frozen pipes

[xmas74]

Yesterday I worked a fifteen hour shift. During the last couple of hours of my shift the temps began to drop. When I finally made it home I had found that my pipes were frozen, even though I left the faucets on drip and had cabinet doors open for air flow. I immediately called maintenance but there was no answer. I left a message with date, time and all pertinent info. There was no call back.

This morning I called twice with no answer. Finally, I called from a work number and he answered on the first ring. He stated that he had my last three f'in messages and that there was nothing he could do-I would just have to let them thaw on their own.When I complained he said that I should be thankful that at least I had a warm place to sleep and then hung up. This is in line of a long string of things he has never fixed and the owners know about it. As of now I've had no water in the last 24 hours.

I'm so tired of the crap. I just need to complain.

[elleng]

1. Good you complained.

Let the owners know, again.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. I had that problem until I wrapped the pipes in an electric blanket.

[ananda]

12. My mother used to thaw out the pipes with a hair dryer.

..

[RebelOne]

14. That's a well-known remedy.

Since I moved here from South Florida to north Georgia, my hair dryer has been used more during the winter on my pipes than my hair.

[Octafish]

56. We use a Space Heater...

...with someone in the house, of course, to monitor the darn thing from burning down the place.

[Cleita]

3. Don't know where you live, but I understand that many cities

have departments you can complain to especially if you don't have water. It's a sanitation problem. I would try the owner one more time and tell him politely that if something isn't done you will have to notify whichever city authority is involved. I would call both the building and health department at least to find out what the statutes are. Most are helpful and you don't have to make a report if all you are doing is asking a hypothetical question.

Good luck.

[NV Whino]

4. Yesterday my well was frozen

Same temps this morning, but it didn't freeze today.

[Soundman]

5. That sucks, you can always try

Using a hair dryer. Used to work for me if I was able to find the spot. Of course that's back when I had a need for one.

[sorefeet]

6. Mine froze for a little while

and I know where they freeze so I put the electric heater to them. The longer they are froze the more likely they are to bust.

[rdharma]

7. Let the owner know even if the pipes thaw out without further problems.

When pipes freeze, they expand and often burst when they thaw out. Tell the owner that this could cause considerable flood damage to the residence and might make it uninhabitable.

He probably doesn't give a shit about what it would do to your belongings, but you might get his attention when you tell him what structural damage a busted water pipe can cause.

[polly7]

28. Yes.

That wrecked my piano.

I was working a four night shift with the ambulance in a different town and had someone who said he'd check my furnace daily. He 'forgot' until the day before I came home - made sure it kicked in and I came home to pipes that had burst as well as hoses under my tub ... on the other side of the wall of my upright piano. The tuner said it had cracked the back of it and now it's *'ed. it won't keep it's tone. I'm not sure if he's right, but I've had it tuned twice since and it's basically not worth playing any more. Sooo mad.

[Aerows]

64. OMG

I have an upright piano, too. That would have been terrible for me. Grrrrrr

I just don't like injustice in this world, and ruining a musical instrument and not replacing it is destroying art without care. Grrr.

I hope you find some recourse Polly. Stay warm up there!

[polly7]

67. Thanks Aerows.

Unfortunately, my landlord is the invisible type ... he's promised to fix so many things and never appeared once to do anything. I had to re-shingle the porch myself as it was getting so bad I could have had a whole team of people taking a shower out there from rain coming in. d/t the oil here, there are a lot of transients and people are paying ridiculous rent prices ... so I'm a bit afraid to bug him lest he boot me out. Anyway ... I'm looking into how to get the back of my piano fixed/glued maybe? I had taken it apart years earlier and refinished it piece by piece and was SO proud of it. Then the freezing cold and then wet from burst pipes in the wall behind it ... I sat down and bawled like a baby. But I bought myself an electronic piano last year at a really great boxing day price and it is freaking awesome!

[notadmblnd]

8. Hair dryer

thaw your pipe with a hair dryer.

