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We also have a vacation home (mobile). We shut the water supply off and drain the lines, I then put a little antifreeze down all the pipes and toilets. I keep the heat low and open the doors to all the sinks to make sure the heat goes to them because it does get colder within closets, cabinets and such.
Thanks K'ledgebldr for the excellent advice, this is EXACTLY what I needed for information
I do have the vapor barrier on the floor area of the crawlspace.
I did notice some pink styrofoam wrapping around some pipes last time I was crawling around the crawlspace.
What is the Hose Bib that you refer to? Is it just the outside faucet that I hook to a garden hose? So what I hear you saying is to with the water turned off at the street -(which is done) then I crack open the outside faucet and then crack open the inside faucets?
Could you clarify on that 1 issue.
Any event - if South Carolina ever sees below zero for a few days or more - without it warming up in the day above 32 degrees (which I hope never happens!!) I will have the neighbor turn on my heat.
At deercamp in upstate NY we would have to crawl under the camp and drain ALL the pipes, and then pour the RV antifreeze down all the toilets and sinks. We would routinely get -20 degrees and doing the above maintenance would work just fine. I know we won't get that kind of extremes in SC but it is good to now what steps to take to prevent any water freezing damage.
No, our place is in WV, so we have to worry about the cold weather.
Also, I think it might be said that we do leave our lines open after draining. We have a well so we shut the pump off and drain the water out of the tank. I also shut the hot water heater off just in case. We don't close it up for the whole winter because we do go there, I find that it doesn't take much time to do this before leaving.
What is the Hose Bib that you refer to? Is it just the outside faucet that I hook to a garden hose? So what I hear you saying is to with the water turned off at the street -(which is done) then I crack open the outside faucet and then crack open the inside faucets?
Could you clarify on that 1 issue.
Any event - if South Carolina ever sees below zero for a few days or more - without it warming up in the day above 32 degrees (which I hope never happens!!) I will have the neighbor turn on my heat.
Thanks for your help,
Leggo
Yes! and Yes!
This is part of that worst-case-scenario I was taking about. What if there's an ice-storm and you lose power (for several days)? You're not going to have heat- even if you do have a neighbor.
Trying to prevent my pipes from freezing here in PA, so I need to locate the shut off valve from the outside faucets (where garden hoses would be attached). Where is this valve typically located, what does it look like, and is shutting it off pretty intuitive or is there a trick to doing it? It's a 4-bedroom house built in 1994 with a full basement (no crawl space).
I lived in SC for over a year, down around Florence. Rented a mobile, those used an electric heat trace wiring for the plumbing in many cases. It did get cold enough to worry about pipes if exposed enough freezing.
Heat trace is a type of wiring that you wrap around pipes in a spiral fashion, it has its own controls built in, usually comes on somewhere around 36 F IIRC. You just need to give it a power source. Can be used with insulation for a more complete approach. Thermostat is a lil bulb at one end, it is automatic, turns on / off as required. Provides enough heat to keep the pipe above freezing. It is rated so many watts / foot of wire.
Is a lot better than all the draining and filling, is pretty sailor proof. Not that expensive to treat a lot of feet of pipe. Usually comes with a pretty complete set of instructions, do's - don't's.
Lot of mobile parks use it a lot, those critters have the problems big time, even with them occupied and fully heated. I've installed it in basements of homes that had histories of freezing. It works good if you buy the better quality heat tracing packages. Lots of situations like yours with vacation homes or where it is desired to save on heating use it to prevent pipes freezing on the odd occurances.
Trying to prevent my pipes from freezing here in PA, so I need to locate the shut off valve from the outside faucets (where garden hoses would be attached). Where is this valve typically located, what does it look like, and is shutting it off pretty intuitive or is there a trick to doing it? It's a 4-bedroom house built in 1994 with a full basement (no crawl space).
Thanks.
You don't need a shut off for the outside faucets. There is a cover I've used for many years and you can buy it at Walmart. It's a dome shaped cover that has a plastic strip in the middle of it. On the end of that strip is a hook. You put that hook around your faucet and pull it tight, bringing the dome up over the faucet and flush to the house. Your outside hydrant is now insulated.
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Think about using a heat trace wiring......
