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Started By
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re: Better to have water dripping or turn off main and drain.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:18 am to NATidefan
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:18 am to NATidefan
I’m considering the same. I get the drip philosophy, and agree with it, but I have a unique scenario which is leading me toward shutting off the water and opening every tap in the house.
I have a really old wood frame house. Dipshits ran a bathroom sink supply in exterior wall, no insulation. Secondarily, I have upstairs laundry with supplies in the same wall, uninsulated. I can’t really drip the laundry supplies unless I rig up a funnel and disconnect them from the washer.
In the bad freeze that crippled us last year, both of these lines froze, but I was here to thaw them. Kids shut off the sink and laundry froze overnight, though we kept it running most of the day doing laundry.
The rest of the house was fine. Plumbing in crawl space with ducts. I took water temp regularly and it never fell below 40. If I drain lines at lowest taps, it should get all the water out of those wall supplies and into the pipes in the crawl space.
What would you do here?
I have a really old wood frame house. Dipshits ran a bathroom sink supply in exterior wall, no insulation. Secondarily, I have upstairs laundry with supplies in the same wall, uninsulated. I can’t really drip the laundry supplies unless I rig up a funnel and disconnect them from the washer.
In the bad freeze that crippled us last year, both of these lines froze, but I was here to thaw them. Kids shut off the sink and laundry froze overnight, though we kept it running most of the day doing laundry.
The rest of the house was fine. Plumbing in crawl space with ducts. I took water temp regularly and it never fell below 40. If I drain lines at lowest taps, it should get all the water out of those wall supplies and into the pipes in the crawl space.
What would you do here?
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:26 am
2
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:18 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
you’re leaving, turn off main, open all faucets, and allow to drain. Opening the faucets allows any water that may freeze room to expand
Jesus Christ yall are offering bad advice. Unless he intends to fully flush the water out, he's taking a huge risk. Most people don't flush, leaving water in the pipes to freeze.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:20 am to NATidefan
quote:
But I know if he drips it won't freeze to begin with.
That depends on how cold it's going to get and how warm/sunny it's going to get.
And if it freezes, you WILL get burst pipes due to the pressure backing up behind the ice
And then potentially days of that burst pipe blowing water under your house/foundation
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:21 am
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:21 am to Oates Mustache
quote:
Jesus Christ yall are offering bad advice. Unless he intends to fully flush the water out, he's taking a huge risk. Most people don't flush, leaving water in the pipes to freeze.
The water expands to the easiest point which is where no water is or where the open fixture is. You may have an icecicle hanging from your kitchen sink, but the pipe will not burst.
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:22 am
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:22 am to The Third Leg
quote:
I have a really old wood frame house. Dipshits ran a bathroom sink supply in exterior wall, no insulation. Secondarily, I have upstairs laundry with supplies in the same wall, uninsulated. I can’t really drip the laundry supplies unless I rig up a funnel and disconnect them from the washer.
I'm similar. Old wood house with exterior pipes outside the kitchen and a water heater in an uninsulated attic.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:23 am to thelsutigers
quote:
The water expands to the easiest point which is where no water is or where the open fixture is. You may have an icecicle hanging from your kitchen sink, but the pipe will not burst.
Exactly. This is what I don't get. If there is no pressure behind the ice (and there shouldn't be if the main is off), then the ice will just go along the pipes.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:24 am to GREENHEAD22
Looking at the Houston accuweather forecast, you only have 1 day cold enough to worry about. That's Thursday.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:25 am to GREENHEAD22
if you will not be home for an extended time frame, the shut off water and drain the pressure off. Dripping will only protect the mains and branches you are running water from. piping branches to laundry or exterior hose bibs. if no water is flowing in the branches, it can freeze.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:26 am to The Third Leg
Disconnect your washing machine and Drip it into the washing machine drain.
If you leave water in there it might expand like slow flow says, but it'll definitely freeze if it's cold enough. I'd rather it not freeze to begin with. But that's me.
If you leave water in there it might expand like slow flow says, but it'll definitely freeze if it's cold enough. I'd rather it not freeze to begin with. But that's me.
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:29 am
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:27 am to NATidefan
quote:
Maybe??? But I know if he drips it won't freeze to begin with.
A drip can still freeze. But it’ll prevent a big blockage that causes a burst before it thaws.
Don’t know if y’all will get that cold but we do every now and again.
