> How do you *know* it is a "U shaped pipe"? Do you have visual access to it?
> Have you probed it with a snake, etc.? Or, has someone just told you
> that it is U shaped and that it is under your garage floor?
> Don't you LIKE the cold weather? :>
> Why did it back up? Did the house-watcher not notice that the pipe
> was blocked/frozen? Or, did this happen in his absence?
> Again, how do you *know* this? I assume your garage floor is a concrete slab?
> You could "shade"/insulate the pipe before burying it! I.e., put it in
> a material that is less of a thermal conductor.
> You could also wrap them with a heating element and deliberately keep them > warm.
> You could ensure an adequate flow of "room temperature" water is flowing
> through them to keep ice from forming.
> So, what's different between your property and theirs? Sun exposure?
> Soil composition? Different construction techniques??
> What is the diameter of the pipe in question? Is it a typical 4" drain?
> Or, something that *feeds* the drain pipe?
Yes, visual look at it both tops of the U have caps that open. Pipes loook lie this... ----U---- where left dotted line is pipe from house then the U trap. The right dotted line is the pipe leaving the house to the sewer.
No I do not like winter much
House watcher did not notice as he was not looking. A water alarm I installed in the house alerted him to the backup and experience made him open the trap caps to see the frozen water right to the top of both sides of the U.
I would have to dig up the garage floor to wrap the pipes. Can you really wrap underground pipes?
Yes 4 inch pipes. I do not know what the difference is from my house to my neighbors. I wish I did.