HOME ISSUE - HELP!!!

[Pants]

We are in Chicago. My upstairs shower, both heads, isn’t working. All other faucets are working, as is downstairs shower. HOW BAD IS THIS AND WHAT DO I DO?!

Please keep in mind plumbing waits are currently multiple days due to weather. I don’t know what to do!!!

[Deleted]

Well, my first thought right now would be frozen pipe.

[Pants]

Jan 30, 2019 23:42:17 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Well, my first thought right now would be frozen pipe.

Right but all the other ones are working? I’m so confused.

Also if it is frozen, what do I do about that?

[justme]

Is the faucet in the bathroom with the showerhead not working working?

[Pants]

Jan 31, 2019 0:01:51 GMT -5 justme said:

Is the faucet in the bathroom with the showerhead not working working?

Yes.

[Deleted]

It could just be the line to your shower. Is it near an outside wall? You can try heating the head with a hair dryer. I'm guessing the pipes are all impossible to get at though.

[justme]

What mpl is saying is my guess. With the faucet working that means water is getting to the room fine, its just not getting to the shower. A heater sitting in the shower facing the shower head/faucet would help I think.

Not sure if running hot water out of the working faucet would help at all, but the question popped in my head. Probably wouldn't.

It also might make more sense to get at the faucets with a heater from the other side instead of having to heat through tile, but it depends on how thick the wall.

[Deleted]

On the plus side it's supposed to get up near 40 by this weekend already. You could just wait it out.

[countrygirl2]

Is there an opening in a closet or behind the shower where a panel can be removed?  If so set a heater near it, making sure nothing flammable is near it and let it run in the opening.

[CCL]

Agree it might be frozen. You might be able to thaw using everyone's suggestions, but, if not, be careful when it thaws cause you may have a leak and have to shut the water off. I'm guessing it's on an outside wall.

[CCL]

Jan 31, 2019 0:20:47 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

On the plus side it's supposed to get up near 40 by this weekend already. You could just wait it out.

Unless the line is cracked.

[Pants]

Not an outside wall. No access to the pipes, they are in internal walls.

I would guess based on layout that those pipes might run next to the old chimney stack, which is unused. It does run out the roof though. Might be it - they’d be the only pipes in the house that do.

Thanks all. I turned up the heat upstairs. We will see how we go. No leaks that I can see so far, so fingers crossed I guess.

[Pants]

Thank you all! I’ll let everyone know if the house floods!

[weltschmerz]

Jan 31, 2019 0:00:52 GMT -5 Pants said:

Jan 30, 2019 23:42:17 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Well, my first thought right now would be frozen pipe.

Right but all the other ones are working? I’m so confused.

Also if it is frozen, what do I do about that?

It's very possible. The pipe to my hot water in the tub freezes regularly, while the I still have hot water in the sink right next to the tub.
I remove the panel where the pipes are, put a space heater in the bathroom, and close the door. It takes about 45 minutes to thaw out.
You'll start hearing a gurgling, and the water is on its way!

[weltschmerz]

Leave the shower heads dripping if you manage to defrost them and it continues to be cold.
Moving water doesn't freeze as fast.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 31, 2019 1:12:34 GMT -5 Pants said:

Thank you all! I’ll let everyone know if the house floods!

does that mean the water is flowing again?

Any other updates?

I've had frozen pipes before, sometimes the leak is small and takes a while to show itself if buried in the wall. Good luck! 

rolled over in bed to check temps on phone, up to -19 already! temp was reasonable, could hear the heating still functioning...... then saw this thread.

That got me out of bed!

All faucets flowing! Basement sink had to wait on coffee to get checked though.....

[Rukh O'Rorke]

how long was it frozen? any idea?

[hoops902]

It seems unlikely in my estimation that simply turning the heat up upstairs is going to solve anything.  You likely can't turn the heat up high enough that pipes within the walls will experience any meaningful rise in temperature...particularly if the pipe was already cold enough to freeze the water.

Check around carefully once it is back working again for leaks within the walls that may run along framing to who knows where in the house.

[sheilaincali]

Jan 31, 2019 9:27:23 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

It seems unlikely in my estimation that simply turning the heat up upstairs is going to solve anything.  You likely can't turn the heat up high enough that pipes within the walls will experience any meaningful rise in temperature...particularly if the pipe was already cold enough to freeze the water.

Check around carefully once it is back working again for leaks within the walls that may run along framing to who knows where in the house.

A friend of mine had a frozen pipe like this. They had to cut the drywall out and thaw it out with hair dryers and keep a space heater on it.

I feel your pain. My water meter froze and cracked so I had to emergency call the city yesterday- they came out in like 30 minutes and fixed it and I had to wait another 30 for the plumber to fix the leak at the next shark valve because that cracked too and the city couldn't fix it.  I was able to get cold water as soon as the plumber finished but I had to run the hot water for probably 4 hours before they fully thawed out and I had actual water pressure in my hot water lines.

[Wisconsin Beth]

SHEILA!!!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!! BIG HUGS!!!

I've missed you. How are you doing?

[sheilaincali]

Jan 31, 2019 10:21:25 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

SHEILA!!!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!! BIG HUGS!!!

I've missed you. How are you doing?

