Non-motoring > Thawing pipes	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Skoda	Replies: 40

New Wed 8 Dec 10 11:38   Thawing pipes - Skoda

Any pointers? My water supply appears to be on it's last legs :-( Inlet from the street seems ok just now so i'm guessing there's a frozen pipe(s) in the house somewhere, best i can tell probably somewhere in the concrete raft the house is built on. If i lose gas or electricity now i guess i need to move to a hotel. Not much fun that'll be with a cat in tow! EDIT: heating on full bung and opened the loft hatch. Last edited by: Skoda on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 11:39 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 11:41   Thawing pipes - FotheringtonTomas

Draw off water from wherever you can. If the flow is normal, well - OK. If it isn't leave a trickle of water running and check whether or not the flow rate improves after an hour or so. Last edited by: FotheringtonTomas on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 11:41 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 11:42   Thawing pipes - hobby

Same probs in my extension... Have a heater in there at the moment, the problem is that the washing machine is in there... I suppose a visit to the Laundrette is on the cards... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 11:43   Thawing pipes - FotheringtonTomas

Note, when your pipework thaws, you may get problems - the joints can be pressed apart by the expansion of the water in the pipes as they freeze. A burst from a split is possible but less likely. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 11:49   Thawing pipes - Iffy

The freeze can sometimes occur under the kitchen sink. The pipes are usually against an outside wall and it can get very cold under there. Leave the sink cupboard doors open to allow warm air from the room to circulate. An old caravaners' trick, if you have water, is to leave a tap dribbling, or on a fast drip. A river rarely freezes, but a pond often does, so the moving water is unlikely to freeze. Last edited by: Iffy on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 11:50 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:11   Thawing pipes - BobbyG

Icicles??? Skoda, it was -15.3 last night in our neck of the woods, my aunt has just called to say she has hot and cold water upstairs, cold water at the kitchen sink but no hot water there for some reason? I have told her to open the cupboard under the kitchen sink and put a fan heater onto it for a couple of hours to start with and see what develops.... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:22   Thawing pipes - Skoda

>> my aunt has just called to say she has hot and cold water upstairs, cold water at the kitchen sink but no hot water there for some reason? Yeah that's the way it started with me but quickly progressed. I've approx 1/4 normal flow available at the kitchen sink cold tap. Everything else is off. Boiler refusing to do hot water so i guess it's no supply either :-( The sun's peeking out now and it's starting to melt the icicles in direct sunlight off the roof. We're up from -11 to -9 in the past 2 hours. Looks like Thursday before mother nature will chip in here to help. First time i've genuinely cared whether the weather man was right or wrong :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:34   Thawing pipes - FotheringtonTomas

>> Boiler refusing to do hot water so i guess it's no supply either It's possible that the condensate drain has frozen, if you've got one o' they. It won't work if that's blocked. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:43   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...Boiler refusing to do hot water... Skoda, I looked at the CC3 this morning and it is as filthy as it has ever been. I know you're a man who likes a clean car, so how are you managing with yours? Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:51   Thawing pipes - Skoda

>> so how are you managing with yours? Glad that it's hiding under 8 inches of snow, it's an affront to detailers across the land right now :-) The Friday night i came home around 7pm as the freeze was setting in, i decided not to wash it, i'd do it in the morning as sub zero is just a bit nippy. It's not been physically possible since then. I'm sweating buckets over the BMW, this morning i just remembered topping up the coolant in October with half a litre of water. I've clean forgotten to revisit that since then. I hope i don't have a cracked block or something :-( Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:59   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...hope i don't have a cracked block or something :-( ... Half a litre of water in a big old bus like that shouldn't make much difference. And I would hope there is a designed-in weak point in the event of a freeze, such as a core plug. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 13:22   Thawing pipes - Skoda

>> And I would hope there is a designed-in weak point in the event of a freeze, such as a core plug. Ich habe volles vertrauen in die Deutschen The only thing i can say is i guarantee the engineered weak point costs enough to replace as make the queen blush. Last edited by: Skoda on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 13:22 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 12:27   Thawing pipes - Zero

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV99GJg0tvA&feature=related Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 13:24   Thawing pipes - Skoda

