Plumbing advice: No water in shower

[Locke]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Doesn't matter. Get back to selling computers.

Porn and Stock Quotes!

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by zamler

The problem is completely solved no further action is required.

Is there something else I should be doing?
I talked to a couple plumbers and they basically said if they don't know where it was frozen they would have to cut into the wall until they find it.
That doesn't seem great.

[Titan2]

Would one of those heat sensor guns work through the wall to find a cold zone?

https://www.amazon.ca/Thermometer-No...fecbfa31934d24

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Is there something else I should be doing?
I talked to a couple plumbers and they basically said if they don't know where it was frozen they would have to cut into the wall until they find it.
That doesn't seem great.

You have a potential disaster in the making. Burst pipes when you are not around and your house will be hit with thousands of gallons of water. That will be much more expensive.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Is there something else I should be doing?
I talked to a couple plumbers and they basically said if they don't know where it was frozen they would have to cut into the wall until they find it.
That doesn't seem great.

I'm no plumber but that sounds like a nightmare.

But I dont really see any other way. If you dont address it...its going to happen again.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by zamler

You have a potential disaster in the making. Burst pipes when you are not around and your house will be hit with thousands of gallons of water. That will be much more expensive.

I understand that but the plumbers I did talk to also said the level of cold temps is extremely unusual.
I would rather take steps now to prevent a problem downstream (pun intended). My dad worked in disaster restoration so I know the damage water can do and how fast.
But i also don't want to have someone cutting into the wall through my whole house to find the problem area.

Regardless I've got a call into Pete the Plumber so they can outline the options.

[zamler]

Most likely the lines come up from the basement up into the outer wall and to your fixtures. Plumbers don't run water lines horizontal through walls spanning multiple rooms.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by zamler

Most likely the lines come up from the basement up into the outer wall and to your fixtures. Plumbers don't run water lines horizontal through walls spanning multiple rooms.

What about between townhomes though (the wall of the bathroom where the shower was the issue, is a shared wall with the townhouse next to me). Their shower was fine.

I would assume the line comes up from the basement, and then splits between the sink and the shower. The sink was fine. Which, if indeed it's a single line coming from the basement, means perhaps it froze between the sink and the shower?

[zamler]

In that scenario I am not sure. I suspect the line that froze is a short run and probably is touching exterior sheeting, or the wall is not properly insulated. Or both.

Having been a painting contractor way back when I learned that general contractors are highly shall we say, variable in the quality of work. Even on a given day, same person.

[Fuzz]

Didn't you say your pipes are poly B? Maybe wait until it is convenient, and it would be a good time to get them all replaced if you can swing it. Does your insurance cover it, or is there a poly B exception in the policy?

[Jiri Hrdina]

No there isn’t a poly b exception so good there

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Titan2

Would one of those heat sensor guns work through the wall to find a cold zone?

https://www.amazon.ca/Thermometer-No...fecbfa31934d24

I had one that I borrowed from work. Very interesting and fun to play with (yes, you can sort of see hot spots through your clothing), but didn’t find a cold spot along the wall. Walls were pretty even temperature-wise, only cold spots I saw were actually at the intersection of wall and ceiling; not much, but a few degrees colder.

In other news, I didn’t have to resort to using the spraying the waterpik in the faucet as the hot water spontaneously started working. However, I think the combination of the choked drain and still trying to do a few dishes has exacerbated the fatberg to the point where any thawing probably won’t improve the situation. Guess I need to get the whole thing snaked again. The home DIYer snake does not go deep enough. This is a Balrog depth fatberg.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I understand that but the plumbers I did talk to also said the level of cold temps is extremely unusual.
I would rather take steps now to prevent a problem downstream (pun intended). My dad worked in disaster restoration so I know the damage water can do and how fast.
But i also don't want to have someone cutting into the wall through my whole house to find the problem area.

Regardless I've got a call into Pete the Plumber so they can outline the options.

A rule of thumb is you might get 5-7 freezes before cracking. It could happen the first time it will happen eventually after repeated freezing.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It seems strange to me that this issue seems to be arising for people now, after temps have warmed by 20 degrees.

[Tron_fdc]

After renovating my bathroom I learned there is a regulator on my spare bathroom shower. The main hot water line branches to the bathroom, and there is a copper regulator (I think it’s also called a charger) behind the handle that controls the flow.

Could be that.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I had one that I borrowed from work. Very interesting and fun to play with (yes, you can sort of see hot spots through your clothing), but didn’t find a cold spot along the wall. Walls were pretty even temperature-wise, only cold spots I saw were actually at the intersection of wall and ceiling; not much, but a few degrees colder.

In other news, I didn’t have to resort to using the spraying the waterpik in the faucet as the hot water spontaneously started working. However, I think the combination of the choked drain and still trying to do a few dishes has exacerbated the fatberg to the point where any thawing probably won’t improve the situation. Guess I need to get the whole thing snaked again. The home DIYer snake does not go deep enough. This is a Balrog depth fatberg.

If you know it's fat, I have a method you could try. You need massive pots of boiling water and a Costco size jug of dish detergent. Well, not really, but you want to pour a couple cups down the drain. Let it flow down a bit, then add a few litres of hot water. Once that has flowed you just dump loads of boiling water down. You really need enough hot water to get the pipes all hot too, combined with the soap, and it may flow for you.

I do a smaller version of this about every 6 months just to flush the pipes. My old cast iron has some rough spots that catch debris, so they need some love occasionally.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

It seems strange to me that this issue seems to be arising for people now, after temps have warmed by 20 degrees.

That is a strange interpretation if you’ve been following this thread.

Most of the issues that people had are correcting themselves once the temperature warmed by 20 degrees.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Wormius

...Guess I need to get the whole thing snaked again. The home DIYer snake does not go deep enough. This is a Balrog depth fatberg.

Boy, do I hear that a lot in my house.

What we spend on external snakers in a year...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Titan2

Boy, do I hear that a lot in my house.

What we spend on external snakers in a year...

Same. I dont know who did the plumbing in my house but I want to find him, kick him square in the nuts...when the pain starts to subside I want to kick him again and then I'll eventually kill him.

We had to hire a plumber when we first bought the place because the drains were backing up everywhere.

He hauled out this 'sewer snake' that looked like a futuristic torture device because he had to go all the way to main in the street or some such nonsense.

Like a cable the thickness of my wrist, it was insane.

Couple that BS with 3 women living in the house? Ugh...I think I put my plumber's kid through College those first few years.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Locke

Same. I dont know who did the plumbing in my house but I want to find him, kick him square in the nuts...when the pain starts to subside I want to kick him again and then I'll eventually kill him.

We had to hire a plumber when we first bought the place because the drains were backing up everywhere.

He hauled out this 'sewer snake' that looked like a futuristic torture device because he had to go all the way to main in the street or some such nonsense.

Like a cable the thickness of my wrist, it was insane.

Couple that BS with 3 women living in the house? Ugh...I think I put my plumber's kid through College those first few years.

I can't tell if this is still a sex metaphor anymore....but we had to hire two different drain guys to clean out our main drain line. The cost they charged was absurd. It was $600-700 each for a guy to come down for a couple of hours and clear out the drain with a mechanized snake.

It's an absolute racket.

Afterwards, I used an organic drain cleaner of some kind that is supposed to deal with roots, but I doubt it did anything.