[RebelOne]

13. Done that also. n/t

[Ava Gadro]

17. Did it this morning and will probably have to do so tomorrow. n/t

[RebelOne]

9. Had my pipes freeze a few years ago.

Having lived in Miami most of my life I never had to worry about ice or freezing temperatures. But a few years ago, my pipes froze. I live in a mobile home and I was able to run a heater under the house, and it thawed the pipes.

[Tikki]

10. In Coastal So Cal it is common for smaller, older homes to have gas wall furnaces..

We hadn't turned on ours yet this year and the manual wall thermostat was still set to ZERO
but the pilot light was lit.

This morning I woke about 5:00 am to the smell of hot dust throughout the house…
...that little stinker of a wall furnace decided to turn itself on.


Tikki

[Spitfire of ATJ]

23. Ever see one of those where it looks like someone tried to paint over it?

[Tikki]

44. Yes…usually a 1970's work of art...

When we removed the last layer of wall paper off a wall in one of the rentals
we own, we found a life size peace symbol drawn on the wall.


The Tikkis

[Spitfire of ATJ]

50. Just think, 50 years from now people will be discovering and shaking their heads over purple walls.

[freshwest]

11. IDK how you're situated, but what's worse than no water is a flood. Looks like the hair dryer, space

heater or even a pipe wrap if you can get to it can help.

The time to deal with this is as soon as this is fixed. If you have access to an insulator for outside faucets, you might install one as that's where the freeze often is. I've also had to put hay bales around to keep the temperature under the house above freezing.

And packed everything around the well head (although my well house was made of cinder block and it did not require much to be putting around it, like plastic, a reflective blanket, hay, etc. I actually put plastic bags full of trash in the well house once it helped. I put electric heat tape on everything I could and it saw me through below zero.

But then if you lose power, you are back to the more primitive ways of insulation and dripping - if your well (IDK if you are on a well or not) - which depends on your flow. I couldn't do that in the country with my well, it would have run dry and I'd have been in the same trouble. In the city, it was different, but IDK where you are.

But to come home after a long cold day and no water - and likely not warm enough to be comfortable - is really awful. I used to run my pipes not a drip, but a steady dribble when it got very cold and I had city water, so I'm guessing you have city. And that you have electricity working.

I am sure you know better to put anything too hot on the pipes to cause a sudden burst and flood. Your owner or landlord may be in a bad way as well, his words about a 'warm place to sleep' may say he doesn't have one.

Or maybe he's just a jerk. IDK who you can complain to right now. I just hope that you don't flood. If he doesn't want to help when the pipes are frozen, he sure won't want to help with that damage.

And he might be able to evict you for not - who knows what.

Awful lot of IDK's there, and it's not right and it's not fair, but you take care. The cold is really rough right now. I hope you can get warm this weekend and get this over with.

Good luck.

[xmas74]

15. He's just a jerk

who doesn't want to crawl under a trailer with a heater. And it's in our lease that we are not allowed to do our own repairs or we could invalidate the lease.


The kid and I can't even flush a toilet right now.

[freshwest]

20. Need to get those bales of hay if you are in the country. And up here we have a 3-days 3-ways plan.

We save water to flush the toilet in liquid landry or bleach bottles for unexpected loss of water. Also keep a few day of water on hand to drink.

Elecricity is the main thing as we are all electric here now. Do you have wood heat?

That's what I had in a mobile in the country, I kept that thing cranked up until it was very warm, and all the cabinet doors open.

I put on electric tapes under the sinks and at the toilet and outdoor spigots. That's not a repair, and he can't complain. If you move, you can take it with you, too.

Another thing besides the hay is putting some siding down to the ground level, but I guess he won't allow you to do that. But the hay is just temporary. It does not have to be very good hay, any old dried hay will do and you can use it in the garden in the spring and summer.

Good luck and hope you find a way to get that water for you and the little one.

