frigophobia ?

[Giorgiann]

I left a bottle of sparkling cider on my front porch over the weekend.    In the morning I found it had frozen and busted out the bottom of the bottle.   Interesting yellow ooze on the snow.

The sodas I had in the trunk of the car were also frozen.   I had to thaw them out in the refrigertor because they had become slushies.  That's a first - thawing out my drinks in the fridge.

LOL!!!!!! Wow.

[michael]

I'm having no luck with my hot water.  I can hear the pilot light on in the water heater - the pipes by the water heater are now warm to the touch (I have a heater warming them) - so where would the frozen pipes be?  I'm barely getting a trickle from the hot water side of the faucet - and it's icy cold - in fact I've been drinking a lot more water -- so there's one good thing!

is the cold water side of your plumbing working or is it frozen solid?

[Forest 1]

UH....WARNING.  

  I did some laundry when I finally thawed out my pipes.....Didn't expect the water outlet to be FROZEN.

Water couldn't drain and backed all over the floor and hallway.  Someone from Wisconsin said to pour rock salt down my drain...Good idea.
  But y'all might want to be on "stand by" when running your laundry just to make sure your drains are not frozen.

  

[Nolena]

One thing that can help in the garage or laundry room is to vent your drier's outlet hose into the garage. I put an old nylon or pantyhose over the end of the drier hose. It catches lint, and the garage is warmed by the drier.

[ChattyCathy]

The cold side of the faucet is running - now I'm not getting a drop out of the hot-water side.  I had a small heater outside in the metal box that contains my water heater, and last night all of the pipes were warm to the touch.  I didn't want to heat the outside all night, so I turned the little heater off.  I just now checked, and I see ice down at the bottom, so apparently somewhere I burst a pipe.  Anyone have any idea what this will cost to repair?  This is very bad news to my very tight budget.

I'm having no luck with my hot water.  I can hear the pilot light on in the water heater - the pipes by the water heater are now warm to the touch (I have a heater warming them) - so where would the frozen pipes be?  I'm barely getting a trickle from the hot water side of the faucet - and it's icy cold - in fact I've been drinking a lot more water -- so there's one good thing!

is the cold water side of your plumbing working or is it frozen solid?

[tach18k]

hello all, first post here, weekender since the 50's
just got word the house lost it's pilot light for the house heater, so I know I'm very frozen inside, water was shut off under the house, and the kitchen faucet was wide open when the last person left a few weeks ago, water heater was in vacation mode I think. any best way to thaw out the house when I go up and relight the heater??

Thanks all.

[Wrightwood]

What type of fireplace do you have to get the house up to temperature to begin with?

[tach18k]

We have the orginal full rock style, last time we used it we got smoked out, so something there is not right, the flu was replace a few years ago and never test till recently. I'm hoping by this weekend it warms up a bit so it not too bad. I may have to make a wind blind for the floor heater as it's in the garage and high winds may have caused it to blow the pilot out. It's happend before.

[Wrightwood]

You've got your work cut out for yourself.
Get your heater going first.
If I was going to tackle the job I'd bring a few portable electric heaters, a hair dryer, a few extension cords, 2 way radio and plenty of warm clothes.

If there is more than one person comming up walkie talkies would be real important to communicate with one another while checking for water leaks.

It appears that it will be warming up the next few days so it should help but still in the 20's each night.

Best of luck.

[Nolena]

I wouldn't run the fireplace 24/7 if it hasn't been cleaned/inspected recently, and it's smoking. Something seems to be clogging the chimney.
I've responded to several fires where the entire house was lost due to cracks in the chimney, often without enough clearance around the chimney.
Usually these fires were during a cold spell, with the fire going in the fireplace for several days. Eventually the structural members in the wall caught fire due to cracks or lack of clearance.

[michael]

The cold side of the faucet is running - now I'm not getting a drop out of the hot-water side.  I had a small heater outside in the metal box that contains my water heater, and last night all of the pipes were warm to the touch.  I didn't want to heat the outside all night, so I turned the little heater off.  I just now checked, and I see ice down at the bottom, so apparently somewhere I burst a pipe.  Anyone have any idea what this will cost to repair?  This is very bad news to my very tight budget.

