water? water?

[R22]

water, who needs it? I DO!!! i did everything that i knew to do to protect my water pipes from freezing in this artic blast. welp, awoke this morning to not having water!!

somewhere, i know not where i have a frozen pipe. it will be a few days before the temperature rises enough to find the problem or at least for the pipe to thaw!!

point is you never know what you rely upon until it's gone! i have taken for granted having all the creature comforts for all my life. now a simple thing like the lack of water is driving me crazy.

on top of that, i make a great pot of chili last nite!!! ewwwwwwwwwwwww

no cleaning of the person, no coffee, no tea, no plain ole nice cool glas to drink. no water for the kittys, no laundry............

the roads are really too icy for me to attempt to go buy some water.. thankfully i am friends with my neighbors.. they are providing me with containers to carry it and water.

i have cokes, beer, whiskey, and milk........ i want water!!

[Truth Detector]

That sucks. They've advised here that you need to get your frozen pipes fixed IMMEDIATELY before they burst.

Good luck.

[DavidM]

If you've got beer all we be just fine.

[R22]

That sucks. They've advised here that you need to get your frozen pipes fixed IMMEDIATELY before they burst.

Good luck.

oh yes, that is very true truth.. but i don't have any idea where the frozen line is... and that will eventually be where the damage occurs.

waaaaaa ya know if this is the worse thing that happens to me this week, it's all good. but very inconvenient!

[Indy-hp]

You can isolate the problem to a limited area by checking each and every faucet, hot and cold. If none of them work, the freeze is between the main entry into the house and the first faucet off the system, including the hot water heater. If some work but not others, the freeze is between them, etc.

Many years ago my main entry was in a wall of my attached garage and froze somewhere between there and the first faucet. I opened up the garage wall and stuck a hairdryer in with the pipe and a few hours later, I had water again.

Good luck.

[R22]

You can isolate the problem to a limited area by checking each and every faucet, hot and cold. If none of them work, the freeze is between the main entry into the house and the first faucet off the system, including the hot water heater. If some work but not others, the freeze is between them, etc.

Many years ago my main entry was in a wall of my attached garage and froze somewhere between there and the first faucet. I opened up the garage wall and stuck a hairdryer in with the pipe and a few hours later, I had water again.

Good luck.

THANK YOU! i believe that is where mine is too. it appears that the builder put the entry line in the attached garage exterior wall. there is also an outdoor spikit in that wall, that spikit has a big icicle coming from underneath the styrofoam insulating cover (i also wrapped that spikit with insulation under the foam cover).. i cut open the sheet rock and can only find the line going out to that spikit with no T. so i am sorta ruling it out.

the plumbing looks jury rigged in the garage where the tank is located. the only other "inline" would be in the interior wall between the garage and house. it was 28 in the garage this morning, but i just can't believe that interior line would freeze; thus the quandry as to where the freeze is located...

it may indeed be the well head outside, so i pulled back the insulation from the well head and put an electric heating pad over it. then put back all the insulation around the pipes, and closed it back up. just hoping when things thaw the damage is limited and easy to get to..

fingers crossed.

thank you for your reply

[cheeseczar]

Next time you fear a frozen water line, open a couple faucets up and let them drip ever so slightly at night.

[R22]

Next time you fear a frozen water line, open a couple faucets up and let them drip ever so slightly at night.

thanks cheesehead i lived here 10 years and never had this problem. all of the waterlines to the kitchen and bathrooms are located on interior walls... that's why i was so suprised to find no water this morning..

the other thing is, it could be a pump failure. a complete coincidence with the freezing temps, the pump is 9 years old and the well has high sediment content (read sand) so it could very well have failed.. or even some kind of power problem to the pump, which i am not skilled enough to trouble shoot. i checked the breaker box and no breakers have tripped. i checked the power junction box and all looked ok..
my thought is get in line with the well/plumber folks and when things thaw have the professionals find the problem and fix it; while i begrudgingly throw dollar bills at them.. but that is what pros are for and how they make a living; if your glass is broken, you need a mirror, shower door, etc.. then call me if you can't diy. for i am a professional glazier and that's how i make a living.....

i just can't wait for those 100 degree days of wind in my face motorcycle riding and sweating my awls off working

[KevMcNJ]

Next time you fear a frozen water line, open a couple faucets up and let them drip ever so slightly at night.

That was the rule of thumb in New Jersey too. It didnt stay cold for long but that part of the country does get cold enough for pipes to freeze and burst.

doesnt need to be a gusher, just enough so the water is never completely still in the lines.

[Jim Wilke]

Next time you fear a frozen water line, open a couple faucets up and let them drip ever so slightly at night.

Needs to be more than just a drip or you'll have frozen supply lines and frozen drains.

[turnrightgoleft]

I knew a guy who made a few bucks one winter going around and thawing pipes with his portable welder, running current through the pipes or something. He wasn't the type to answer a lot of questions.

Anybody know how this works?

[comfortably numb]

Needs to be more than just a drip or you'll have frozen supply lines and frozen drains.

True dat!

[cheeseczar]

Needs to be more than just a drip or you'll have frozen supply lines and frozen drains.

Knock on wood, never had that happen.

[R22]

still waiting for the thaw........

the well head has had a heating pad on it all day.. i put a heater in the garage and it has been above 45 degrees for a few hours now.. i cut back the sheetrock to the exterior garage wall where the exterior water spikit is and have had heat blowing on that pipe all day..

still no water or signs of leak. but when i open the kitchen faucet i hear air.. hope that is a good sign that the water is slowly filling the pipes. the water tank is still empty though..

wish i still had that old outhouse

should i call "fema" just kidding.......

[window]

I hope it's not this bad:

Being on the local VFD, we get called to a residence early one morning because the security service tells the dispatcher that an alarm is going off. Arrive to find no fire but water pouring down the walls and sliding glass door into the basement. After the caretaker arrives with a key - no fire, no entry - we turn off the water and ask the caretaker a few questions. Seems as though the propane tank wasn't on the keepfill plan and the heater quit working. Well, once that was discovered, perhaps days later, a call for some propane went out, it was delivered, and said heater turned on. Later that same evening as the expanded pipes with the holes in them thawed, the flood was on. They'd just put in new carpet, too.