I can't use any water because the pipes are frozen...

[SnowyShiloh]

It's been 40-50 degrees below 0 here for the past week (that's Fahrenheit, Celsius is -40 to -45 degrees) and as of this morning, our pipes are frozen. They make a gurgling sound when you turn them on. I've never seen that happen before because our apartment is well heated, usually pipes only freeze if there's no heat.

I'm a little concerned because our landlords said we have to pay to fix the pipes if they freeze because we went out of town and turned off the heat, but this clearly happened because it's been so darned cold out for so long- we've kept the heat at a toasty 78 degrees the whole time.

It's so cold that there's been constant ice fog for the past week, and the CD control knob in Paul's car is frozen in one place. We went to the laundromat yesterday and the inside of the inside of the double doors was completely white because it was so frozen. And yes, you can throw a pan of boiling water outside and it will freeze instantly, your skin and lungs feel like they're on fire if you're outside for more than 30 seconds.

I'm not looking forward to walking to work tomorrow!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

You need to open any cabinet doors to expose the pipes to the heat in the apartment. You also need to keep a trickle of cold water going BEFORE the pipes freeze in the future. We do that here even when it's in the single digits.

Do you have a utility lamp? you need to put it under the sink where the pipes are and turn it on ..... it should help to slowly thaw them. The concern is that the water expands when it's frozen - thus bursting the pipes.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Bo, luckily we only have 2 sinks to worry about! I opened the cabinet doors underneath both and put a lamp below the pipes. I left both faucets on but no water is coming out. Our apartment is actually a triplex, it's really old and is log construction so it's well insulated. I didn't even know we'd have to worry about our pipes freezing, neither did Paul and he's lived here his whole life. I hope they don't burst and we don't have to pay for it if it does!

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Gonna have to do the same for your shower/bath... (up and down the wall behind the shower) Perhaps a hair dryer on full blast will help as well?

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Our apartment is quite warm, and it's warm under the sinks too. Paul thinks the pipes are frozen where we can't reach them. I still have the lamp on and everything, but I don't think it's going to help. I called the apartment management and they said they'd let the lady who owns our triplex know. Hopefully I'll get a phone call soon! The neighbors' pipes must also be frozen.

I wonder why the toilet is flushing when everything else is frozen? The shower doesn't run either.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

The back of the toilet isn't likely on an outside wall, and has a larger diameter pipe anyway. ^^^ above for shower

Be cautious with the shower, though.. If that pipe burst, it will be inside the wall, and ruin all insulation and drywall. Go slow and steady!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

The toilet is right next to the outer wall and the shower is against an inside wall. The sink is on an inside wall too. I don't have the shower turned on at all. Also, I felt the pipes under the kitchen and bathroom sinks and they feel perfectly warm, I don't think having the lamp under the kitchen sink is accomplishing anything!

All I can say is I'm glad I washed all the dishes last night but I wish I'd taken a shower then too!

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Perhaps the frozen part is not within your apt.? Maybe you should call round to the other residents, and ask them what's going on with their pipes...

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Yeah, that's what we thought too. The pipes aren't actually frozen in the apartment. I would ask the neighbors, but they aren't home. I'll call the management in an hour if I haven't heard anything yet. We have a couple gallons of bottled water at least to drink and I have hand sanitizer!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

It could be that the pipes for the toilet go UNDER while the pipes for the shower/sinks are above ground. The ground will insulate more....... Are you on the ground level?

It might take a long time to get the pipes opened...... what would scare me is the fact that it definitely sounds like it's a long freeze..... through the entire system probably (are your water systems connected? or citywater? or what?) and you should really look into heat tapes (or your complex)

 

[Bassetluv]

I used to live in a triplex here in Ottawa (actually my sis and her husband owned it, and I took care of the place), and the pipes would sometimes freeze in the winter. The place where they froze was in the basement, not in the apartment units...I had to take a hair dryer to the frozen pipes to thaw them out (took forever, but it worked). And the first winter I had my house, the pipes froze here too, because whoever designed the house obviously hadn't taken the weather into consideration. The pipes running to my kitchen were against an outer wall, so as soon as the temps went down past -20C, they would freeze up (again, they froze in the basement). Once I managed to get them thawed I had to leave the water running slightly for the rest of the cold spell.

Unless the pipes actually are frozen in your apartment and the heat had been turned off, I don't see how the landlord could hold you responsible. (If they are frozen in your apt, they will definitely feel icy cold to the touch.) I would hazard to guess that the basement - if there is one - is possibly where the pipes have frozen.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

The triplex doesn't have a basement, so they must have froze outside somewhere! I called the management back again, and the lady said our neighbors called earlier this morning so they already knew. She said the thawing truck was too busy today but would come out tomorrow morning. We live on the end, and she said they'll need to go into the middle unit (they also went in the middle unit when our heat went out once). She said we would not be charged because it's not our fault, so that's good!

About 20 minutes after I talked to her, the bathroom and kitchen sinks both suddenly got water at full blast! I wonder how that happened if no one is thawing them? Maybe the thawing truck was able to get out today after all. I left both sinks on a little bit, should I turn them off or leave them on?

 

[Bassetluv]

Sounds like someone thawed them, as they wouldn't have thawed on their own (I know, ya already know that :biggrin2. I'd be tempted to leave the faucets on just until you get confirmation that all is okay...but you only need to let them drip a bit, doesn't have to be a steady stream. Just enough to keep the water moving somewhat.

Aren't frozen pipes a pain? I tell you, if this area ever gets someone running for office who can promise no more cold winters, they'd get my vote for sure.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

*giggling!* You have THAWING TRUCKS?!?! That's hilarious! I've never even heard of such a thing.......

 

[pla725]

I'm going through this myself right now. I didn't even think aboutas I went to take a shower.No water. Great. I checked the outside storage closet to see if pipes were okay. It was nice and toasty in there. So go figure.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Same thing here this morning. I had to go out, open up the well housing (under our deck) get cords, heat lamp, and a little heater - then cover it all again.

We had water about 20 minutes later.