No water in one of the upstairs bathrooms this morning. Thinking of cutting a hole in the wall to try to figure out where the coldest area is. In the basement I can see where the pipes go up. It is an interior wall but quite close to the exterior wall. Any suggestions?
Apparently two pipes are frozen 19 and 22 inches to the inside of the exterior wall, or so it seems looking at the basement view. The pipes run up in an interior wall which connects to the exterior wall near the front door. The house thermostat was set to nighttime temps of
55F upstairs and 60F downstairs. I have two shutoff valves at the points where the copper pipes head upward in the basement. I've only lived here 1 1/2 years so this is the coldest I've seen it here. No other faucets seem to be in trouble.I think I can rent a fancy thermal camera at Home Depot, but what would it really tell me?
My thought is that with a few inspection holes maybe I will discover why I apparently have an insulation problem of some sort.
Turn off the shutoff valves NOW (and leave the taps upstairs open) and wait for the temperature to come up. With any luck the pipes won't split. Regardless, if they will split that damage is already done. Once the weater warms up stuff that outer section of wall with insulation right out to the external wall and check for anything that would allow cold air in. Block any holes
That last advice helped me this year. Last year hot and cold froze in a bathroom with inside walls.
Had me confused for a while, then I remembered the eaves that led from an unheated garage to right under the bath room. I turned on the exhaust fan in the bathroom underneath and the pipes unfroze in minutes.
This summer, I crawled in there and first thing I noticed was that the insulation had fallen away from a hole made to accommodate the exhaust fan. Sprayed some foam to seal the opening and so far, even with a few days of extreme cold, no frozen pipes.
I also had another exhaust fan let in rain this year. Took a look at the fan vent and a couple of vans had gotten wedged open.
I suggest you get some heat to those pipes ASAP. An electric heater near where the pipes enter the basement ceiling would be a start. You don't want them bursting.
Depending on how desperate you are and how much you're willing to spend, you can call local welders. They can hook up an arc welding rig to pump current through the pipes by attaching a cable to each end where accessible, which slowly warm the pipes. That is if they are metal. I guess you could DIY, but that would require buying some arc welding gear.
Where the coldest area is without any need to repair the wall afterwards.
And that's what a terminal camera will tell you without damaging the wall.
This temperature sensor may work for you, surprised it is so cheep:
.. with Windsor and Niagara much colder than Ottawa ! almost never seen. Wonder how this will affect the fruit growers & winery grapes ? John T.
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And cplder in Chicago than at the north pole too - - -
Local inspector recommends plumbing in an exterior wall should be avoided if at all possible. Sure, it can be done but few plumbers/builders put forth the effort to do it right. Obviously, your plumber/builder failed.
If it was me, I'd do whatever it takes to move the pipes to an interior wall.
And FWIW, you can buy a $10 digital probe thermometer to check the interior temperature of a wall cavity. Just drill an 1/8" hole and push the probe tip in about 2 inches.
I would have waited for Spring.
More bug activity then. As it was I had a little spider jump out and make a run for it. Doing it now also lets me know if the pipes are cracked and perhaps leaking into the cellulose wall insulation.
Yes, I know, I was just joking, as in just ignore it and wait for it to thaw. But sounds like the builder hosed this up, left an open air passage from outside to the attic maybe?, that runs past this pipe. So many of these things are just terminally stupid, but they still do it. You'd think people in the construction trade would spot this in the process and correct it.
Dave, how was your situation resolved?
What were the results of your troubles? Other posters that helped you would like to know.
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