I noticed the article because we had just spent 13 hours yesterday thawing out our own frozen pipes. And after reading the article I realized how fortunate we were as we are also tenants but one of us is a contractor who knew what to do.
In our situation there were several factors that contributed to our freeze up (Extended period of extreme cold for a number of days, high winds, a loss of power and a heating system that did not have anti-freeze). For several days prior we had 10 degree weather so we were using our wood stove in addition to the heating system to help with the heat as the house is poorly insulated and drafty.
So on Thursday with news of a Nor’easter coming through we brought in probably 2 wheel barrels full of wood in preparation. We had the place nice and cozy (about 72 degrees). We also had the thermostat set at 59 (which is the normal set back we use for the night) so when the fire went out, the system would come on. But that apparently never happened.At some point during the night we lost power - for how long we don’t know. When we woke up around 5 AM on Friday morning we noticed that the heating system wasn't on at all. Even after resetting it, it wasn't heating. RUT-ROW – FROZEN PIPES.
We got the fire going again, but by this time there had been no movement of water in the pipes for some time as we soon heard a BIG BANG. So using commercial grade space heaters we went through the process of heating the pipes in the crawl space as well as using localized heaters up on the first level. All the while it was freezing outside with a wind that had a chill factor of about minus -20! At about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, we finally cut into the wall where the one pipe had burst and discovered that the chase wall between the rooms was without any insulation so we applied spray foam insulation and a heat tape. At about this time as well, we ventured into an area of the crawl space that we’ve avoided as it’s only 8” deep. The copper piping in this area is about 20’ feet long and was laying on the ground and basically had no insulation on it (as it was put down in the 60’s and the insulation on the piping had since deteriorated). This section of pipe by the way had not been replaced when the new heating system was put in as it was in a inaccessible area).
The heaters were put up in this small area in an effort to help thaw the still frozen pipes. At about 6 o’clock PM we were almost at wits end and BJ was just about to cut into the oak flooring which he had been reluctant to do (as it would have surely meant a bigger job than it already was). I was sitting across the room thinking to myself, “watch the heat come one just as he cuts the floor”, and almost at that moment THE HEAT CAME ON - CRAZY GOOD! And fortunately it was before he cut!
While we lost a day of our real jobs dealing with the freeze up, at least we still had a roof over our heads. Frozen Pipes are nothing to fool around with. You need to know what you’re doing. Spend the extra money to winterize your forced hot water heating system with a proper anti-freeze which will save you tons of money and for some quite possibly their home.
I’m told that the calculation for 20’ feet of ½ inch copper NOT TO FREEZE is for cold water to move a minimum of once every 20 minutes. Insulated or un-insulated, at the extreme temperatures we have had over the last several days it is most likely pipes would freeze when there is no movement of water through them for an extended period.
Just an FYI, we have the ok to make repairs to the house we live in.
*The article that prompted my rant can be found here http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/01/02/suburban-house-fire-caused-by-tenant-thawing-frozen-pipes/
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