[xmas74]

25. We can't have hay.

It's against the rules of the trailer park. If we could I'd have it in a heartbeat. And heat is natural gas-I'm in town.

The owners are trying to sell the place off and get everyone out. I suspect this total lack of repairs is one of the ways they can do it.

[freshwest]

30. Well, there you have it. He wants you to move and the city and or a developer wants the land.

Time to start looking at the ads and get the hell out of there. This is not an uncommon thing to have trailer parks zoned out. Good luck until it thaws out, and get those heat tapes and use then on all the pipe you can get to for the winter. And take them with you as I suspect they'll sell the trailer for metal and that's its value for now. Still stay warm as you can. Might as well not get sick there.

[2naSalit]

35. To get the drains to flow

you might try dumping a quarter cup of salt, plain old salt down each drain with a bit of water and in about 20 to 90 minutes that might clear. It's hard to know how to deal with all that but since it's a trailer, Freshwest's suggestions about hay bales is a good way to handle that, unless you have a lot of snow. Up here I pack snow around the foundation of the cabin and that works because it's usually pretty deep before we get these nasty cold snaps. Like right now it's -17F so I am on the same page. If this guy isn't the property owner, maybe you can pressure the owner to do something about the water problem and the fixit jerk. Like call social services or something to report that your living quarters are insufficient for you to inhabit with your kids since there's no water or working toilet.

[MADem]

36. Is there snow on the ground?

You can grab buckets of snow, melt them on the stove top and then take a bucket of water and pour it straight down into the crapper--not the back part, right into the "pan." It will flush the thing. Not optimal, but hey...everybody poops!!!

[xmas74]

47. No snow yet

I believe there is a possibility tomorrow.

When I lived in the country I used to melt snow and it worked well.

[MADem]

48. Are they still frozen? Any luck with a space heater shoved under the house and

some plastic tarp to hold the heat in?

Do you 'bank' your house in winter (i.e. wrap the bottom sides/foundation in plastic or tarp to prevent the cold from coming in?)? Boy does THAT make a difference in your heating bills! Back in the old days, people would bank their homes with cut trees, covered in canvas to keep the warmth in! Here's a story about a family that banked their house with bags of sawdust (seems like a lot of work, but I guess it worked well): http://www.rubycusack.com/issue46.html

I have a house in ME that I keep heated because I go up there in the cold weather. "Heated" means I keep it in the mid fifties when I'm not there. I did one season without banking and never again! It makes a difference!

A lot of people just lightly nail the plastic right above the foundation, and then use two by fours or rocks to hold it in place. Others have more permanent systems that are more robust. It doesn't look real pretty, but it does the trick--makes a huge difference in the brutal north!

If you have a nearby neighbor, maybe you can wheel a 55 gallon plastic trash can over to their house, fill it three quarters full of water, wrestle the thing into a foyer or somewhere where the water won't freeze, and use a pot to fish the water out and flush the toilet until you get your situation fixed. Don't fill the thing all the way up, you'll slosh coming home!

[xmas74]

51. I live in a trailer court and there are rules against almost every kind of repair

done on our own. There are also rules against hay bales and such, though I do need to plastic the bottom skirting.

The pipes are still frozen, day 2. I called the park manager again and he said he would do nothing and to stop with the harassing calls. I don't have a space heater and don't have the money to buy one, since I used my whole check on the rent.

[MADem]

52. Jesus, I wish I lived nearby. I have a space heater that would do the trick.

Are you friendly with any of the neighbors? Maybe they could loan you one.

The only other alternative that I can think of is to grab a hairdryer, if you have one of those, run an extension cord out a window or door, and use sandbags or something to point/aim the thing at the pipe where you think there is a problem--then you can come out every ten minutes or so to check the progress and make sure the hairdryer is still pointing the right way. You may wear out the hair dryer, but it might put some heat on the pipes.

If you have any plastic, put it on that bottom skirting--don't worry about looks, it's more about stopping the wind from whipping under there.

