pipes ok?!

[Proverbs31]

We had a night in the -20s. Our pipe to the kitchen is by an outer wall. I opened up the kitchen faucet to a drip last night overnight.

Dh said this morning nothing was coming out of the faucet. He turned the water on more fully and the pipes made a funny noise. But water did come out. He then left it on a trickle.

If water came out when he turned it on more fully, does that mean the pipes are ok and did not freeze? I am :nails about possible water damage if they froze.

[KatieMae]

I think that means everything is okay since the water still works. You put it on a trickle so that the water isn't just stagnant in the pipe, which would lead it to freezing, expanding & then breaking open the pipe (just a PSA there, in case our warm weather mamas haven't heard of that before ;) ) The noise though :think maybe you have a partially frozen pipe? All you can do in any case is to keep a trickle going. If the water stops, then panic ;)

Hope it warms up for you soon! :cup

[Proverbs31]

thanks! ahh, coffee...

so even if it is partially frozen, as long as it's not totally frozen, the pipe should still be intact, so no worries about leakage?

[Elora]

right. and even if it was partially frozen, running water through them probably melted any ice that was there. if it's possible, and if you're not already, in addition to leaving the water drip, you may want to open up the cupboard doors under the sink and/or wrap the pipes that are exposed.

stay warm!

[Proverbs31]

thank you! :hug

[Elora]

:hug

[Mother of Sons]

Our pipes are frozen right now despite being left to drip because my husband is too stubborn to turn the heat up past 65 :mad . We've had the pipes burst at least 3 times. Just because water comes out, doesn't mean there isn't a crack or a leak, but I think you are most likely ok.

[arelyn]

Shoot out kitchen sink isn't getting cold water. The hot water heater just five feet away is getting water so we know about where the blockage is. Any advice on thawing that baby out?

[KatieMae]

Maybe some help here: http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/thawing-frozen-pipes.shtml

[Elora]

we use a hairdryer

[Niphredil]

:nails

I woke up this AM and our washer isn't getting any water flow. The cats water bowl right next to it was frozen solid.

So it is possible for pipes to freeze but not burst? Our basement stairs are pretty treacherous and I'm not about to be hauling my huge self down them to check, so I'm nervously waiting for M to get home.

I've had the space heater back there for 3 hours and it still won't start.

[Iarwain]

I use a hairdryer to thaw them too. Or rather the teenage boys that I send down to tackle those kind of jobs do. :shifty Fortunately I think we've been OK so far. Last year they froze several times. I have plastic pipes and have never had one burst or leak even when they froze solid.

Lindsay, do watch your washer carefully for leaks when you get it thawed out. I had the tub inside the washer crack on me once when water remaining in the washer froze. I am very, very careful about that now, especially with an expensive front-loader. I usually run a dryer load at bedtime to warm the room a little and then set the washer to start a couple hours later to keep the water moving through the cold part of the night.

[ReedleBeetle]

Some of our pipes are frozen right now too....we are trying to get them thawed out....

[arelyn]

We got ours thawed and they appear to be ok!! Now I have to remember not to turn off the trickling faucet on -25F days, not even for half an hour.

[Niphredil]

Ours thawed too! :woohoo Turns out it was the actual motor that was frozen, too cold to start. We ran the drier for a bit & it warmed right up... of course it took us 3 calls to various dads to figure that out. :doh :lol