I need help! I have water sitting in my tub... I have a bathroom over a basement which sits on an outside wall. My shower pipes do not have an access panel. My shower will not produce hot water.. nothing comes out.. the tub won't drain. I can get hot water from the sink in the bathroom and the kitchen. Do I have a frozen pipe? How can I protect it so it won't bust? How can I fix this problem and/or prevent it?

New home owner,
Melody

Cold weather brings water woes. I can't tell you how to fix it, but I can tell you that the problem will go away once everything warms up outside. In the meantime, the next time you have a cold wave where the temp outside gets to about 15 above zero, start leaving your cold water turned on to a very fast trickle. This will keep the water flowing and keep the pipes from freezing.

Outside walls are tricky to keep warm. You might have to resort to putting some insulation in the wall or wrapping the pipes. Am mystified that it's only the hot water. You didn't mention if the tub gets cold water. Also have you tried plunging the tub?

Twinkiedooter... hot water always freezes before cold water... I know it sounds odd but it is the way it is.

Here, the cold water is heated which causes the cold water to lose oxygen and then when it becomes cold water again it has less kinetic energy than similar cold water that has not been heated to 120 degrees and therefore hot pipe freezes before cold water pipe. That is how it was explained to me anyway... AND I must note that almost all freeze ups that I have repaired are hot water pipes... not all, but most!

Hey, you've been very nice to me and I appreciate it.. hope you find this a positive post cause that is how it was intended! Take care!. Mark

Hey Mass - yep I did forget the old hot water freezes faster. I did that experiment when I was a kid in Penna a million years ago. Have had a horrible sinus infection for the past month and sometimes my thinking gets fuzzy and I fade in and out at times. Any suggestions how to unclog my sinus? Sans doctor visit, that is?