You could tell the park manager that you're calling the health department on him...not sure if you want to get into that kind of drama, though.

I really do feel your pain--that's gotta suck.

[xmas74]

53. The problem with the health department is that I'm worried they'll condemn the structure.

I don't have the money to move right now, especially at Christmas time. I plan on moving at tax time and am actually counting it down. It'll be wonderful!

I moved into this place because it was inexpensive. Since I moved in lot fees have gone up and we now pay our own water, trash and sewer. With the price I'm paying now I could have paid for a small, basic little two bedroom apartment that would be much more energy efficient and would include water, trash and sewer. (Actually, I figured it out-I'd save anywhere from 50-100 a month in a small apartment now.)

[MADem]

55. I get what you're saying--the drama could result in you ending up homeless or a

couch surfing refugee relying on the kindness of friends!

I don't blame you for looking forward to a move. A small apartment probably looks like a palace to you right now.

I hope the stupid pipe thaws and doesn't burst on you. You have my deepest sympathies--I can't stand being without water, or heat!

[xmas74]

57. The heat's fine-

I paid HVAC last month to come out here and fix the furnace, since the owners refused to do anything about it. By the time it's over I might also be paying for a plumber.

[MADem]

58. I'm still thinkin' about ya! Sending positive, pipe warming thoughts your way!

I hope you don't end up having to pay a plumber so soon to leaving the joint, but you can't do without water. Perhaps you can withhold the fee from the rent...?

[xmas74]

59. You can't do that in Missouri.

I wish you could.

I spent some bill money (trash and sewer), went to Walmart and bought a space heater. I crawled under the trailer and thawed it all out within two hours. The only thing still frozen is the hot water in the kitchen sink-I heated water on the stove last night for dishes.

Thank goodness it's mostly taken care of now. It's snowing here today.

[MADem]

60. Oh good--at least you can flush!!!

What a shame you had to go in the hole to get the situation fixed. I'll bet you can't wait to move.

Did you read where someone else had their space heater attached via an extension cord to a power strip and turned it on and off from inside the house? Or do you have to worry about "space heater thieves" where you're at?

If you have the plastic sheeting as well, put it round the skirting to block the wind. That wind can be a real B!!! I have to leave my car unlocked when the wind gets going real good and if we have "wintry mix" weather, because otherwise I'm spending forever trying to de-ice the damn lock to get in the car to defrost the thing.

I hope those jerks who wouldn't help you have frozen pipes and frozen water in their crappers--it would serve them right.

Hang in there...!

[xmas74]

61. There would be thieves.

There are decoration thieves so I know there will be space heater thieves and extension cord thieves.

We can flush and we can take a shower. Last night the showers were wonderful!

I'm looking for a place now, just to start pricing it out. I live in a university/military town so rents are higher than most in the area. On top of that we're also a pipeline hub so rents are going up even faster than salaries. I could move an hour into a decent city and pay just as much as here. (Actually, in some cases less-a friend lives in a suburb just outside of KC and his rent for a three bedroom apartment with some utilities included is $100 more than my rent in a much smaller town with a two bedroom trailer.)

[MADem]

65. Good news about the military--there's a drawdown underway!

That might take the pressure off a little bit!

I am going to hope like hell that you find the place of your dreams, with a good maintenancestaff, decent security, in a good building, near everything you might need-you sure as hell deserve it after the crappy experience you've had..../

[jazzimov]

16. Open up all your faucets full.

It lets the heat from inside your home into the pipes to thaw quicker.

Unfortunately, he's right. There's nothing that can be done until the pipes thaw. Even if one of them breaks, it can't be replaced until the water thaws.

I have a spring pump, and I've had lots of frozen pipes. It's not fun. But you can at least buy water by the gallon at the store. Luckily, where I work has a gym with showers, and I could at least wash my clothes at the laundromat. Once your pipes have thawed, make sure the owners have them well-insulated and they buy heat-tape. But you don't want to do that until your pipes thaw, in case there is a broken pipe that needs to be replaced.

