Water System Backup

H

hollowdweller

Joined
Sep 22, 2003
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All our water froze yesterday. We had a cold snap and it caught us by surprise so we didn't stack the hay bales against the outside of our old farmhouse where the pipes come up.:thumbdn:

Well we managed to thaw the hot water and realized a large % age of our pipes had busted.

Our house used to not have plumbing so the back of the houses sets about 6" off the ground:thumbdn:

So the wife has to go under and repair the pipes cause until I lose about 30 lbs she's the only one that will fit:eek:

So she's repairing the pipes and I am handing down fittngs I've glued from a hole above her and after working all day we got them patched.

Then we blow hot air under the house and all the water comes on, including the water line to the toilet that was busted but we didn't know it water shooting everywhere:thumbdn:

So now we have to do it again today and HOPE we got them all!

Luckily the barn and 2 freeze proof hydrants are on a separate system hooked to my old dug well so we can still have water even though we have to haul it in!

Pays to have an extra source. Also I've got another drilled well across the hollow if the barn system goes bad but I need to repair the hand pump on it :confused:
 
Man, thats a horrible story HD. Good woman you've got though.
 
We used to use the snowblower/shovel to pile the snow up around the base of the house up to about 3-4 feet. This really insulates and stops the drafts which is usually the cause of the pipes freezing in the basement of an old house.
 
sorry to hear about that HD - fixing busted pipes isn't fun. i grew up with a really ramshackle water system that would go out at least once a year and usually more often - so i know what's it's like to get all your water from the stash of gallon jugs stored for the occasion. best of luck getting your water back on without too much hassle :thumbup:
 
PREVENTION is the best solution. We lived in a farm house that had its back to the south west and with the cold strong winds our kitchen, bathroom and laundry room would freeze up. I put plastic in the crawl space, foam pipe insulation, foam insulation sheets against the back foundation, stuffed insulation above the foundation and floors and used foam in all the holes and cracks. It solved the problem for everything except the back bathroom in the very coldest and windy weather. Hay bails are also useful to keep the wind off the foundation.
 
If your house is sitting off of the ground, then install scurting around the the house and insulate it. Use 3/4 inch plywood for the scurting, and a bare minimum of 6 inches of fiberglass insulation batts on the inside and a continuous vapour barrier. This will not only keep the pipes from freezing, but the floor will be warmer too.

Been cold here too -30 this morning and they expect a low of -32 tonight.
 
Yeah like I said usually we buy 4 to 6 bales of straw and then cover them with black lawn and leaf bags and stack them against the side of the house where the plumbing is.

All the pipes under the house are insulated, but when it gets down below 10 about the only thing that works is the straw and forcing some hot air under but like I said it caught us off guard.

One time we got a big snow and that was before we had "city water" the lines snapped and it was 2 weeks before they were repaired:thumbdn:(ie no power no electric pump) Luckily the hand pump on the other well was a lifesaver but it was a lot of work to haul it 100 yards thru 2' of snow enough for us and to water the livestock:rolleyes:

I want to get a really nice smaller pitcher style pump and mount it on the old dug well which sets behind my kitchen. Then I'd not have to walk so far for emergency water.:thumbup:

Another thing that would help would be to take off all the siding and insulate the house. The only parts insulated are the rooms I've re sheetrocked. I need to remove all the siding and insulate from outside in.
 
You need to insulate over the pipe under the house. Pipe insulation is not enough. Seal the house underside from wind and insulate that.

Then insulate your walls and roof. The heat that is leaking out of your house must be astonishing.

Skam
 
Yeah glad I have a gas well on the property and get free natural gas.:thumbup:

I've often thought of drilling out a couple of 6" holes in the floor and putting little vent fans in that could pull warm air under the house on cold nights.

I kind of do that now there's a small hole in the old bathroom floor we keep covered with plywood and normally(we got caught this time) we uncover it on cold nights and lay a fan over the hole and that usually keeps them from freezing.

We didn't do it this time and were f-cked as a result. But if I replace my floor in my bathroom there will definately be a vent fan!
 
PS. Just finished up gluing the last pipe. Turning the water on. No leaks. Time to do dishes and have a hot shower:thumbup::D
 
sorry to hear about your pipes hollowdweller; I could live under your house, people say I'm full of hot air!
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That sucks HD. Similar situation happened to me last night. The hot water heater is in a small shed like enclosure outside. Where the pipes come in under the kitchen sink isn't very well insulated. So the hot water pipes were frozen this morning. I've been meaning to insulate the area and fill the air gaps with expanding foam. The landlord said to leave the cabinets open so they wouldn't freeze. He's the kind of guy who uses temporary solutions instead of fixing the problem. Basically if I bring up a problem he tells me to fix it and take it off the rent.
 
I've tried a number of things over tme but most of the various insulation things I did have been ripped out so I could repair the pipes in the are when they broke:D

The straw bales on the corner and forcing hot air under the house seem to be the ticket. I just gotta remember to do it:rolleyes:
 
Hey, just wanted to let you know that you don't have to take all your siding off to do insulation. You can just take one piece off up top and use the blown cellulose insulation. The stuff is pretty cheap and a blower rental is not bad, but you will make a big mess of yourself in the process. My brother and I did it on our house when we were in college, and it worked great. The house previously had zero insulation, and it really helped with our energy bills. The R value is about in line with what you would get with fiberglass.

You can also get foam insulation squirted in there (think Great Stuf), but it is a bit more expensive and you wouldn't be able to do it yourself. There are also some companies that are starting to use foam impregnated concrete insulation, which is a lot nicer than it sounds.
 
I used to live in a trailer and have a lot of frozen pipe time :-) How about closing in around the base of the house and installing a thermostat hooked to 2 floor mounted fans. Whan the temp under the house hits 32 degrees, one fan pushes warm air under the house and one fan pulls out the cold air. Simple and automatic in case you are away from home. Checkout Grainger part number 2E552 - about 50 bucks with shipping . Good Luck
 
veryquietdude said:
I used to live in a trailer and have a lot of frozen pipe time :-) How about closing in around the base of the house and installing a thermostat hooked to 2 floor mounted fans. Whan the temp under the house hits 32 degrees, one fan pushes warm air under the house and one fan pulls out the cold air. Simple and automatic in case you are away from home. Checkout Grainger part number 2E552 - about 50 bucks with shipping . Good Luck
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Sounds do able thinks for the detailed info:thumbup:
 
You can also run heating cable along your pipes. You run it under the pipe insulation. Then it is hooked to a thermostat which turns it on at less than 20F or so. Not the best setup if you have a lot of pipe to take care of though.
 
HD i live in Salem near Clarksburg and feel your pain . All our pipes are coper and the plummers clean up around here.
 
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