Haha cheers Zeddo, there's always one! Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:00   Thawing pipes - AnotherJohnH

If you have reduced rate through a tap, leave it running as the flowing water will be slightly warmer than the restriction and thaw it. MIL's bungalow cold supply freezes up in the ground when she's away for a few days in this sort of weather. Visited the place a week or so ago in anticipation of her returning from hospital (again), and the cold tap just dripped for a minute or two then cleared. Last January it was frozen up for several days, but none of the neighbouring properties were. As mentioned above, and below, running doesn't freeze as easily as static. Last edited by: AnotherJohnH on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 14:00 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:19   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...Haha cheers Zeddo, there's always one!... He'll not be poking fun at us if the revolting fug that hangs over the South East ever clears long enough for him to get some genuinely cold weather. :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 13:37   Thawing pipes - Dog

>>An old caravaners' trick, if you have water, is to leave a tap dribbling, or on a fast drip<< Dats an old Dog's trick as well - I've left my kitchen cold tap 'on the drip' all through this cold spell. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:08   Thawing pipes - Runfer D'Hills

Yeah we tried that in our house in Scotland. What happens when it gets really cold is you get a great big icicle and your pipes still freeze... Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 14:10 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:15   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...Yeah we tried that in our house in Scotland... I'm not keen on leaving a running tap unattended inside the house or caravan, although a fast drip will do it. I've left a tap dripping a couple of times in the caravan, but I woke up a couple of times during the night and checked it was OK. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:16   Thawing pipes - Dog

b'Jaysus! ... I'll even leave the heating on low if its awful cold - don't like the idea of that lonesome water tank up there in the loft, with 10" of insulation. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:22   Thawing pipes - Runfer D'Hills

This was when all the power was off for ten days and we were snowed in so no means of heating other than fires. The dripping water even froze in the waste pipe. I'd not do it again but of course it's your call. Our pipes froze all the way back to the junction with the mains. Had to dig a trench in the garden to get them fixed. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:26   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...Our pipes froze all the way back to the junction with the mains... I think our various little tips are great for minus a few degrees centigrade. But all sorts of odd things can happen when you get down to minus double figures. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:33   Thawing pipes - Runfer D'Hills

If it's only going to be a little bit cold your pipes won't freeze anyway if they're insulated, if it's going to be very cold the water will freeze in the wastepipe if you leave it dripping. I just wouldn't do it again. Too messy. But like I say, carry on if you want. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:37   Thawing pipes - Dog

>>Our pipes froze all the way back to the junction with the mains. Had to dig a trench in the garden to get them fixed<< It doesn't bare thinking about Humph - I'll put the idea of a Croft on the back burner, for now then. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 14:48   Thawing pipes - Runfer D'Hills

Yeah it all gets a bit primitive when you can't flush your toilet for two weeks and your only water supply is melting tin buckets of snow on your fire for which you are running out of fuel and there's no milk for the baby and no food left... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 15:29   Thawing pipes - Zero

That's carrying the Mock Tudor lifestyle a bit far Last edited by: Zero on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 15:29 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:13   Thawing pipes - Skoda

Well, every pipe and joint i could reasonably get at in my house has been gently warmed above freezing. The house is also 22 degrees C at the coldest point. Still very low flow at the kitchen cold tap and everywhere else is dead. There's a reasonably major water mains burst ~1/2 mile from me, i'm wondering if there's less water pressure in the supply and just not enough to get water up to the loft but i'm not convinced, that doesn't seem all that plausible to me. Can't think of anything else though. I await the burst joints behind plasterboard walls and in the ceiling in tomorrows big thaw. This will be the first test of my home insurance if it does go wrong, i hope it's really as all singing all dancing policy as it claims to be... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:23   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...I await the burst joints behind plasterboard walls and in the ceiling in tomorrows big thaw... Skoda, Someone needs to be in the house if you think there could be a burst. The pressure can be held by a small plug of ice which can let go at any time - it might hold for longer than you think. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:36   Thawing pipes - FotheringtonTomas

>> There's a reasonably major water mains burst ~1/2 mile from me, i'm wondering >> if there's less water pressure in the supply Gah! *Go and have a chat with the chaps fixing the mains*. They will tell you all about it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:58   Thawing pipes - Skoda

