I have a frozen pipe! God hates me and has a horrible plan for my life!

[Critters2]

That's right. I have a frozen pipe. First the bird, now this!!!

I got up this morning, did all the things I normally do in the bathroom, turning on the faucet, getting water, not really thinking about it. Then, I just turned on the cold water side to get a drink...nothing. Try again. Nothing. Go to the bathtub, turn on the cold. Nothing. Nothing!!!
Tried the hot. Got water. Went downstairs. Tried the half bath and kitchen. All working fine.
Went back upstairs. Turned on the cold. Nothing!!

I called a plumber. He says there's nothing they can do once the pipe has frozen. "Pastor, I'd just pray the pipe doesn't burst. That's about all you can do." Great. Dammit! I thought I was being careful to leave faucets dripping. But I made the mistake of turning it all the way off before going to bed.

Dammit.

[graywarrior]

1. We have a frozen bathroom pipe, too.

We are directly warm air into the area it's located and hoping it eventually thaws.

[Critters2]

5. I don't understand. Where are you directing warm air...in the bathroom,

where the pipe enters the house, somewhere else? Thanks for any help!

[graywarrior]

7. Oh, sorry.

The pipes are located in a crawl space in the cellar and the landlord was smart enough to set up two radiators down there to keep the floors warm. We just turned up the heat in the basement and set up a fan to direct the air into the crawl space.

If you can get into your basement and locate the pipes, you can hold a hair dryer on them til they thaw or find an electric heater and set it up near them.

[radfringe]

2. if you can find where the water pipes come into the house

run a hair dryer on them - it will take awhile

or use a space heater

basically that's all a plumber would do and charge you a brazillion dollars

[Critters2]

3. How would I know when it's thawed?

I knew there was something you could do with a hair dryer, but wasn't sure what. Thanks!

[radfringe]

9. turn on the cold water tap a little bit

when the pipe is thawed the water will start running...

don't use a blow torch or propane torch, could set your house on fire

a house I use to live in had a crawl space under a back room - pipe came into the cellar through the crawl space, pipes would freeze all the time. After spending one too many mornings in the crawl space with a hair dryer, I finally put in a small space heater, ran it when we were having freezing cold spells. Worked good.

[Critters2]

17. Well, I do have an unheated crawl space. I have a basement,

but then there's this area under the kitchen that's not as deep as the basement, that you have to climb to get into. There's no insulation or heating there. I'm wondering if that's where the problem is. I think I'll put a space heater there, maybe.

[redqueen]

4. I thought that said frozen pie at first...

:crazy:

Hope it thaws out soon... :hug:

[madinmaryland]

23. I think all you have to do is take it out of the freezer and stick it in the oven.

What kind of pie is it??

MMMMMMM!!!!

[Silver Swan]

6. My pipes froze a few weeks ago.

I opened the taps, the cabinet doors, and the door to the room next to the bathroom that I had closed to save heating costs. Within a few hours, the pipes thawed, without incident, thank goodness.

So for the current cold spell, I kept the aforementioned doors opened, and the water trickling, and had no freezing problem.

[Critters2]

11. The plumber said to turn off the tap that wasn't letting out water.

I've got every other tap dripping water, but the cold water in both my bathroom sink and my shower/bathtub are off. Should I turn them on?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. have you cut off the electricity to your water heater?

I came home from work last night to frozen pipes. I can't find my blow dryer :wtf:

Called work and told them about the situation. I hate to take the day off but, I don't won't to leave until I have this situation resolved. What to do? Please Advise. :D

[Critters2]

10. Should I cut off the electricity to my water heater? nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. Yes. First thing I did.

Good luck to us both. :hug:

[Blue Diadem]

15. You have working water downstairs, so no, don't shut off your water heater.

It appears your cold water supply line is frozen somewhere in the line that runs to your upstairs. Do any of the pipes run close to or through exterior walls? Otherwise it could be under the house(or in teh basement) where the supply line separates to go upstairs.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. Critters, in my Boston rental I often dealt with frozen HOT water pipes

because there was no insulation in the kitchen wall. If the cold water pipe is frozen yet you have water in the rest of the house then it should thaw on its own as the house warms up during the day. Mine did even when it only got to about 20 degrees outside. You can hurry up the process as graywarrior and radfringe suggested.

on edit: if the sink has a cabinet, definitely open the doors too. Sometimes warming the interior end of the pipes is all that is needed.

It takes time no matter which method is used and rushing it is what causes problems.

[Critters2]

16. Oh, thank God! The cold water ones are the only ones frozen, and not all of them.

The ones in the half bath and kitchen are still working. So, based on what I'm reading on the internets, that's not as bad as if I were getting no water at all. Still, it worries me.

[JVS]

24. Don't take too much comfort in that. The hot water may be working because it's drawing on the hot..

water in your water heating tank.

[Critters2]

18. We only have a predicted high of 8 above today.

I've opened the cabinet doors under the sink. Thanks!

[JitterbugPerfume]

14. I gave my handyman Joseph $95 yesterday

to fix my well pump , and Joseph gives me a break because he feels sorry for a 68 yr old woman living alone .It is hard telling what a regular plumber would charge.

This summer put heat tape on your water pipes people ! It has saved me a fortune in plumbing bills

[Deep13]

19. Nah, you're still in good shape.

God hates and has a horrible plan for these folks...



for this kid...



and for them:



So if god is okay with that, I'm sure he is not going to get too excited about a frozen pipe.

[Critters2]

20. I suppose. But, ya know, it was a bird in my house followed closely by

a frozen pipe.

But yeah, I still have food, limbs, and a house.

[Critters2]

21. Just talked to my dad. Yes, I'm 50 years old, and I still call my dad

when bad crap happens. You got a problem with that?

He assures me that things are not so terribly bad. Said that, if the hot water pipe that runs alongside the cold water pipe isn't frozen, unfreezing the cold water pipe shouldn't be hard. He told me to turn a blow dryer on the pipe in the cabinet under the sink, and that would radiate the heat down the pipe to wherever the frozen spot is.

Is my dad a plumber? No. My dad is an Agricultural Engineer, specializing in ag mechanization design. That means he knows a thing or two about how metals react to heat and cold. But more importantly, he's owned houses since before I was born.

Oh, and he's my dad.


I'm gonna go blow dry a pipe.


Do what you will with that double entendre. :)

[Blue Diadem]

22. Dad's sure do come in handy don't they?

Hope it thaws out quickly. I hate having frozen water pipes.

The phrase of the day should be "blow dry a pipe".