Had to move the drums :(

[Picksorsticks]

I'm going into withdrawl...I had to move the drums out of the "cellar". It's BRUTALLY COLD and windy here. We have some partially frozen pipes I'm working on thawing out. Being somewhat paranoid ( even if you're not paranoid, they can still be out to get you), I've cleared out valuable/ irreplaceable stuff just in case the pipes finish freezing and burst. Due to some TERRIBLE design work, this particular run of pipe is vulnerable to extreme cold. I actually think I've figured a solution for the future....

Maybe I'll play my guitar or bass.....it's just not the same as the drums.

I think I'm making some headway on the pipes....

[stickinthemud]

Man, sorry to hear that!

Being a denizen of the south (we get ours during the summer!), freezing pipes is a fairly rare problem around here. I guess heat tape doesn't do the trick, huh?

[Picksorsticks]

'Stick,

good thought, but the pipes are fairly inaccessible so the heat tape would be difficult to do. The problem is how and where they ran the pipes. We have a split level with a garage. They ran the pipes into the unheated/uninsulated garage.

My thought is to get a shut off put in there where the pipes go into the cold zone and when it's going to be really cold (and windy) just reach up and turn it off...maybe some sort of drain too?

any plumbers in the group?

at least by blowing heated air up into where the pipes are things opened up fully early this AM

it's supposed to be brutally cold here for at least another week and a half

[MisterMR]

Picksorsticks...

In my experience, there aren't many solutions for frequently frozen water pipes other than to ultimately re-route. Keeping them in the same environment and applying Heat Tape and/or Pipe Insulation (even if you could, which it doesn't sound like you can) will slow the cooling-to-freezing process but not eliminate the problem in the long-term.

If it is a pipe feeding water services to an essential need, you might want to keep taps or pipe outlets slightly open to relieve the pressure of expanding ice within the pipes otherwise 'pipe pop' is a certainty. Otherwise, your idea of a isolating valve/stopcock will work... just obviously, not ideal.

[Picksorsticks]

Now that the weather is a bit warmer, it's snowing now (Still, since yesterday morning)...two feet since yesterday..snowed in, no work, but some drums