Heating blankets do help, BTW. But they can be a fire hazard. The heat tape is specially designed for pipes.

[xmas74]

18. I have had the heat up in the 80's since 2 this afternoon.

It's now 9:30 and nothing except a very hot mobile home. The taps have been on full the entire time and the cabinets were never closed-I had them open before it froze.

[kentuck]

19. Instead of a drip, let it run at slow stream.

That might help?

[lindysalsagal]

21. Check for spots where a basement window might be open, or some other cold air leak

Then, use the hairdryer on it. I've done it myself.

[Coyotl]

22. Let the pros handle it.

If you don't know what you are doing, trying to thaw pipes can burst them. You can make the problem much worse than it already is.

[JNelson6563]

24. There is "tape" you can buy

to wrap the pipes in so they won't freeze. So sorry to hear of your situation, I know what it's like!

Julie

[Raine1967]

26. Where do you live, xmas74?

Where you live might be able to give you some possibilities of figuring out a solution to this problem.

One would think that if they had a rental property such a problem might be one to fix. Do the owners know that the manager is this bad?

[xmas74]

27. I live in Missouri,

which is very lenient on landlord rights. In other words, tenants have few rights.

The owners know it's bad and I suspect they encourage it. It's a trailer park and they have all the units up for sale, except the ones where people already reside. Supposedly, they plan on selling the nicer, newer ones and then just selling off the entire park, junking all the other trailers. This place already has water damage-I noticed it when we had some nasty rains late spring/early summer. They painted over the paneling and tacked it back in place. When it rained the walls had some swelling and the window sills leaked constantly.

I suspect this place will be junked once they sell the others. My rent is pure profit for them.

[Raine1967]

31. Damn. I wish I could offer something that would help.

It really sucks being stuck in a situation like that. My mom is in a situation very similar to yours as we speak. She in a county (in NYS) that I like to call Right to Rent -- and it's not much different from right to work states -- if that makes sense.

[hfojvt]

41. with a mobile home

the problem could be underneath. Where the water line comes up into the trailer should be wrapped. Unless you know it is frozen in that cabinet, you could be working on the wrong area.

[xmas74]

46. I'm pretty sure it's underneath

which is why I called the manager in the first place. A heat lamp would work but he has no plans to get under there for five minutes and put one in. Hell, if he'd put it in he could leave, I'd stay and check on it every half hour and would call when the water runs again.

I just don't have a lamp.

[MADem]

49. Perhaps the plastic tarp/space heater trick might do it?

See my comments elsewhere in the thread for details.

I really feel for you. That has got to suck.

[Rowdyboy]

29. I've lived through that nightmare before and you really have my sympathy. My pipes

actually burst when they thawed and that was a real nightmare-flooded the whole lower 1/2 of the house.

Cold weather can be a bitch.

[ccsar]

32. I moved

to a warmer climate in August so I don't have to worry about that any more. For years I had to get up 3 or 4 times a night and run some water and flush the toilet to keep things from freezing. I kept 4 or 5 5 gallon buckets full of water so I'd be able to flush the toilet just in case. I had everything heavily insulated but with no foundation there was no real protection from the wind and cold. And with a septic system it's not real good to leave water running. I did finally take to putting buckets in the sinks and shower to collect water to dump outside so I'd only have to get up a couple times to flush the toilet. That worked pretty well. I did have to crawl under the place and use a heater on frozen pipes the day after I got out of the hospital with a titanium rod and 4 screws put in my neck. That was fun. Dumb, but fun. And with the heater mentioned in an earlier post, a single pole thermostat will close automatically when it gets to 45 degrees or so even if it's turned all the way down. There is no off unless you do it at the breaker.

[doc03]

33. There are many good suggestions here to thaw out your pipes but when

you do be ready to shut off the water supply because many times pipes will burst when they are frozen. I used to work in a water treatment plant in a steel mill, when we got a warm spell in the winter or in the spring we had leaks spring up everywhere when the pipes thawed.

