Submitted by t3_zua0i6 in rva

I'm trying to figure out if my pipes are frozen or if there's a larger issue in the neighborhood. Woke up to find we have no running water. This is our first winter in this house (near Manchester), and I've never dealt with this issue in any other place.

Update: A pipe burst...

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t1_j1hy3i5 wrote

Your main pipe is probably frozen in your basement. Crawl down there with a hairdryer and hit that thing until it opens up. Probably frozen near the edge of your house where the is an air gap in your foundation.

Just give it a good look and make sure it isn't bulging or something but it's likely a thick metal pipe and will be fine.

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OP t1_j1hykzu wrote

Thanks! Headed down there now. Cold water is working again, but still nothing on the hot

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t1_j1hz4we wrote

Also, just adding as a fellow homeowner who bought a house with pipes that used to freeze, fix it before the next cod snap. Fill all the gaps under your house and wrap your pipes. It really doesn't take long and will make a huge difference.

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t1_j1hyswd wrote

Oh then you need to follow the warm (red likely) line from your hot water heater both ways. That's good news about the cold, not that bad of a freeze!

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t1_j1huru8 wrote

If you have a crawl space you can try sticking a lamp in there if the space is sealed up pretty well.

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t1_j1i0f21 wrote

I also did not leave a drip and now have a frozen line.

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OP t1_j1i1o14 wrote

Ugh...welcome to the crawl space club. Hope you get it fixed without too much trouble

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t1_j1i22gq wrote

Is that what you had to do

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OP t1_j1i26zm wrote

Im working on it now. Just sitting down here with a heater on it. But I think I found the spot...we'll see in a sec

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t1_j1i9ggb wrote

Did it work

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OP t1_j1imf7r wrote

Found an exposed iron(?) pipe under the deck that lines up with the hot line inside. Wrapped that and used some fiber glass to fill in the gaps as much as possible. We'll see if that works.

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t1_j1irklr wrote

It's probably copper. Im a renter so I'm afraid to do something and unintentionally build up pressure down the line and blow some shit up.

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t1_j1krroe wrote

As long as you don't use a crazy heater you'll be fine it's when you use a torch that you tend to blow s*** up

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OP t1_j1hvifc wrote

Also found this

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t1_j1hzed0 wrote

If your pipes are frozen make sure to turn all the faucets on before you attempt to defrost. To keep the pipes from bursting when they defrost.

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OP t1_j1ij7gs wrote

So the pipes will only burst when they start to thaw? I have all the faucets open, so it would make me feel much better if the bursting part was preventable.

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t1_j1ikmt3 wrote

no it can burst through freezing. It's the most likely. Won't be an issue if you have pex though, it's usually the copper hot

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t1_j1i1kba wrote

I’m in forest hill with no water

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t1_j1iihnk wrote

no water is almost certainly frozen pipes. Probably under crawl. You want to deal with this soonest

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t1_j1ixy75 wrote

A homie in Randolph left a fossil dripping but still froze. He used a space heater but burst his pipes. Raining in his basement right now.

Be safe out there.

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t1_j1kjrw9 wrote

Somehow my crawlspace door got opened last night and the main water line froze and split "copper". Its 9:45 and the plumber I called at 10:00am just got here about an hour ago to fix it. I turned the water off at the meter and used a heat gun to thaw the lines as best I could. I feel awful someone is out here working on Christmas Eve but I do at least have a pretty decent tip for him.

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t1_j1ks4xj wrote

It's fixed now and he was very happy with the Christmas bonus.

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t1_j1mwt4x wrote

Mine came back about an hour ago. There’s a lightbulb down there I assume for light not for warmth but I’ve had it on.

Running all my fossils rn and will be leader of the drip gang tonight.

I haven’t seen avatar 2 but I do know the Way of Water

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t1_j1i8vgu wrote

I woke up to find my water was shut off aswell in museum district Richmond. I live in an apartment. Do I just wait it out?

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t1_j1hsrcs wrote

[deleted]

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t1_j1hu0rp wrote

Your pipes are probably frozen. The city only delivers cold water and that also supplies the water heater.

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t1_j1hulf7 wrote

It’s Christmas Eve. While the city still delivers the water. The guys who receive the water and put it in the pipes are off.

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t1_j1hvmog wrote

The elves?

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t1_j1iip9z wrote

water elves. The tree elves deliver trees

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t1_j1inu1c wrote

Excuse me - the term is Dryad.

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t1_j1iptcz wrote

nice! Not enough coffee to remember that.

Is there a male equivalent? Or can Dryads be male?

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t1_j1iquvm wrote

I think the actual answer is - it’s complicated and are we talking DND or Greek mythology or WoW.

Short answer is - Satyr

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t1_j1huqyg wrote

[deleted]

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t1_j1hv2t1 wrote

If pipes are frozen turn the faucets all the way on. That way when they thaw the water will have somewhere to go.

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t1_j1iis55 wrote

its determined. Easy to diagnose from what you said. You've got a frozen cold pipe. not the main, as you still have hot water.

Drip your faucets

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