Frozen pipes or something else?

12 years ago

It is 10F in NY and this morning there was no cold water, except in the kitchen. Hot water working fine.

If you look at our house from the front the left hand side has a garage basement, first floor with 2 bathrooms and a two year old second floor addition with one bathroom. On the right hand side there is the furnace room in the basement and the kitchen in the first floor. In the middle of the basement is a utility sink.

Before the addition we never had this type of problems. Two years back right after the addition we had a similar problem but we "identified the problem" with a garden hose that was left outside. No hose right now.

Even though the garage is cold, temperature reads mid 40's , all pipes seem ok.

We have had a number of sinks cold water open. One sink in the second floor trickle some water and stopped. The utility sink behaves oddly - with the cold water open, if your run the hot water, after you shut it down, water will continue to flow for a minute or so. Sounds like hot water is gettin into the cold water pipe.

To the point:
Sounds like a frozen pipe? If so how do I locate it? Most are buried
Should I run hot water in that utility sink to act as a thawed.
Could it be a totally different problem? Remember kitchen cold water is good and hot water is good too

Thanks much!!
Laredo

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Comments (5)

laredo
Original Author
12 years ago
Update - cold temperature continues 5F this AM -
At 6AM there was no hot water on the first floor bathrooms, and at 10AM the utility sink also stopped running hot water...

A friend notice that the utility sink (relocated as part of the remodel) is against an exterior wall - and you can feel cold air coming through the pipe protrusion

Temperature coming up tomorrow to the 40's - should I just wait it out?

Heat up the garage? any ideas?

thanks
vedazu
12 years ago
I'm camping on with a similar question and hope there is a plumber around to answer this. I was away for two weeks and had the heat down to about 55. All hot and cold water lines work in my house, except a sink on the north side of the house. Neither hot nor cold faucets has water. I'm assuming I have a frozen pipe somewhere. I've put a small space heater in the space. Should I do more? Can I do more?
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bus_driver
12 years ago
Open the doors to the cabinet or enclosure and leave the faucets slightly open. While the hot water was running, it might have been wise to let it run for a while in the hope that it would heat up the cold pipe which probably was nearby. Hair dryer may help. Use nothing with flames.
vedazu
12 years ago
Thank you, busdriver....let's hope it works!
homebound
12 years ago
x2. I just thawed pipes for someone yesterday. Yup, hairdryer, open vanity door, etc., and I got them running. Nothing burst, thankfully.

When they thaw, be prepared in case you discover a burst pipe, etc.