I'm having no luck with my hot water.  I can hear the pilot light on in the water heater - the pipes by the water heater are now warm to the touch (I have a heater warming them) - so where would the frozen pipes be?  I'm barely getting a trickle from the hot water side of the faucet - and it's icy cold - in fact I've been drinking a lot more water -- so there's one good thing!

is the cold water side of your plumbing working or is it frozen solid?

It  sounds as if your thermocouple sensor is bad.  They cost about $10 and if you can do it yourself you are OK.  They sell them at the hardware store.  If the control module is bad you probably can't do that yourself and it will cost you about $140 for a plumber to do it.  


Good luck.

[ChattyCathy]

My water heater is actually leaking - so I need a new one.  None of my pipes are insulated, so I'll get that done, too.  I called Raul Ramirez, a resident of Wrightwood who is just starting to build up his plumbing business here.  He is very friendly, and he seems honest and reasonable.  He fit me in his schedule immediately, and he's going to replace it today.  I'll let you know the results - but so far I like him and I'm sure he'll do a good job.  His number is 760-317-3049.  I'll be so glad to get hot water!

[ezzpete]

I was also told that if you have old galvanized pipes, that have made it for years, and put insulation on them you could be asking for trouble.

the first thing i did when i moved here, was put insulation on the (galvanized) pipes. my cabin was built in 1967. no problems, so far.

but my water heater is under the house, and keeps it pretty warm down there.

[LonePine]

My water heater is actually leaking - so I need a new one.  None of my pipes are insulated, so I'll get that done, too.  I called Raul Ramirez, a resident of Wrightwood who is just starting to build up his plumbing business here.  He is very friendly, and he seems honest and reasonable.  He fit me in his schedule immediately, and he's going to replace it today.  I'll let you know the results - but so far I like him and I'm sure he'll do a good job.  His number is 760-317-3049.  I'll be so glad to get hot water!

Is he licensed ?

[Wrightwood]

Pete,
I tried doing some research on this and can't find anything. It's always possible that the theory had a slightly different meaning as putting insulation on frozen pipes makes the problem worse as it prolongs the frozen pipe issue. Insulation is designed to help maintain the internal temperature that it's protecting. Hot and cold both apply

[bigpines]

can you rent a kerosene heater somewhere?  we have three for emergencies.  We used to use them in the garage with the door cracked open (before we plumbed natural gas out there).  One of ours looks like a jet engine.  There other 2 are called Kerosun (sp?).  The dont smell too good but they don't smoke.  Lots of people use them back east.  I've seen kerosene gas pumps back east. We get ours at the hardware store here.  Anyway I know people who have used them in the houses while they are building.  I wouldn't use it 24/7 but it will help.

In keeping more with the topic.  We had a hot water circulator put in years ago.  Turn on the tap and its hot now.  The pump was just replaced and was $100.  They save money because you don't have the water running forever waiting for the hot water and I think it helps keep the pipes from freezing.  Our house is 1968 and no problems with frozen anything. 

[Surfer_Dude]

My neighbors water just broke, no she isn't pregnant.  She came over and told us he garage was filling with water.  We tried to shut it off at the street only to find a meter that hadn't been touched in what looked like years.  The meter was covered in dirt and I couldn't find the shut off valve.  My other neighbor went under the house and shut it off there. The water company honestly tries to say they read it.  We know better....
A new skating rink will open tomorrow in here garage.

[MazzyStar]

You know, My friend tried to check my water meter but found that we couldn't see the meter... it was covered with dirt and leaves and pine needles and we wondered how the water company could even read it.  Now I'm curious... How can they tell how much water you use if they can't read the meter?

I still have a leak and the plumbers are backed up.  Luckily it's a slow leak.

[ForestGal]

Hope the plumber can get to your house soon, MazzyStar.

Thank goodness for living in this town, and for neighbors and friends who help each other!! 

[KWBoy]

Now that you brought that up Mazzy and dude ours was under 2" of dirt this weekend... I'm wondering now how the water company reads the meter...