Yeah- I snuck back in at the beginning of the year. Life's going well. Hubs is traveling for work this week so of course my water pipes froze (something always happens when he travels). The Boy is nearly all grown up. He turns 21 in April. He's a junior at University of Dayton. His first bachelor's is in Computer Engineering and he'll return for a 5th year to get his Master's in Computer Engineering and finish the last couple of classes he needs for his 2nd bachelors- Electrical Engineering.

He's the youngest member of some fancy research team studying Artificial Intelligence and it's potential applications for the unmanned drone program. It's a 3 plus year joint project with the military. They want him to stay on through his masters. Plus he gets "ownership" of the research and can use it for his thesis. Sorry- I'm really proud of that kid.

Otherwise life is grand. Loving being an empty nester

Hope all is well with you.

[dannylion]

Jan 31, 2019 11:24:39 GMT -5 sheilaincali said:

Jan 31, 2019 10:21:25 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

SHEILA!!!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!! BIG HUGS!!!

I've missed you. How are you doing?

Yeah- I snuck back in at the beginning of the year. Life's going well. Hubs is traveling for work this week so of course my water pipes froze (something always happens when he travels). The Boy is nearly all grown up. He turns 21 in April. He's a junior at University of Dayton. His first bachelor's is in Computer Engineering and he'll return for a 5th year to get his Master's in Computer Engineering and finish the last couple of classes he needs for his 2nd bachelors- Electrical Engineering.

He's the youngest member of some fancy research team studying Artificial Intelligence and it's potential applications for the unmanned drone program. It's a 3 plus year joint project with the military. They want him to stay on through his masters. Plus he gets "ownership" of the research and can use it for his thesis. Sorry- I'm really proud of that kid.

Otherwise life is grand. Loving being an empty nester

Hope all is well with you.

Yay!  Well done, Sheila's Boy!  

[dannylion]

How are the pipes now, Pants?   I've been dealing with a nonfunctioning heating system today (now fixed) and haven't been participating.  I hope all is well now.  

[tskeeter]

Jan 30, 2019 23:36:30 GMT -5 Pants said:

We are in Chicago. My upstairs shower, both heads, isn’t working. All other faucets are working, as is downstairs shower. HOW BAD IS THIS AND WHAT DO I DO?!

Please keep in mind plumbing waits are currently multiple days due to weather. I don’t know what to do!!!

Pants, having lived where battling frozen pipes was almost a way of life, I think Justme’s suggestions are on track.  You want to warm up the pipes any way you safely can.  Running hot water through nearby faucets might warm up pipes enough to defrost the showers.  Setting up a fan to blow warm water air against the shower walls with the shower heads in them might help, too.  If you keep your shower door closed, you create a block of air that can not circulate.  That means the shower walls can’t absorb heat from the other air in your bathroom.  Even doing something such as putting lamps that generate a lot of heat in the shower and pointing the lamps at the shower walls could help.

The reason that some of your faucets work and others don’t is due to the routing of water lines and how frequently the faucet us used.  Your shower is probably used once a day.  That means that the water in the pipes has 24 hours to get so cold that it freezes.  Your bathroom sink and other fixtures probably get used several times a day.  As a result, the water that has cooled off is replaced by warm water several times every 24 hours and any metal water lines are also warmed up.

[Pants]

Update: pipes still frozen. It’ll get above freezing in the next 48 hours. We will see what happens.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 31, 2019 21:44:45 GMT -5 Pants said:

Update: pipes still frozen. It’ll get above freezing in the next 48 hours. We will see what happens.

Oh no! They'll be leaky for sure!

[Pants]

Update: shower is now working. No sign of wet areas anywhere in downstairs. So, for now all’s well that ends wel. Thanks for the help all!

[tskeeter]

Feb 2, 2019 12:48:02 GMT -5 Pants said:

Update: shower is now working. No sign of wet areas anywhere in downstairs. So, for now all’s well that ends wel. Thanks for the help all!

Pants, has your shower frozen up before?

There is something that might help prevent this problem in the future.  Modify your plumbing system to circulate hot water through your plumbing.  Because the master bath in our house is a long way from the water heater and because our water lines are under the slab, we have one of these systems.  There is a timer controlled pump at the water heater and a valve in the water supply lines to the master bath sink that connects the hot water line to the cold water line.  When the pump runs, it increases the pressure on the hot water, which opens the valve under the sink and allows the cold water line to be used to return hot water to the water heater.  That prevents the hot water in the pipes from cooling off.  And it could prevent frozen, split water lines.

[Pants]

Feb 2, 2019 13:37:41 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Feb 2, 2019 12:48:02 GMT -5 Pants said:

Update: shower is now working. No sign of wet areas anywhere in downstairs. So, for now all’s well that ends wel. Thanks for the help all!

Pants, has your shower frozen up before?

There is something that might help prevent this problem in the future.  Modify your plumbing system to circulate hot water through your plumbing.  Because the master bath in our house is a long way from the water heater and because our water lines are under the slab, we have one of these systems.  There is a timer controlled pump at the water heater and a valve in the water supply lines to the master bath sink that connects the hot water line to the cold water line.  When the pump runs, it increases the pressure on the hot water, which opens the valve under the sink and allows the cold water line to be used to return hot water to the water heater.  That prevents the hot water in the pipes from cooling off.  And it could prevent frozen, split water lines.

This is the first time as far as I know. It was -15 to -20, so pretty out of ordinary.

[CCL]

Thanks for the update. I'm glad you got lucky on this, especially since it was so cold and frozen for so long.