Frozen pipes??? HELP!!

Sugarhunny1

Hi folks,

Sitting here in Bonnie Scotland and trying not to panic. I have three children who are throwing up everywhere and have no running water!

Got up this morning and we have no water, checked with the neighbours and they have water so its got to be a fault at our end.

We bought this house in April so have no idea if the property has been insulated. Can anyone give me some advice? Cant afford to call out a plumber on xmas eve! :-(

Sugar xxx

keith969

Hard to give advice without knowing more details, but do you know where the water pipe comes into the house (where is the main stopcock?) ? Does it run anywhere either outside, or inside in a cold area where it may have frozen?

If it does and you can get to it, warming it with a hairdryer will defrost it. But if its e.g. under floorboards it might be a bit more tricky...

Sugarhunny1

We have a stop !!!! underneath the sink in the kitchen and thats where the OH is at the moment with a hairdryer. Under the sink area is cold. Really trying not to panic! :-(

Sugar xxx

ormus

lag any pipes you can find with any suitable material.
also check there is no air bricks near any pipes. they can make the temperature plummet.
if so block them up for the winter.

i see its forecast to be minus 7 tonight in glasgow!

keystone

ormus wrote: »

lag any pipes you can find with any suitable material.
also check there is no air bricks near any pipes. they can make the temperature plummet.
if so block them up for the winter.

i see its forecast to be minus 7 tonight in glasgow!

Good advice about lagging. Airbricks are to provide air circulation - they should NOT be blocked up.

However, I rather thinking getting water flowing atm is rather more important than prevention tonight.

Cheers

Sugarhunny1

Thanks for all your time and advice people! OH has managed to unblock the sink in the kitchen, still no water upstairs. He's still at it with the hairdryer.

Thanks again!!

Sugar xxx

keystone

Sugarhunny1 wrote: »

Thanks for all your time and advice people! OH has managed to unblock the sink in the kitchen, still no water upstairs. He's still at it with the hairdryer.

Thanks again!!

Sugar xxx

Thats to be expected if the kitchen cold tap runs from the mains. If you have a tank in your roofspace from which all other taps are fed then you need to check that there isn't a problem up there as well.

Cheers

Sugarhunny1

keystone wrote: »

Thats to be expected if the kitchen cold tap runs from the mains. If you have a tank in your roofspace from which all other taps are fed then you need to check that there isn't a problem up there as well.

Cheers

We don't have any tank in the loft and we're both assuming (probably incorrectly) that the main entrance for the water supply to the house is through the kitchen sink pipes.

Sugar xxx

keystone

Sugarhunny1 wrote: »

We don't have any tank in the loft and we're both assuming (probably incorrectly) that the main entrance for the water supply to the house is through the kitchen sink pipes.

Sugar xxx

If you don't have any tanks in the roof then your assumption would be correct. Its that section of mains you need to thaw out and soon the taps will all run.

Cheers

Sugarhunny1

I cant thank everyone enough for taking the time to respond. MSE'rs are the kindest people.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sugar xxx

Swipe

So did you get it thawed?