the ones that are exposed with the pipe insulators( it's grey foam, a tube shape with a slit down one side) from Lowes. But You can use old towels, blankets or fabric. It's true that drafts are more of a problem than the cold! Good luck! Debbie

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), November 21, 2000.

We put plastic around the base of the house and also baled hay. I wasn't too keen on the hay because first of all it's a fire hazard, secondly it was in short supply and we needed it for feed.

If you get enough snow, just bank that around the base, until it gets deep enough to cover the whole foundation. Another, and nastier problem, is having your drain pipes freeze. I'd pour hot salt water down them or antifreeze (awfully expensive), but not as costly as replacing ruined pipes. I think venting the clothes drier under the house is a really good idea, if you have a dryer. I think I'd put an old nylon stocking on the end of the vent hose to catch lint so long as you don't forget to clean it ever so often.

One of my neighbors, his first winter up here, and understand that he and his family were dead broke, piled horse manure around his home. It didn't smell because of the cold, and the snow eventually covered it - it stayed pretty warm even under the snow. Of course, living in a tent, he didn't have running water, just lots of sub-zero Maine winter.

-- Anne Tower (bbill@wtvl.net), November 21, 2000.



I don't know if it will help your situation but I had a house that had a heat lamp set up on a thermostat to come on at a certain temp. It worked just fine in Indiana, even one winter in the 70s when wind chill was -30F. Also I noticed a lot of people from NC. Anyone know of good areas to purchase land or an old homestead in the mountains? A fixer upper would be fine and if possible near or next to National forrest. Also good neighbors is a must. We currently have neighbors from Hell. We liked the area around Murphy but are open to suggestions.

-- Nick (wildheart@ekyol.com), November 22, 2000.

Thanks everyone. We have a big draft that we're going to fix, and try the pipe insulation and heat lamp. It is great to have a place to come to when we need help. Debbie, I live north of Ashville. We've been here three years and love it.Where are the sandhills? Nick, we found our place in one of those free real estate magazines.

-- Lena(NC) (breezex4@go.com), November 22, 2000.

i live in western montana....what i've done for our doublewide is to run heattape along the pipe with fiberglass insulation over, taped to hold along the length of the pipe exposed above ground. also i ran 2" hard foam insulation around the base of the home covered by metal skirting. we've had some single digit temps at nite and the water still runs. --rusty(mt)

-- rusty van overbeck (rusell@gateway.net), November 22, 2000.

I showed this question to my husband who is a plumber. First thing he said is "Quest pipe?? Oh God!! That stuff freezes all the time." Recommends insulating the pipes. Good luck. Amber

-- Amber (mikeandamberq@hotmail.com), November 22, 2000.

OK, what is quest pipe?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 23, 2000.


Ken, "Quest" is a propietary type of gray polybutadiene pipe that requires special compression type fitting. Quest is most commonly found in trailers because of its flexibility, heat tolerance, and vibratory tolerance. I would not take a truckload of it as a gift.

Lena, the only solution I know is simple and almost a religious concept: run all your water pipes along the ceiling on the conditioned side of the house; i.e. where they show--above your head. I used to live in a tin roofed shotgun shack in the buggerwoods and I ran my pipes that way and never had a problem with freezing again even when the Alberta Clipper came through and blew 40mph at 15 below zero for three days straight. It may look a little different but you will freeze before your pipes do if you run them along the ceiling.

-- Rags (RaggedReb@aol.com), November 23, 2000.


I just wanted to add something about the idea to run your dryer vent uner the house -- I don't advise it. There's too much moisture in the dryer exhaust, and it will eventually cause rot in the subfloor and possibly even the framing. My dad ran the dryer vent under a mobile home he had, in Alaska, where it is *very* cold and very dry in the winter, and eventually a section of the floor right by the dryer had to be replaced.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 23, 2000.

Hi Lena, Depending on your situation you might be able to get away with just a light bulb, such as a trouble light, under your freezing pipes. A bulb will put out quite a bit of heat especially if you can get the drafts stopped. Good luck.

-- Peg (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), November 27, 2000.

We have used the light bulb before and it has worked for us.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