Frozen Pipes 3

[BigFish]

Woke up this morning.....-7 degrees....cold water supply to shower frozen, toilet water supply frozen! My apartment bathroom sits over an unheated crawl space....the cold water supply to the shower is wrapped with pipe insulation and had not given me any trouble until this morning.....the toilet had not given me any trouble before this morning either. The hot water supply to the shower had frozen earlier this week...it was not wrapped with insulation, so I put a heater cord on it and it is fine now! The drain for the shower is also frozen solid, so no water can drain from the tub....this sucks! I have done all I can...landlord does not seem to want to call anyone out here to have it taken care of so I say screw it...I have done all I can!! I just hope it warms up before the pipes burst! Wish me luck!

[fishweewee]

"Let's lynch the landlord..."

[beachwalker]

Is there a light in the crawl space ?

That usually will keep it just warm enough if the plumbing is nearby to not freeze it up

[Slipknot]

I don't think a light will help any in this cold.

Bigfish, just go take a shower at your landlords house

[Goose]

Spot lights put out more heat.

[Raven]

part of it is due to windchill ...so one trick is to reduce that by placing full bags of dry leaves against the house where the crawl space is....if thats feasible....obviously if the crawl space is open all the way around the house it would take a zillion bags...Part of the problem is that without any snow drifts everything is exposed.
Bigfish start a log especially of your time/materials and bill it out at 50 bucks an hour for plumbing charges to be deducted off your rent. Pay less rent for labor /materials used and include a copy of the reciepts or bill along with your (reduced) rent check.

[fishsmith]

no water = no rent payment.

Thats BS with the cost of rent, unless you've got a good deal..

[Fishpart]

Might be too late, my mom tells the story of one of her sisters bringing a city slicker to the house in the winter time where she lived in central maine. He shut the water off in the tub, now there's no water for the rest of the winter............. If you get it going again let it run a trickle......................

[CAL]

BF, don't pay your rent this month

[chris L]

no you need to take a dump on the landlords porch and a pee on his door .

if nothing else it gets his attention !

[Karl F]

You are in the drivers seat on this one.. You as a tenant actually have more rights than the owner/landlord..
Call city/town hall NOW, they will get the ball rolling for you.

If that fails, call the lanlord, and ask him if he has any matches... when asked what for, tell him to ignite the paper and kindling you have packed in the crawl space to thaw the pipes.. then say, Oh! Never mind, I have a blow torch!

Good luck!

[beachwalker]

Light bulbs in crawl spaces save people thousands of dollars every winter over here. As long as there insulation and not to big a space it amazing what a 60 watt bulb can do to a crawl space

[grampa old spook]

our furnace went last week,4 days no heat with temps 60 below,1 call to the code enforcement office n we got a new furnace installed.then mine and the next door neighbors had no heat when it was done.i grabbed the manager and reset a shutoff electric valve that had the fuse backed out .phuckem,alls fair in winter time....

[Jenn]

first thing is leave it dripping (matter of fact we took shifts last nite to get up every few hours and run the water "just in case") and second ...you rent it not own it! thats a no brainer right there!

[Bawana]

Dammmmmmmmmm grandpa 60 below I*d get outta that place fast!!!!!!!!!!I lived in the warm part of the state Springvale for a couple of years and that was bad enough in the winter and the deer flies in the spring and Kennebunk/Wells had the biggest marsh mosquitoes i have ever seen.I swear they liked the 100% deet Bens bug repellent I had on.OK in the day but twilight and dark was brutal.

[Van]

Good buddy of mine is a plumber. He got a call to a house where a woman lives alone. Walking up the driveway there was a stream of water heading out of the house. Gets inside finds water gushing through a hole in the wall (AN INSIDE WALL). Apparently she has not had heat in years and lives with a coat on. So he shuts the water off heads back upsatirs, the break is in a pipe running to the 2nd floor, goes upstairs...toilet--frozen pond, basin-frozen pond, tub-frozen pond. He pleads for her to get the heat fixed--NO WAY- and she has the money!!!!
So he fixes the burst pipe, she pays him and he leaves.

I don't even want to think about how she survives without heat, without running water and takes care of business without a crapper...in this freakin cold......???????????

[BigFish]

If I was that guy I might have thought about reporting the woman to the dept. of social services or to the towns board of health. Just my feeling! What a way to live.

[chris L]

I just had my fuel pump changed this morning on my furnace . had to hit the reset 3 times last night to make it through the night with heat . my father in law lives with me and he dont handle the cold too well anymore .

[Moose Nuckle]

Hey Van,
I agree with what Big Fish said. Some on eshould make the call.

[Van]

BF and Moose:

I totally agree, and he told me he could call the town if he wanted, but unfortunately this guy don't care about nothing but himself and the almightly dollar.
I know he would not get involved.
Wouldn't want to draw attention to himself either. Thats just the way he is. Sad but true.....