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Yes, it's cold today; 12 degrees at the moment. A friend just called me in a panic to say that the pipes in her bathroom are frozen. The super is sending someone up now with heaters to defrost the pipes. He said it would be a long process.
I have lived in NYC my whole life, and I have never heard of this happening here. Frozen pipes are for some cabin in the woods in Maine.
My friend's bathroom is on an outside wall, and I'm thinking that the wall wasn't properly insulated. Maybe the developer decided to take a shortcut, since eventually a building is going to go up on the other side of this wall.
My pipes froze. This happened last year too even though I tried to prevent it this time around because I knew how cold it would be this weekend. And yes, this can happen in NYC apartments!
My building is new and I know the developer didn't insulate properly. I'm on an end unit too which makes my place colder than the other units and two of my bathrooms are on the outside wall. Unfortunately I have the perfect scenario for frozen pipes! What you are supposed to do to prevent this is to leave the water running, just a small trickle, to keep it from freezing. I did that but probably my mistake was only doing it to the sinks and not the showers/baths because the sinks have (cold but not hot) water and the showers/baths have no water!
Anyway, so yes you need to get heat circulating around the pipes. I've cranked up my heat to 80 (I have HVACs so I can control the temperature). Opened up the bathroom doors and cabinet doors around the pipes. Opened up the access areas that supply the water to the bathrooms. Brought out my space heaters and have them directed at the pipes in the bathrooms and the water supply pipes. So far I've got one bathroom thawed and hopefully the other one will thaw soon. My electric bill will be insane this month but I guess that's easier to deal with than busted pipes.
Yes, it's cold today; 12 degrees at the moment. A friend just called me in a panic to say that the pipes in her bathroom are frozen. The super is sending someone up now with heaters to defrost the pipes. He said it would be a long process.
I have lived in NYC my whole life, and I have never heard of this happening here. Frozen pipes are for some cabin in the woods in Maine.
My friend's bathroom is on an outside wall, and I'm thinking that the wall wasn't properly insulated. Maybe the developer decided to take a shortcut, since eventually a building is going to go up on the other side of this wall.
Any advice?
I told her to get apartment insurance!
Building pipes can freeze when outside temperatures fall below 20 F. Which is not too common in NYC.
The best way to keep pipes from freezing is to always make sure the heat is on when the temperature drops below 30. Insulation helps, but pipes exposed to an exterior wall will always pose a threat unless the heat is running.
Yes, it's cold today; 12 degrees at the moment. A friend just called me in a panic to say that the pipes in her bathroom are frozen. The super is sending someone up now with heaters to defrost the pipes. He said it would be a long process.
I have lived in NYC my whole life, and I have never heard of this happening here. Frozen pipes are for some cabin in the woods in Maine.
My friend's bathroom is on an outside wall, and I'm thinking that the wall wasn't properly insulated. Maybe the developer decided to take a shortcut, since eventually a building is going to go up on the other side of this wall.
Any advice?
I told her to get apartment insurance!
Does she by any chance live in...my building?! I am in hamilton heights in Harlem. Alma Realty?
Also YES get insurance. Especially if she is in my building/has my landlord.
If she lives in my building I guess the pipes probably froze because we have barely had heat for the past few days...
Pipes freeze, especially if they are in outside walls. trick is to keep the faucets on a fast drip/slow run. Put one on to a rapid drip, then the other until you have a slow run. This is especially important overnight and if you're out all day. Moving water can't completely freeze so it will prevent the pipe from completely freezing and bursting.
Open cabinets as well to let some heat into the space. If those pipes are especially vulnerable, aim a space heater at it (not too close!) and that should suffice.
Yes, it's cold today; 12 degrees at the moment. A friend just called me in a panic to say that the pipes in her bathroom are frozen. The super is sending someone up now with heaters to defrost the pipes. He said it would be a long process.
I have lived in NYC my whole life, and I have never heard of this happening here. Frozen pipes are for some cabin in the woods in Maine.
My friend's bathroom is on an outside wall, and I'm thinking that the wall wasn't properly insulated. Maybe the developer decided to take a shortcut, since eventually a building is going to go up on the other side of this wall.
Any advice?
I told her to get apartment insurance!
My coworker has the same problem. He has pipes against the wall and they are not properly insulated.
He told me in the meanwhile, on especially cold nights, they just let the water drip ever-so-slowly to try to keep it moving.
Yes, it's cold today; 12 degrees at the moment. A friend just called me in a panic to say that the pipes in her bathroom are frozen. The super is sending someone up now with heaters to defrost the pipes. He said it would be a long process.
I have lived in NYC my whole life, and I have never heard of this happening here. Frozen pipes are for some cabin in the woods in Maine.
My friend's bathroom is on an outside wall, and I'm thinking that the wall wasn't properly insulated. Maybe the developer decided to take a shortcut, since eventually a building is going to go up on the other side of this wall.
Any advice?
I told her to get apartment insurance!
If you've never heard of pipes freezing and bursting in a NYC apartment building or house then you've lead a very sheltered life my friend. I can recall hearing about such things going back to the 1970's. In fact just a few weeks ago when leaving for work a building up the street from us had just such an event.
Any structure or place where water pipes are exposed to extreme cold can crack, burst or otherwise bust open and cause damage.
In weather like this two sets of people are fielding calls back to back and making bank; plumbers and boiler service/HVAC men.
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