The big ones we do (we don’t have any above ground pipes except for in the house):
- Drip faucets. Both warm and cold.
- Open cabinets around the pipes (bathroom, kitchen, etc). Warmer air in the house will flow around them.
- Make sure your outside faucet/spigot is turned off (especially if you live in an area where it’s stayed warm enough to keep it on). Also will want to either shut off or drip outside sink if you have one.
- When it gets as cold as it will here, we’ll even add a space heater to the room near the pipes.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:27 am to NATidefan
I'll just reiterate a point here.
If you're away from the home and a pipe bursts and you have the main on, you're going to be in some major shite...and then you'll have to repair the broken pipe.
If you're away from the home and a pipe bursts without water flowing, at worst you'll have to repair the broken pipe when you get back.
If you're away from the home and a pipe bursts and you have the main on, you're going to be in some major shite...and then you'll have to repair the broken pipe.
If you're away from the home and a pipe bursts without water flowing, at worst you'll have to repair the broken pipe when you get back.
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:28 am to GREENHEAD22
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:30 am to Oates Mustache
quote:
Wut? Dripping prevents that from happening.
It doesn’t always. Not if that’s the only thing you do. You also run the risk if you’re not home and the power goes out that the house doesn’t stay warm enough to keep warm airflow around the inside pipes. Up here, we were always told if you’re leaving in the winter to flush and turn off the main.
quote:
And then you'd come home to broken pipes unless you legit flush out all the water, which most people won't do.
I’d assume flushing was an assumed part of that process?
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:30 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
Exactly. This is what I don't get. If there is no pressure behind the ice (and there shouldn't be if the main is off), then the ice will just go along the pipes.
when a pipe freezes, it causes an ice plug in the pipe. a frozen pipe will not necessarily burst. Water is nearly incompressible. if a pipe is full of water and blocked by closed valve or plug on two ends, and the pipe is full between the two blocks, when that volume begins to freeze if can then burst the pipe. Remember when water freezes it expands if that expansion cannot be relieved, it puts pressure on the pipe and if that pressure exceeds the pipe burst rating it will split. once it thaws out you have water everywhere.....
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:31 am to GREENHEAD22
Drip. My parents have a very old peir and beam house. One year they dripped and still had issues.
I think it dropped into mid teens for an extended period.
Some years you can plan all want and you can still have issues
I think it dropped into mid teens for an extended period.
Some years you can plan all want and you can still have issues
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:31 am to BluegrassBelle
Flushing involves blowing out the excess water. You can't just leave it sitting in the pipes. Lots of water sits in those pipes even after you turn all the faucets off.
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:34 am
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:32 am to BluegrassBelle
What if your house is new (<5 years old) and all internal plumbing is Pex piping?
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:32 am to BluegrassBelle
Also don't forget the toilets. Leave the inlet valve slightly open and prop open the flush valve. In 2018 I dripped everything but the toilet. Everything else was fine but the water line to the toilet busted.
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:36 am
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:33 am to NATidefan
quote:
Disconnect your washing machine and Drip it into the washing machine drain. I'd you leave water in there it might expand like slow flow says, but it'll definitely freeze if it's cold enough. I'd rather it not freeze to begin with. But that's me.
But if I drained the lines downstairs, the water in the supplies for that laundry will fall by laws of gravity and there won’t be any water in them. Maybe some in the hose, but that’s in a heated room.
The laundry line runs vertically from the crawlspace into the second story wall. For the sink, it runs up the same wall. If the lines have no pressure, wouldn’t all of that water just fall down into the crawl space plumbing? The bathroom tub is right there at that same sink location, it’s supplies come up into the room through the floor from the crawl space. The tap on the tub is about a foot lower than the tap on the sink.
Only way I lose heat is if a catastrophic event occurs, as I share grid with a trauma facility, so I’m not worried about losing heat.
This post was edited on 12/19/22 at 10:35 am
Posted on 12/19/22 at 10:33 am to Oates Mustache
quote:
Flushing involves blowing out the excess water. You can't just leave it sitting in the pipes. Lots of water sits in those pipes even after you turn all the faucets on.
Like I said, I assumed flushing was part of the process when you’re telling someone to turn off their main and open their faucets. Didn’t know I’d have to roll out a full on step by step.
I live in an area where we get enough winter weather to know how to flush a pipe.
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