[SheilaT]

34. I am so sorry. This is at best no fun at all.

Despite having lived most of my life in places with cold winters, I've only had frozen pipes once, and the city came out and did the relatively trivial repair within a few hours.

Hope this gets fixed soon and doesn't happen again.

[Blue_In_AK]

37. They could burst, you know.

I can't believe he has such a cavalier attitude about this.

[xmas74]

39. He doesn't want to get out in the cold.

Besides, he's never fixed anything else in the trailer-I've always done it. And when I sent a copy of a receipt for materials used in the repairs I've been informed that I am altering my residence, which could invalidate my lease.

[ronnie624]

38. Buy a water pipe heat tape:

[hfojvt]

42. that's really just heat tape, wrapped around a pipe

I used to have two strands of that on my roof when I was in Wisconsin.

[ronnie624]

43. Whatever you want to call it,

it will keep an exposed water pipe from freezing.

[rucky]

40. Go to a hotel, if you can

and deduct it from next month's rent. attach the receipt with your rent, plus a note explaining what happened when. Keep a copy yourself, just in case he tries to collect the rest, so you can file a complaint if you need to.

[Raven]

45. The freezing of the pipes may result in small breaks which

will leak after the pipes thaw. Watch for that.

[avebury]

54. I live in an old house and at least 24 hours before

the temperatures are due to drop below freezing I set up an electric heater to blow under my kitchen sink. I drip the faucet because it is cheaper to deal with a higher water bill then a plumber bill. I hate wasting the water so I try to use as much as I can to do extra cleaning so that at least the water serves a dual purpose.

I also have a crawl space under the house. In November I set up another electric heater under the house near the are of the kitchen sink. That heater is left on and I turn it on and off via the surge protector that it is plugged in. The pipes under the house also have electric tape around them and I plugged them in when the weather gets really cold. I also started last year using some of the bagged leaves to provide additional protection on the outside of my house by the kitchen sink, outside faucets, and openings to the crawl space. My life revolves around the weather when winter arrives.

I know that a lot of the options I have used won't probably work in your situation but using a space heater blowing under your your sink might help. My plumber told me to start way ahead of time before the temperatures sink. I also keep the furnace set higher.

[Aerows]

62. Wow, I complain about the heat in the south

which is dangerous, but busted pipes are a pain in the ass on a x10 scale. Sorry, my friend.

[Aerows]

63. If I was in Missouri, I would invite you over for a big homecooked meal

a hot shower and a warm place to stay. I can't since I'm not there, but I know there are good DUers that are. I hope they reach out to you.

[xmas74]

66. I have family nearby

I'm fine. It just made me mad more than anything. I pay for a service as part of my rent and I've yet to have even one repair even looked over.

[ladyVet]

68. Could you put plastic on the inside of the skirting?

That's what I'm planning to do, though there's nothing to say I can't do it on the outside. Fortunately, I own my home, and nearly own the land ("landlord" is my sister, so she won't say anything).

I bought pipe insulation pretty cheaply, which just goes over the pipes. This works good, especially since I trickle the water a bit. I've used the electrical heating tape, but my last set burned out years ago when I didn't have any money and they never got replaced.

How about putting bales of hay on the inside of the skirting? Especially on the side where you get the worst wind, or where the pipes come out of the ground? You could even just put it around the pipe there. Or bags of leaves? The only thing is, you'd have to watch for rodents or other unwanted lodgers.

I know you probably don't have the money to do much, but wanted to share some ideas. Remember to keep any frozen pipes turned on at the faucet.

[xmas74]

69. When I had a place out in the country years ago I did most of those things.

With the way the rules are written for the court I'm not supposed to put plastic on the outside, use haybales, or have any bags. I covered the best I could with plastic underneath but could get in trouble if the manager decides to check. I always have my faucets on drip.

The real problem is that the park is up for sale and a severe lack of maintenance is a great way to get rid of tenants.