Frozen pipes?

[ShelleyCowie]

Ok so apart from the obvious (heat em up) what can i do? :confused Never happened before and i dont know what pipes to do anythin with!

do i need someone out? Or is it somethin i can do myself?

Any help much appreciated!

[brandy]

dont know hun what to tell you! back home we more or less just insulated them. but dont know if its any dif. over here?

[ShelleyCowie]

Its v.old pipes on this house i think! And a few mates of mine are saying their pipes are frozen today too.

Think i will get hubby to go out with warm water when he gets up :lol: Too cold for me!

Cant believe how cold it is!!! When i was up at bout 8am heard the boats fog horns goin quite alot! :eek:

[sunshine23]

Hi,

This may help.

http://www.ehow.com/how_117491_defrost-pipes.html

[NLP]

Had the same here today. OH cleared away snow from around the pipe and poured hot water over it, he then ran the tap for a bit. Hope that helps you.

[mums angels]

Its v.old pipes on this house i think! And a few mates of mine are saying their pipes are frozen today too.

Think i will get hubby to go out with warm water when he gets up :lol: Too cold for me!

Cant believe how cold it is!!! When i was up at bout 8am heard the boats fog horns goin quite alot! :eek:


LOL should try living down my end stupid things were blasting every 2 seconds and after no sleep i wasnt best pleased as woke the little one up but suppose cant blame them it was bad out there this morn

As for frozen pipes not sure if it helps but i keep my heating on at all times on low

[Temptations]

What if the pipes are under ground?

[ShelleyCowie]

I phoned pentland and its nearly the whole estate that is having the same problem as me! We cant even do anythin about it because of where the pipes are! :~(

Shud o seen me dippin ma hands in the scolding hot water to get the bairns bottles washed! :lol:

[Ricco]

I would turn one tap on a bit to let off a bit of pressure once it thaws. Then raise the temp of the house a bit at a time, watching out for any leaks.If the pipes are underground I would think they should be OK - the soil couldn't have frozen that far down, surely.

[ShelleyCowie]

I would turn one tap on a bit to let off a bit of pressure once it thaws. Then raise the temp of the house a bit at a time, watching out for any leaks.If the pipes are underground I would think they should be OK - the soil couldn't have frozen that far down, surely.

Yeah im leaving one on.

Here is the question tho. Can i use my washing machine? Its connected to the cold water....the cold water upstairs is fine but downstairs i have nothing!

Dont want to do washing incase i break it! lol! Not desperate.....just want to know! :confused

[Brodar]

I had frozen pipes yesterday and had to go out with kettles of boiling water to thaw it out. Prior to me knowing the pipes were frozen i had put the washing machine on and the water from the machine came up the plug hole in the bath!!! (our bathroom is downstairs)

[bekisman]

It can be an idea to leave a trickle of water flowing through your tap during very cold weather. If the water continues to flow, even in a trickle, it won't have the opportunity to freeze.
Water expands when frozen, Metal contracts when frozen, something's got to give.

We recently had an outside pipe (feeds a tap) - 15 mm - burst, although it was protected by polyethylene foam pipe insulation, and not the thin stuff, but the real big bulky one - only knew it was burst by the sound..

Turned off the mains, and peeled off the insulation.. yep, a bulging split of about half an inch.. simple job, cut that section out with a pipe cutter, and replace with another section of copper pipe.

I put the 15 mm compression onto the new pipe and attempted to put the 'old' pipe into the fitting; would not go, OK use of emery paper and wire wool will do the trick, nope, still way out.
Then realized I'd put this pipe in some 20 years ago - it was the 'old' Imperial size 1/2" ID (Inside dia) trying to mate with the new 15 mm OD (Outside diameter) so no chance of fitting.

So cut off a length of our strong weave garden hose and after letting it soften in a mug of boiling water, forced it over both ends of the pipe, fixed some pipe clips, water back on, and it's working fine.. just ensured put extra insulation around.. and some day soon I'll get into William Wilson and get a proper connection.

[changilass]

I got frozen pipe too, water upstairs but none downstairs, trying to heat the kitchen up to see if that makes a difference.

Scottish water said to turn the mains valve off as it would help to build up pressure.

Not haivng a good day.

[Dadie]

Shelly if your washing machine is downstairs where you have no water..I would at a guess say it wont work!
And I wouldnt bother trying it until you get the frozen blockage sorted!

[ShelleyCowie]

Iv tried heating up the kitchen BUT the only way to heat my kitchen is too......turn on the tumble dryer! [disgust] Cant afford that all day and night!

I have hot water downstairs, my washing machine is connected to that (i think) :confused

My house is so unbelieveably cold! Alot of people dont believe how cold it is til they are here for more than 5 minutes and realise its probably warmer outside! :~(

[changilass]

We have had a 2 bar halogen heater on in hte kitchen for over 2 hrs and it aint making any difference to the pipes.

The kitchen is toastie worm though lol (the lol is there cos if it wasnae I would cry)