My OperaFrozen Pipes
Sunday, January 3, 2010 4:05:00 PM
We've had frozen and then busted pipes over the years. But we haven't had any since the first two, one in front and one in back.
The one in front was due to a long cold spell, one of those where the Potomac freezes. It was in the main incoming pipe, which was right to next to the front brick wall on the first floor. It was (and still is) enclosed in a drywall housing, about a foot and a half on two sides, the other two being the outer wall and the adjoining wall with the neighboring townhouse. After it blew, and got repaired, we started keeping a droplight in the housing. 60 watt bulb, on all the time in winter. Haven't had a there problem since.
The one in back was the back faucet line, which is half-inch copper. It blew. After that, we put a cutoff valve farther into the house which we turn off each winter after clearing the line..
I'm guessing that a lot of the newly renovated houses around here have the lines running next to (within half a foot) an outer brick wall, but shielded from the inside for cosmetic purposes, i.e., one may want to sell the house someday.
I guess one is supposed to keep a little water running during times like these, but that may not be sufficient. If you have any doubts, talk with a neighbor who's been here a while in a relatively newly renovated house. Might not be a problem, or it might be an easy fix, or it may be a serious (call a pro) concern. We learned the hard way.
One last thing: Know where your main shutoff valve is, both inside the house and outside. Pull up that cover outside and make sure you can see how to shut off that water in an emergency. It may not be pretty, but closing the outside shutoff with channel locks is better that flooding the house even worse.
The one in front was due to a long cold spell, one of those where the Potomac freezes. It was in the main incoming pipe, which was right to next to the front brick wall on the first floor. It was (and still is) enclosed in a drywall housing, about a foot and a half on two sides, the other two being the outer wall and the adjoining wall with the neighboring townhouse. After it blew, and got repaired, we started keeping a droplight in the housing. 60 watt bulb, on all the time in winter. Haven't had a there problem since.
The one in back was the back faucet line, which is half-inch copper. It blew. After that, we put a cutoff valve farther into the house which we turn off each winter after clearing the line..
I'm guessing that a lot of the newly renovated houses around here have the lines running next to (within half a foot) an outer brick wall, but shielded from the inside for cosmetic purposes, i.e., one may want to sell the house someday.
I guess one is supposed to keep a little water running during times like these, but that may not be sufficient. If you have any doubts, talk with a neighbor who's been here a while in a relatively newly renovated house. Might not be a problem, or it might be an easy fix, or it may be a serious (call a pro) concern. We learned the hard way.
One last thing: Know where your main shutoff valve is, both inside the house and outside. Pull up that cover outside and make sure you can see how to shut off that water in an emergency. It may not be pretty, but closing the outside shutoff with channel locks is better that flooding the house even worse.