>> Go and have a chat with the chaps fixing the mains I would if there were any :-) I don't really blame them, the main street is still mostly 1/2 inch thick of ice. The pavement will have to come up too, it's easily over a foot deep in snow all the way along. If they block off any part of the road to address that (it's hard to see how else they could do it) they will shut off the village. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 18:12   Thawing pipes - FotheringtonTomas

Then use the telephone - start with "reporting a leak", and see whether they can tell you about it. If there's a flippin' great hole in the supply pipe, it could perhaps have something to do with a lack of water pressure! Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:05   Thawing pipes - Dog

>>Yeah it all gets a bit primitive when you can't flush your toilet for two weeks and your only water supply is melting tin buckets of snow on your fire for which you are running out of fuel and there's no milk for the baby and no food left<< "That's living alright", Horizontally opposed to centrally heated, double glazed, fitted carpeted, comfortably numb-ness :} Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:08   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...flush your toilet... Flush toilet? Luxury. And I bet it had a roof on. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:15   Thawing pipes - Mapmaker

>>An old caravaners' trick, if you have water, is to leave a tap dribbling, or on a fast drip. >>A river rarely freezes, but a pond often does, so the moving water is unlikely to freeze. That's fine for the input, but the drain pipe - if it goes anywhere near the out of doors - will surely freeze - and then your sink will overflow... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:28   Thawing pipes - Runfer D'Hills

>> And I bet it had a roof on. By then it did but joking aside, when we first bought that property it was more or less derelict. Bits of it indeed didn't have a roof. The first winter we spent there ( pre-kids ) was pretty tough. We'd both get home from work and start building or fixing something every night and weekend. We had a basic water supply and an electricity supply but that was about it. Very remote location, it had been a mill of some kind and there was a little stream running alongside it with evidence of a long gone water wheel. I knew nothing of restoration projects prior to that, I had barely put a shelf up before but naively gave myself two years to get it together. In the end it took eight years but I'm proud to say I did it fairly much all by myself with the help of info gleaned from library books. 1200 feet above sea level but at the foot of a valley it did see all manner of weather. The original structure dated back to 1820 but by the time we had finished with it we had a totally unique house on three levels. We sold it when someone made us an offer we simply couldn't turn down and bought this modern monstrosity we are in now from a builder's plan with no real intention of ever living in it but merely as a resting place for the cash at a time when property prices were rising rapidly every month. A form of social inertia has led to us being here for a further eight years though. Not sure I'd have the stomach to take on such a project again. It was hard if very rewarding. Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 17:33 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:48   Thawing pipes - Iffy

...And I bet it had a roof on... Outside toilets were still in use in some of the pit villages when I moved to the North East in the mid-1990s. They would have had roofs on by then, but it was quite common for the water in the bowl to freeze in winter. The toilets were 'outside' because they were originally emptied from the back lane - think Coronation Street. If you drive around some of the former pit villages in County Durham you can still see traces of how this was done. The back yard wall facing the lane had two openings cut into it, each about a foot square. One was low down - that was where the toilet was emptied, and one was higher up - that was where the coal was tipped. Looking at some of the walls today, you can still see where these openings have been bricked up. A tiny handful still have the original little wooden doors. Last edited by: Iffy on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 17:49 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:14   Thawing pipes - Skoda

>> What happens when it gets really cold is you get a great big icicle and your pipes still freeze... Haha fingers crossed i don't get that! I've nothing to complain about next to that. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:28   Thawing pipes - Dog

The best thing, I mean - c'mon ... is to do what the Swallows do ~ news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/1083? Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:49   Thawing pipes - R.P.

Well said Dog - those pictures from the shark infested waters of Egypt ad me wondering ! Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 20:13   Thawing pipes - Dog

Sharks in Tenerife too Pugley ~ www.timeshare.org.uk/jpalmer.html Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 8 Dec 10 17:39   Thawing pipes - Pat

>>Not much fun that'll be with a cat in tow!<< There you go Skoda, warming the cockles of me heart again, with that sentiment:) Pat Reply to this message | Report message