Insulation for a trailer, underside and freezing pipes

[cshenk]

Hi folks, for my Mom.

I believe she has a frozen pipe under her trailer for the outbound water. She may have one inside as well (hard to tell). She's contacting a plummer. Water not draining and now getting a wet floor in a bathroom by the tub/shower. Temps ranging from 0F to 14F.

What products would be most useful (once the plummer fixes the pipes and she's calling one already) to better seal under a trailer for cold conditions? I do not know how well her pipes are wrapped underneath, only that she has no pipe heater system at all nor any outlets down there to run them from.

[Eric in North TX]

underpenning would help, Electric pipe tapes make a nice insurance policy. most have thermostats, so they don't run when not needed, for what a plumber will cost, you could have a bunch of them.

[benick]

underpenning would help, Electric pipe tapes make a nice insurance policy. most have thermostats, so they don't run when not needed, for what a plumber will cost, you could have a bunch of them.

Skirting around trailer is a must to keep the wind out and as already mentioned heat tape on exposed pipes . Boxing them in with 2X4's and insulating around them and putting a 100 watt light bulb inside the box with a switch in the trailer to make it easy for mom to turn it on is another option..Leaving cabinette doors open under the sink in kitchen and bath helps as well..On really cold nights let the water trickle a little....

[cshenk]

"benick" wrote Eric in North TX" wrote

Bless you both and reply below

She knows the water trickle and she's had problems with high gale winds takin down her underpinning. She's quite hale for her age but at 78, she got somewhat defeated when the last gale came in and she lost some of it. It was too cold to put it all back up. She knows this was at least part of the problem.

Now, how to get some level of electric down there to run 'something'. I'll recomend the cabinets open in the right spots for now. Sadly she's at least a 12 hour round trip from us and a combination of medical and work issues prevent us from getting there just now.

Looking specifically for product names that may be useful but any help at all is well appreciated!

[Eric in North TX]

I'll

[Jim Elbrecht]

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Just so nobody misses this in the long version--- Trickling water is the *worst* thing you can do for drain freezes.

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If the drain is put in right it would have to be 100 feet long and

0degrees all the way to even begin to ice up under normal usage. Only trickling water will freeze as it moves slow enough to freeze- a good toilet flush, a hot bath, washing dishes- should all flush any slush right out of the pipes before it becomes a blockage.

For drain freezes, after you've eliminated low spots in the pipes, check your toilet- and dripping faucets.

Jim

[ds549]

wrap a heat tape around the length of that pipe sir.

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[cshenk]

Excellent. I passed this to Mom.

Seems to be the drain and possibly a toilet seal now. It's warmed up a bit and she can flush again.

[C & E]

Having an electrician drop a line down through a floor is a pretty easy task. Ideally, right from where the freeze is occuring. I find it interesting that it's the drain line that is freezing. It would seem that the real cause is an insufficient slope to the septic or the sewer. As for heating of the line you need call a good hardware store and ask them if they have heating cable sold by the foot for this application. Our local Mom 'n' Pop shop sells it from a spool and then splice on the plug. I don't recall the cost anymore but it's not cheap. At the end of the heating season they Rx that you unplug it. Best of luck to you. Back in the '70's we had below zero temps for a couple of weeks and it caused the water mains to freeze so I can empathize. Chuck

[benick]

In case you missed it.....The op said....

"She knows the water trickle and she's had problems with high gale winds takin down her underpinning. She's quite hale for her age but at 78, she got somewhat defeated when the last gale came in and she lost some of it. It was too cold to put it all back up. She knows this was at least part of the problem."

The op said the skirting around the trailer has blown off...I bet putting the skirting back on so it don't blow off again will keep the artic winds from howling under the trailor. That will solve the drain freeze up problem and heat tape on the water pipes will solve that problem...Why make it more complicated than it is????