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s withrow · Jan 26, 2005, 07:01 AM

Thanks for being an expert.

All the fixtures in my ground-floor bathroom addition refuse to drain. The water runs (not frozen pipes), and the plumbing in the rest of the house is fine. Before it stopped draining there was a few days of water sputtering up the shower drain and/or the sink drain when I flushed the toilet. Water does still appear to drain slowly from the shower and sink drains. I've been reading your forum and thought it might be a frozen drain-pipe as it's been -10 or worse (that's Celsius, I'm Canadian), for the past couple of weeks. I tried putting hot water and salt down the drains to no avail. I've tried plunging the toilet, also to no avail. When I first flushed the toilet to the point it over-flowed and then scooped it out into the sink, water leaked out the hallway wall, i.e. not the wall the toilet/sink/shower adjoin. My crawlspace does not extend under the bathroom addition. Should I wait for warmer weather or do I have to get someone in to start cutting up the floor? (I'm not knowledgeable, but I am enterprising and successfully reseating the toilet in my upstairs bathroom three weeks ago. Luckily, it's working like a dream.)

Yours,
S.

speedball1 · Jan 26, 2005, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by s withrow

Thanks for being an expert.

All the fixtures in my ground-floor bathroom addition refuse to drain. The water runs (not frozen pipes), and the plumbing in the rest of the house is fine. Before it stopped draining there was a few days of water sputtering up the shower drain and/or the sink drain when I flushed the toilet. Water does still appear to drain slowly from the shower and sink drains. I've been reading your forum and thought it might be a frozen drain-pipe as it's been -10 or worse (that's Celcius, I'm Canadian), for the past couple of weeks. I tried putting hot water and salt down the drains to no avail. I've tried plunging the toilet, also to no avail. When I first flushed the toilet to the point it over-flowed and then scooped it out into the sink, water leaked out the hallway wall, i.e. not the wall the toilet/sink/shower adjoin. My crawlspace does not extend under the bathroom addition. Should I wait for warmer weather or do I have to get someone in to start cutting up the floor? (I'm not knowledgeable, but I am enterprising and successfully reseating the toilet in my upstairs bathroom three weeks ago. Luckily, it's working like a dream.)

Yours,
S.

Greetings from Florida where we don't have frozen pipes, ( just hurricanes and cockroaches the size of Shetland Ponys).
"Should I wait for warmer weather or do I have to get someone in to start cutting up the floor? "
The problem here is that you don't know if your drainages froze up or you have a blockage. In either case you shouldn't have to do wait for warmer weather or start tearing up your floors.
I would first go on the roof,(brrrr!) and snake out the pipe that vents the fixtures that won't drain. Use a spade tip and it will clear a blockage and break up the ice if it's froze up. Let me know how you make out. Regards Tom

tommytman · Jan 26, 2005, 06:52 PM

I lived in Montreal a while back. Is this your first winter in the house? I'm sure it was 10 below last year as well. What is under your bathroom addition?

s withrow · Jan 27, 2005, 06:57 AM

Tommyman,

I don't know what's under my addition. Not a crawlspace. Probably nothing + pipes + limestone (Kingston has few basements because of the limestone). The floor of the addition is elevated about a foot from the ground at the back. Speedball suggested that I get on the roof and bang any ice off the vent as a first approach. It's minus 35 Celsius with the wind chill here, so - as I have another washroom - I'm not getting up there until it warms up. Still, can't identify the culprit vent from looking at roof from the ground (no pipes sticking out of addition roof, but there is a snow drift up there). Doesn't seem to go through the roof of the addition. And the rest of the plumbing in the house works fine. Do you understand bathroom additions built on limestone? This is my second month in the house. The addition looks beautiful -- but I was thinking of putting a washer/dryer back there, so really have to figure out this plumbing thing. (Ideally, for no $ at all. I'm crazy like that.)

Thanks for caring about my pipes.

Yours,
s.

labman · Jan 27, 2005, 07:23 AM

Is this the addition's first winter? If so, the builder may have misjudged what the drain pipes would stand, and you should let him know about the problem. There should be some space under there, maybe more of a wiggle space than a crawl space. Are there foundation vents? Perhaps you need to close them in the fall and open them in the spring. I don't trust the thermostatic ones to work.

There must be drain vents somewhere. Does the addition have a attic that adjoins the main attic? The vents may be tied together in the attic. You might have to disconnect or cut the vent pipe in the attic and snake the vet from there.