I have a busted pipe

Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive February 2007: I have a busted pipe

I can't believe this. This happened to me 2 years ago- it's the same pipe! My bathroom is an addition so the floor needs pulled up to even get to the pipes. I just don't know how to keep this from happening. To pass the inspection when we bought our house we had to put these vents around the bathroom to get to the pipes. Despite packing it with insulation, when you pull the panel off to get to the pipes behind the tub it is like reaching into a deep freezer. My tub drain froze and the pipe under the sink despite dripping. I propped the hair dryer up for over 3 hours to get the drain to thaw. The line under the sink thawed too and I heard all this rushing water seemingly under the floor or behind the walls. It leaks into the basement so right now, I have to keep the main valve shut off. It's market day and I have my first test tomorrow. I hate winter and i've been positive despite the cabin fever/school out days/constant whining and bickering. ARGH!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 04:27 pm:

I'm so sorry. What a pain.

By Unschoolmom on Friday, February 9, 2007 - 07:04 am:

The pipes are on an outside wall or a cold basement floor? You said it's packed with insulation, is it fiberglass? I'm thinking that if you've pushed and compressed fibreglass insulation between the pipes and the outside wall (if that's the case) then you've reduced the R value of that insulation. It only works well when it's packed loss because it's R value comes from the air traped in the insulation and when you compress it, you push out the air.

You can get sheets of styrafoam insulation that you might be able to cut and slide between the pipe and the wall or/and floor. The stuff made for insulating the outside of foundation walls has the highest R value per inch and might be your best bet. There's also foam sleeving you can buy to slip around the pipe if it would fit after the foam board. Then you can loosely pack the dead space with fibrglass.