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A Rather Confusing Cold Weather Plumbing Problem
Vaelor
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Anyone here more than passingly familiar with home plumbing? Because I'm having some extreme cold weather water supply issues manifest themselves in a way that seems (to my scant knowledge) fairly bizarre.
Overview: outside temperatures in the 0 degree farenheit range. New build house (Feb '13). Interior heat has been on constantly through this period, and home temperature is not falling below 55 degrees at any point, although I cannot vouch for every enclosed wall space.
The problem:
1.) Return home during said cold snap. Turn on downstairs kitchen hot water. No hot water. Cold water flows. Repeat for downstairs bathroom sink. No hot water. Cold flows.
2.) Proceed upstairs. Upstairs guest bathroom sink: no hot water. Cold flows. Upstairs guest bathroom tub (located inches away): minimal cold water pressure, no hot.
3.) The real strangeness begins. Upstairs master tub: Hot water runs, becomes hot after seven or eight seconds (normal time to hot), runs hot for ten seconds, then abruptly fades to zero pressure. After which: master tub and master shower (shared water supply wall): zero water. No hot, no cold. Every other fixture in the house: only cold.
This final situation struck me as somewhat odd (with a strong hot water flow in one tub fading almost immediately to no pressure for either hot or cold), but I chalked it down to the shared wall for the master tub/shower (which extends 90 degrees inward from a wall which is exterior on one side) somehow getting cold enough to freeze those pipes along with the water heater supply inlet pipe which is located almost directly beneath in the garage.
Except...
4.) All fixtures are then left cracked open, hot and cold. After approximately 15 hours, the master shower/tub suddenly begin producing hot water at normal pressure and temperature. But - the rest of the house fixtures (including the master bathroom sinks very close to the bathing fixtures), still no hot water pressure, only cold.
So now I'm directly back to WTFville. I cannot begin to plot a plumbing layout in my mind that accounts for this strange set of conditions, but if anyone on this forum can shed more insight it'd be much appreciated. The contractor has been notified of a possible workmanship warranty issue, but has yet to officially reply.
I'll definitely be calling a (licensed, bonded, etc.) plumber tomorrow if I cannot effect a solution tonight, but more than anything else I'd just like to understand what the hell is going on so I can A.) negotiate with professional craftsman from a position of knowledge and B.) not feel like an utter fool about my level of understanding.
If you're still reading after all that, my deepest thanks.
~V
Overview: outside temperatures in the 0 degree farenheit range. New build house (Feb '13). Interior heat has been on constantly through this period, and home temperature is not falling below 55 degrees at any point, although I cannot vouch for every enclosed wall space.
The problem:
1.) Return home during said cold snap. Turn on downstairs kitchen hot water. No hot water. Cold water flows. Repeat for downstairs bathroom sink. No hot water. Cold flows.
2.) Proceed upstairs. Upstairs guest bathroom sink: no hot water. Cold flows. Upstairs guest bathroom tub (located inches away): minimal cold water pressure, no hot.
3.) The real strangeness begins. Upstairs master tub: Hot water runs, becomes hot after seven or eight seconds (normal time to hot), runs hot for ten seconds, then abruptly fades to zero pressure. After which: master tub and master shower (shared water supply wall): zero water. No hot, no cold. Every other fixture in the house: only cold.
This final situation struck me as somewhat odd (with a strong hot water flow in one tub fading almost immediately to no pressure for either hot or cold), but I chalked it down to the shared wall for the master tub/shower (which extends 90 degrees inward from a wall which is exterior on one side) somehow getting cold enough to freeze those pipes along with the water heater supply inlet pipe which is located almost directly beneath in the garage.
Except...
4.) All fixtures are then left cracked open, hot and cold. After approximately 15 hours, the master shower/tub suddenly begin producing hot water at normal pressure and temperature. But - the rest of the house fixtures (including the master bathroom sinks very close to the bathing fixtures), still no hot water pressure, only cold.
So now I'm directly back to WTFville. I cannot begin to plot a plumbing layout in my mind that accounts for this strange set of conditions, but if anyone on this forum can shed more insight it'd be much appreciated. The contractor has been notified of a possible workmanship warranty issue, but has yet to officially reply.
I'll definitely be calling a (licensed, bonded, etc.) plumber tomorrow if I cannot effect a solution tonight, but more than anything else I'd just like to understand what the hell is going on so I can A.) negotiate with professional craftsman from a position of knowledge and B.) not feel like an utter fool about my level of understanding.
If you're still reading after all that, my deepest thanks.
~V
0
Posts
Basically, there's likely a split somewhere in your piping, and one hot water supply pipe goes to the master bath, and another goes to the others. Do you have access to the basement?
Once you track it down, look for any exposed pipe in the basement/crawlspace that might be frozen and use a hair dryer on it for a while...
Also, before calling the plumber, you may want to try defrosting it yourself:
1. turn the heat up in the house (really turn it up - 80 or so)
2. open up any cabinets/closets that separate the pipe carrying wall from the heated air
3. warm any hard to reach areas with an electric heater
I just had one small section of pipe freeze on me (in an exterior, poorly insulated wall), and i managed to get it to defrost by warming up the house and aiming an electric heater at that part of wall for 4-5 hours...
finally, be sure you know where the water shutoff is for your house... once defrosted, you may find that it burst...
If you live in an area with extreme cold temperatures, sometimes you just have to leave the water running while you're away. My uncle has to do this with his place in Minnesota, even when he's living there.
Yeah the weird things with water/no water can be due to pipes lacking use but have you checked the boiler and is it downstairs or upstairs?
And is it all a single pipe or do you have multiple?
If the pipe isn't damaged it'll be a quick fix. Some insulation along the length of the pipe, if the pipe is cracked. Sorry man. He's going to have to cut into the drywall, and it's going to be expensive.
Then you turn on your pipes gently and it thaws out, hurray, hot water back
I would keep both hot and cold dripping on one tap on both stories of your house.... and if your hot water stops again, make sure the heater itself is not still running... because it might be heating an empty tank which... in my un-expert opinion, could cause issues.
If you turn on ONLY your hot water tap, do you get cold water, or no water at all?
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other