Pipes froze in my mtn. house over the cold snap. (home builder, purchase)

[samdan]

not good!

[organick]

ok.........do you need help with what to do about it ??? or just sharing the news?

[Catbirds]

Originally Posted by samdan

not good!

A temporary solution is to put a little heater near the pipes if possible. A friend of mine actually used a hairdryer. These are just a quick fix, but you need to have your pipes insulated. They sell stuff at the home builder shops for this. If you have a vacation home in the mountains, you need to pay someone you trust to winterize your home and also to check on it periodically.

[samdan]

Originally Posted by Catbirds

A temporary solution is to put a little heater near the pipes if possible. A friend of mine actually used a hairdryer. These are just a quick fix, but you need to have your pipes insulated. They sell stuff at the home builder shops for this. If you have a vacation home in the mountains, you need to pay someone you trust to winterize your home and also to check on it periodically.

I had turned the main off,I guess next time I'm up I'll turn it on and pray for no leaks.Thanks for advice

[organick]

There is also something called heat tape you can purchase if you are routinely gone for long cold spells. It wraps around the pipes in cold areas and plugs in to an outlet. Runs off a thermometer so it kicks on when the temps are cold. You may have to order it online as this region does not have huge pipe freezing issues.

[Cofga]

Don't rely on heat tape around here. Last month when we had the coldest temps we also were without juice for 3 days and without electricity a heat tape is useless. To winterize a house you need to (1) have the company turn off the water at the meter or you turn it off at the pump and let it drain out of the line, (2) drain all your lines in the house, (3) flush the toilets and fill the traps with antifreeze, (4) fill the traps in your sinks with antifreeze. If you don't like using antifreeze then use alcohol and to prevent it from evaporating add a layer of mineral oil. Hope you don't find a bunch of broken pipes and toilets when you get back--

[organick]

Originally Posted by Cofga

Don't rely on heat tape around here. Last month when we had the coldest temps we also were without juice for 3 days and without electricity a heat tape is useless. To winterize a house you need to (1) have the company turn off the water at the meter or you turn it off at the pump and let it drain out of the line, (2) drain all your lines in the house, (3) flush the toilets and fill the traps with antifreeze, (4) fill the traps in your sinks with antifreeze. If you don't like using antifreeze then use alcohol and to prevent it from evaporating add a layer of mineral oil. Hope you don't find a bunch of broken pipes and toilets when you get back--

I see your point if we lose power, if you don't thogh heat tape is by far the best option if you use the house very often. I lived in montana with negative temperatures and everyone uses heat tape. If your gonna shut the water off you don't do any good if it freezes before your shut off you still have busted pipes and water issue.


And for the love of anything living please don't use antifreeze in your pipes. It will drain either to the water system or your leach field. That stuff is toxic to every living thing.