Is there a plumber in the house? I have a problem that makes absoutley no sense to me.?

Question

My water pipes freeze a lot. They have frozen some 3-4 times since 2007 came in.
Well anyway, I got up this morning and and checked to make sure the water wasn't froze again. And it was fine. A few min later, my husband checked ( he was unaware that I had checked)
So anyway, approx 1 hr or so later, when our daughter got up to take her shower, the water was frozen!
Is there a logical explanation or is it just our luck?!???
This was like 7 am or so this morn.
And we did manage to thaw the pipes and it didn't take that long, but I thought the coldest part of the night was over. It was already daylight!

Answer 1

If you have exposed pipes...then they should be insulated, or wrapped with heating tape...then you won't have this problem again. You should leave your water running....a little more than a steady drip...this will help to keep the water from freezing. If you continue to let your water pipes freeze, the ice inside will expand, breaking your pipes....this is just a matter of time. The deal with your pipes freezing this morning goes back to the old saying, "it's coldest before dawn". This is actually true, where right before dawn is where the temp will drop the most....because that would be the period of where through out the last 24 hours, is the least amount of heat put out by the sun, in which the outside started cooling off at sundown. Understand? I wish you the best of luck.....get those pipes covered.

Answer 2

For most northern areas at this time of year, 7AM is close to the coldest temperatures of the day and night.

But your real problem is keeping the pipe(s) from freezing. If you absolutely know where it is freezing you can wrap the pipe with heat tape. If not, pipes that are next to an exterior wall need to be kept warm. The hot + cold pipes supplying the kitchen sink are often adjacent to an outer wall. Opening the doors under the sink usually prevents freezing.

If you have no idea where the problem is, leave a small amount of water running from one or more spigots during the night.

Answer 3

My husband has been a plumber for 30 years. He has spent the last week working overtime thawing frozen pipes. He says it is not strictly temperature that affects frozen pipes but a combination of temperature and wind. He suggests you do a few things for prevention. Let your faucets trickle continuously a little bit since moving water won't freeze as quickly. If the pipes are in an area where you feel a draft, do what you can to stop the draft by either installing additional insulation or blocking the draft in some way. You can use heat tape around your pipes, but you have to use a good quality tape that is thermostatically controlled and properly installed or it can pose a fire hazard. You can get kits at most hardware stores and install it yourselves.

Answer 4

You are very fortunate that your pipes freeze and thaw without bursting. It has been an extrordinarily odd winter with the prolonged cold temps., so much for global warming.
Just grin and bear it and when the summer comes, put some insulation on all your exposed piping.

Answer 5

take your shower at night before bed so you wont have the problem in the am