Please help me not to panic

[newlifemom]

It is really cold here. 18 degrees I think. Anyway, I went to the bathroom this morning and well, things did not sound right when I flushed. I went to wash my hands. I had a trickle of water.

 

Now, I do have the carppiest water company known to man, but did not hear anything about the water being off today, and there is a trickle. Are my pipes frozen? I am about to hyperventilate. What do I do? My carppy little company must be out of the office for the holidays. Dh has paged them, but yeah that yield results, sure. :glare:

 

Are my pipes going to burst? We had the heat on last night. It wasn't below 65 inside. Gah! I wanna go back to renting. :tongue_smilie:

[OnTheBrink]

I doubt your pipes are frozen. Don't they only freeze if they sit with no water being run for a long time? I wonder if there's a leak somewhere in the plumbing and maybe that's why the company isn't answering--they're dealing with a main break or something.

 

I wouldn't panic yet, especially if you are using your plumbing normally.

[happi duck]

Your police or fire non-emergency number should know if the water has been turned off or if a mainline burst in your area.

 

We once lived in a house with pipes that would freeze. These were pipes that were inside but ran along an outside wall and along the concrete slab (no basement). When it got super cold we needed to use a pipe heater or keep the water trickling.

 

Since you at least have a trickle of water it is probably not a frozen pipe. If every single tap is affected it's probably the water service, I've never heard of every pipe freezing in a lived in house. Also, our freezing issues only happened at far below zero.

 

If it does end up being a frozen pipe you can usually get things moving again by using a hair dryer on the pipe itself. Getting just a little bit melted will let the water flow.

 

Hang in there!

[hillfarm]

Check with your neighbors, are they having trouble with their water also? If several are, then the problem could be with a main water line, not just your pipes. If that's the case, call it in to your utility company.

 

Go look in your yard, along where you think the water line is located. Any suspicious ice or even water or steam welling up out of the ground? That would indicate an outside frozen/broken pipe.

 

Do all the faucets in your house have the same problem? It could be a smaller water line serving only part of your home. We once had this happen. The line froze to our half bath. We put a space heater in that bathroom and kept blowing hot air from the hairdryer on areas of exposed pipe and the wall covering the pipes. In about 20 minutes, it thawed.

 

In general, watch your hot water heater. If it is not getting refilled, sometimes the elements can burn out. So make sure water is still flowing to it if you are using hot water elsewhere in your home. Also, as your temps rise, keep an eye on all the water lines in your house and outside. If any were damaged by ice, they may begin to leak as the ice melts and the water starts to flow inside the pipe again. You don't want the water damage inside or the expense of a big water bill for water wasted outside.

 

We live in an old farm house and know that the 2000' service line is not below the freeze line in all areas. So we always leave the water trickling when temps get below a certain point (20 degrees). Yes, it does waste some water, but we recapture as much as we can to use in our humidifier and also to water the animals. However, the extra $5 or so a month from the trickle sure beats the cost of repairing frozen pipes and water damage. HTH

[MotherGoose]

They might be on their way to freezing, depending on what sort of foundation you have. I am NO expert. But I'd get the water running in the house and I'd close all the crawlspace vents and doors. If you can localize the pipes under the house that lead to the place you think the pipes are freezing, then point a heat lamp at them--being careful not to melt the pipes or something. I only know this because it happened to us when we lived in Charleston, SC, and we had an open "beach house" type foundation. The temp got into the twenties for a few days and the pipes started to freeze because there was NO insulation. At my house here, we have a crawlspace foundataion and dh closes the vents when it gets cold and we have no problems no matter how cold it gets here (which isn't lower than 10).

[hillfarm]

If you do detect a pipe freezing situation, you can go to the hardware store and buy a product called a heat tape to wrap around the pipe. Basically it is a long spiral strip that acts like a heating pad for pipes. It doesn't make the water inside warm to the touch, but does raise the temp enough to keep it from freezing. You will need access to an electric outlet to power the tape, so you might also need one of those heavy duty indoor/outdoor extension cords.

[Mejane]

They might be on their way to freezing, depending on what sort of foundation you have. I am NO expert. But I'd get the water running in the house and I'd close all the crawlspace vents and doors. If you can localize the pipes under the house that lead to the place you think the pipes are freezing, then point a heat lamp at them--being careful not to melt the pipes or something. I only know this because it happened to us when we lived in Charleston, SC, and we had an open "beach house" type foundation. The temp got into the twenties for a few days and the pipes started to freeze because there was NO insulation. At my house here, we have a crawlspace foundataion and dh closes the vents when it gets cold and we have no problems no matter how cold it gets here (which isn't lower than 10).

 

My husband agrees. Also, Home Depot has heat-trace cables that plug in and wrap around the pipe to keep it warm. Keep the water dripping until then so the pipes don't freeze further.

[Unicorn.]

Sounds like busted pipes. Same thing happened to my sister last year, and it wasn't that cold (mid-upper 20's) Check your garage, and anywhere you think you might have exposed pipes. Checking w/ neighbors is a good idea too, but it sounds like you have a busted pipe. Make sure your hot water heater has water, if not, you may need to turn off the electric or gas to it.

[newlifemom]

We have water now. Not sure what the problem was, but dh talked to company, and it works. All I can say is, home ownership is reallllllllllllllly stressful. Thanks for the advice. He spoke about ways to protect them as well, so I am sure a trip to Home Depot is on the agenda for today. :glare:

[Plucky]

Yes, it can be. Don't forget that you have homeowner's insurance and if anything is damaged by frozen pipes it would be covered minus the deductible. We had huge water damage from frozen pipes in our last house and of course dh was traveling. Our insurance handled it really well.