Woke up to no hot water in the kitchen.

[BoomerD]

Crap…yes, it’s cold (for here) lows last night we’re around 20f. I left the under-sink cabinet open to try to prevent a freeze-up…didn’t work. (or else it’s frozen somewhere else) MOST of the other hot water faucets work, but the upstairs bathtub also doesn’t have hot water…same corner of the house…so that isolates the problem to a specific section of the house.
I have a small 750 watt electric heater under the sink to (hopefully) get this thawed out…and am REALLY hoping it’s not a “catastrophic” freeze.

 

[highland145]

Hopefully, no busted pipes. Been there.

 

[pcgeek11]

Hopefully no cracked pipes will show up as they thaw...

Should have left the taps running slightly that will prevent a frozen pipe. At least now you know where to insulate.

Wish you luck with no busted pipes.

 

[skyking]

Probably Pex pipe? That stuff does not break, the fittings do. Shoot some heat into the crawlspace. That is probably the issue, right where it turns up that outside wall.

 

[BoomerD]

Had a local plumber stop by. He went under the house. No pipes to be found. He says they must be in the ceiling along the external wall. No way to know if the copper has cracked until it thaws out...That COULD happen tomorrow...supposed to warm up into the mid-30s...or Monday when it's supposed to hit 40.

Normally, when leaving a faucet dripping, you so that with a cold water faucet...this was my hot water lines. I've lived in some pretty severe winterlands...Utah at -30, Idaho at -35, even Wyoming at -40 or below...NEVER had a water line freeze up. I THOUGHT I was prepared. <sigh> If this ends up with a burst water line...what would have been a $500 fix in the crawlspace, is likely to be in the thousands of $$$ in the ceiling.

 

[pcgeek11]

I have water pipes in the ceiling also, but I'm on a slab with no crawl space. I had copper pipes in the attic and kept getting pinhole leaks which I repaired myself until I got sick of it and had the entire house re-piped. Cost me $ 2,400 at the time, ripped out all the copper and installed CPVC Pipe and all new cutoff valves etc for toilets and sinks. Of course that was in 1997 time frame. Copper pipe doesn't do well with cold weather either.

I don't see an issue leaving the water dripping hot or cold. The water moving through the pipe prevents it from freezing. That is what my Grandparents did during freezing weather and they never had any frozen pipes.

Hope you come out good and have no leaks!

 

[BoomerD]

I have water pipes in the ceiling also, but I'm on a slab with no crawl space. I had copper pipes in the attic and kept getting pinhole leaks with I repaired myself until I got sick of it and had the entire house re-piped. Cost me $ 2,400 at the time, ripped out all the copper and installed CPVC Pipe and all new cutoff valves etc for toilets and sinks. Of course that was in 1997 time frame. Copper pipe doesn't do well with cold weather either.

I don't see an issue leaving the water dripping hot or cold. Tyhe water moving through the pipe prevents it from freezing. That is what my Grandparents did during freezing weather and they never had any frozen pipes.

Hope you come out good and have no leaks!

I agree with leaving one or more faucets dripping, but dripping cold water over here generally won’t prevent a hot water pipe over yonder from freezing.

 

[pcgeek11]

I agree with leaving one or more faucets dripping, but dripping cold water over here generally won’t prevent a hot water pipe over yonder from freezing.

You don't understand. Let the hot and cold water dripping that way neither freezes.

 

[skyking]

If it is soldered copper, you can heat it up with judicious applications of a buzz box welder on continuous duty. If it is propress then I would hesitate to try that.
I did steel pipes back in the day with my lincoln tombstone at the continuous duty amperage, marked by the circle here.

Go to where the water works and clamp on at that end, and then again under the first sink in the line.
2 minutes on, 8 minutes off.

 

[BoomerD]

If it is soldered copper, you can heat it up with judicious applications of a buzz box welder on continuous duty. If it is propress then I would hesitate to try that.
I did steel pipes back in the day with my lincoln tombstone at the continuous duty amperage, marked by the circle here.

Go to where the water works and clamp on at that end, and then again under the first sink in the line.
2 minutes on, 8 minutes off.

I remember doing that shit back in the 70s…

Hot water came back in the kitchen…not the upstairs bathtub yet.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

When I redid this house myself in '99, I ran all pipes in heated living space. Almost all. There is one pair of lines going to the bathroom sink that drop down into a semi-insulated crawlspace. Just checked that one and both and flowing fine. Outside temp is single digits.

 

[BoomerD]

Both faucets have finally thawed. No signs leaks, check the water meter a couple of times…no indication water flow. However, the master tub drain is still frozen. I add hot water, use my plunger to “circulate” water in the drain…let it sit a couple of hours, remove as much water from the tub as possible…repeat every couple of hours supposed to be near 40 tomorrow. Hopefully it will thaw.

 

[Greenman]

I lost the supply line to my back yard faucet. It was just an exterior PVC pipe. I left it dripping and figured I was good to go, I was wrong. Blew an elbow apart.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I use Frost Proof units. Only the bib and handle outside. Valve inside.

 

[Paperdoc]

This won't help OP - just a comment on exterior faucets for hoses. Where I live winter is definitely freezing season, so the normal arrangement for an exterior faucet here is this. There is a short horizontal cold water line from an interior pipe in the heated space to the outside with the exterior valve close to the house wall. INSIDE there is a second shut-off valve close to the wall. In the fall we close the interior valve, then open the exterior valve to drain that short pipe length, and keep it open all winter. Reverse in the spring after freezing danger is past.

 

[BoomerD]

Probably a good plan. The pipe that feeds my front hose bib is just 1/2" copper run through an uninsulated wall in the garage. Our first year here, I bought a bunch of the split foam pipe insulation, cut the pieces to fit between the wall studs, and put that on. It's not perfect...far from it, but (at least in my mind) it's better than nothing.
That line didn't freeze.

 

[Greenman]

I use Frost Proof units. Only the bib and handle outside. Valve inside.

Not a bad plan, but I have no desire to rip open walls to replace the valves. I'll just let them drip for the one week a year that it matters.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow must be pretty cold where you are.

 

[Greenman]

Wow must be pretty cold where you are.

Not as cold as the frozen north, but damn chilly for the sunny south.