View Full Version : Plumbing water pipes
sassy3001
Jan 16, 2009, 04:08 AM
I live in a camp far in the woods and I let my kitchen faucet run in fear of it freazing.Well it did from outside the camp under the camp somewear.what can I do to thaw it cheap;being I don't have much mony.Help me please.
21boat
Jan 16, 2009, 04:45 AM
They way we would address the waterlines getting frozen in the ground is to mound up leaves piled in length over where the buried waterlines are or use straw.. IN the old days when we had a water spigot coming out of the ground we would get a wooden box and fill it with leaves and put that over the spigot to insulate it with the ground heat.
There is a plummer tool to locate the pipe and someone can show you its locations and pile a foot or so of straw corn row fashion to gain heat from the ground below it to thaw it out but it might take some time, Another trick is where the water line comes out of the ground is to box that and insulated it so the actual natural ground heat can get inside that box
Signed 21 Boat
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speedball1
Jan 16, 2009, 06:32 AM
I live in a camp far in the woods and i let my kitchen faucet run in fear of it freazing.Well it did from outside the camp under the camp somewear.what can I do to thaw it cheap;being I dont have much mony.Help me please.
Excellent answer by 21boat! An other good insulator is Armaflex, (see image) This is a spongy covering that slips over the pipe and protects it from the cold.
massplumber2008
Jan 16, 2009, 07:17 AM
Hi all:
I have another take on this problem here as my family has had its share of camps over the years. Most of the time water was fed into the camp through a line run from the LAKE and into a pump that fed the water pipes to the house.
I'm willing to guess that the pipes that are frozen are aboveground and can be thawed using a MAPPGAS or PROPANE torch (sold at home depot... see pic.) or maybe using a paint stripping HEAT GUN... ;) If you use these tools you MUST have a FIRE EXTINGUISHER handy... just in case... ok?
If all pipes are frozen then you could plastic off the underside of the perimeter of the camp and you could rent a SALAMANDER (see pic.) type of propane or kerosene heater and blow hot air under the camp to unfreeze all pipes.
Finally, if you will decide to use the armorflex insulation Speedball1 mentioned then I would recommend that you install a HEAT TAPE on the pipes prior to installing the insulation wrap and then simply plug in the heater tape when conditions get close to freezing. The insulation will help to hold the heat in and reduce the time that the heat tape is on (all controlled by thermostatic bulb placed alongside the pipe but under the insulation).
Let us know more...
MARK