Frozen Hot Water Pipes!

[Scarlett]

Went to have a shower this morning and nothing came out of the hot bath tap. Obviously it has frozen up as the weather is so bad- snow and minus 4 outside. I know there are remedies using a hairdryer on the pipe but I am disabled so can't get to any pipes- in fact I think they are outside going across the flat roof. It's a very old house! Is there anything I can do other than wait? The water also won't go down the kitchen sink plug as that seems to be frozen too!

[johnny.5]

i would recommend just waiting as using a hair dryer will be expensive and quite dangerous especially trying to reach the outside pipes and maybe getting a better lagging of the pipes in the warmer weather also possibly getting a trace heating system fitted to prevent future freezing

[KARL]

The water supply and drainage arrangements in your house are obviously of an appallingly low standard. If you rent then you need to take this up with your landlord. If it is your own house you need to urgently make radical improvements as within any serious definition the accommodation is unfit for human habitation.

[anneasquith]

Our pipes often froze in the winter when I was a child. Our home was not substandard . !!

[Jahulaye]

I feel horrible and guilty having heat and hot water after reading this
:(

Scarlet, can’t you call a family member, friend or neighbor to assist you?

[EDDIE51]

Agree with KARL no correctly insulated water pipe should freeze in just -4 deg.Your piping needs urgent attention.
ammasquith .Yes, happened to us as well but that was back in the 1950s/early 60s when there was very little insulation in houses. We also had only an outside toilet which regularly froze solid.

[anneasquith]

I can assure you Eddie, we did not have an outside toilet, and we had shoes to go to school in .!

[Togo]

Bit harsh to condemn a home for a frozen pipe. Still.
Scarlett, are all the hot water taps frozen or just the bath tap? If it is just the bath tap........open it(ie have it turned to water on) Then get someone to follow the pipe back to say a junction and feel if the pipe there is warm. Then from that point use a hair drier to warm the frozen pipe, starting at the end nearest the tap. It is important to have the tap open when you do this to allow any steam or water to escape. Then lag or insulate the tap. As for your kitchen sink waste being frozen. Firstly just check outside where it outfalls into say a drain, if there is a lump of ice at the end of the pipe.....break it off. The sink waste outlet is liable to be plastic so do not overheat it if you use a hair drier. You could try boiling a kettle and pouring it into the sink. If the sink is full of water you will have to empty it with pans or a jug etc. When this cold spell has ended it may be worth getting the pipes lagged . Just a tip if you get the bath tap pipe unfrozen and running again, you may want to leave it just running, no more than a trickle, whilst this cold snap is on. The warm water flowing will prevent further freezing until you can get it lagged.

[bhg481]

anna - but did you have double-glazing, cavity wall insulation and central heating? All these are now required in new properties. I the 50s we had an inside toilet which would freeze, as did the inside of the bedroom windows; that was the norm in those days - not anymore.

[Togo]

Correction //Then lag or insulate the tap//
Should say......Then lag or insulate the tap supply pipes.

[bhg481]

I would strongly disagree with Togo about leaving the tap running at a trickle if you do manage to thaw it out. If you leave a trickle you will have to leave the plug out and the trickle of water flowing down the drain may freeze and block it. You do not want a frozen drain - the water has to go somewhere and the house floor is favourite.

[Togo]

Common sense would tell anyone not to leave the plug in bh. This advice is available from a home guides site.

//A method to prevent freezing pipes is to allow the water in the pipe to drip slowly from the faucet. This technique is especially effective with a hot water pipe. As long as the faucet drips, the pipe will not freeze.//

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/fix-frozen-hot-water-pipes-49248.html

[bhg481]

Togo - no, the pipe won't freeze but the drain might. It happened to us back in the 50s when the bathroom drained to a scuttle outside the house - the slow trickle allowed the water to freeze as it left the inside of the house in a metal pipe and the drain slowly blocked with ice.

[Togo]

I would imagine that a both outlet is discharged either into the toilet outflow or a 4inch downspout so perhaps unlikely. This is only meant to be a stop gap prevention of a freeze occurring again as soon as it is thawed, not a long term "solution". Still.

[bhg481]

I'm assuming this is a fairly old house, judging by the poor insulation. Even houses built in the 1950s had their drainage plumbing on the outside - a large drain for the toilet and smaller ones for the bath and basin, which connected to the large one outside the house. All the pipes were metal and very prone to freezing; a dribble of water down them was just asking for trouble, particularly in the small pipes. Nowadays pipes are plastic and kept within the house, so freezing is much less likely.

[Scarlett]

Thanks for your replies. We think the drain is frozen (waste pipe) from the kitchen which is why the water won't go down. And still nothing coming out of the hot tap in the bathroom. Plumber can't get to use until Monday though, so that's 6 days without a shower. Yikes.

[The Builder]

Hi Scarlett. I agree that your best bet is simply to wait for the hot water to thaw out naturally. It certainly needs proper insulation.

As for the waste, I would imagine you have a restriction somewhere in the pipe run - i.e. a bung-up. There shouldn't be any water in the pipework since it all should run away to the drain............ except for the trap (U-bend). That should be remedied by pouring hot water into it.