Water pipes

[rcannon]

So, how do you northern folks keep your water pipes from freezing when it stays cold so long? We let the outside faucets drip when it gets below freezing, which never lasts very long. I suppose you heat trace your pipes?

[LogicalBee]

In the City I do leave water dripping when it gets below 0F for an extended period of time.  Nobody knows how deep any of the water pipes are in the City and hence it's always better to be safe than sorry.  You sure don't want a burst pipe in the city and have water rushing in like Nigeria falls from the city water tower.  At least out in the country with a well, it's not going to rush in at more than about 5 gallons per minute if something bursts;  plus you can turn if off by pulling a plug  

[Papakeith]

any outside faucets have shutoff valves that extend into the house so that the valve itself doesn't freeze.
Or
A yard hydrant works well too.  Again the actual shutoff valve is underground 4 ft and the spout drains back into the ground when you shut it off to keep the delivery tube clear.

[Papakeith]

The only place I use heat tape is in my garage.  It is plastic pipe so I could probably just let it freeze, but I don't

[LogicalBee]

One of the problems some people have around here is their basement sump pump drains freezing shut.  I had that happen last winter. 

That's a real pain because the sump drains usually aren't buried very deep and  they do have to "exhaust" somewhere in the bitter cold.   

[Ray4852]

You people down south shouldn’t  have to worry about pipes freezing. Your weather wont stay cold long enough to freeze your pipes.  You can install a freeze proof  faucet for your garden house outside. It makes no since to let water run a little to prevent pipes from freezing. You are wasting water. You people that live in trailers down south could install plastic plumbing if your code will let you do it. This stuff will never burst. You can wrap your pipes with insulation too. This will prevent freezing. Most of us up north have a code on how deep we are suppose to bury our pipes in the ground. Its 3 to 4 ft depending where you live up north. My frost depth is 4 ft. 

http://homerepair.about.com/od/plumbingrepair/ss/How-To-Prevent-An-Outside-Faucet-From-Freezing.htm

[riverbee]

rc, like keith said, any of our outside faucets have shut off valves inside the house, we shut them off, no problems.

we have a cast iron sewer pipe in the tuck under garage that does have a heat vent into the tuck under.  we open that vent during winter months.  the pipe is near the garage door. in years past when temps were like they are or have been, the darn thing would sometimes freeze up, cuz we shut that heat vent off, even though the pipe was well wrapped.  what we did and what we learned was to keep that heat vent open during winter months and we re insulate that pipe and re wrap it as necessary. it is well wrapped and insulated, no heat tape, but as long as we maintain that and keep the heat vent open, we haven't had a problem since.

the worst water problem we ever had was; we have a well room in the lower level of the house (walk up rambler; main room when you come into the house)  and the city service water line/meter comes into the house into that well room. one september, the city replaced the meter. i came home from work 1 day after the replacement of the meter to open the door and wade through 3 inches of water. what a mess. what a massive headache.
the city paid for the damage.

[Riverrat]

Be nice to live in an are that pipes dont freeze   If you live or have lived in an area of extended cold I'm willing to bet you have dealt with frozen pipes at  one time or another.  Small price to pay to live in an area that has all 4 seasons

[rcannon]

We don't worry about the faucets that are on the side of the house, we just put a cover over them. The ones in the yard or garden will freeze if they are not left to drip. We don't have a code on how deep to bury them. Most are only about a foot deep.
I learned my lesson a few years ago when the weather prophets warned of a hard freeze and I didn't listen. I spent the next morning fixing pipes. I would much rather waste a little water that crawl around in frozen mud, fixing pipes so I can take a shower and go to work.

[iddee]

I've always found preventive maintenance is preferable to repairs.

[Gypsi]

My garage pipes to and from the hot water heater are insulated, the west and east faucets are covered with freezeproof covers and if it is going below 10 degrees I cover the south side faucet too

[Retroguy]

My brother and I put a bathroom on the main floor of my (then) uncle's house (now my wife & I own it).  There wasn't really any place to put one so we built it on the back porch of the house.  Didn't have much time to do it so it was a quick job.  That bath sits on a solid slab of concrete (original porch floor).  The bathtub drain freezes regularly so I keep a heat lamp shining on the trap all winter long.  Tomorrow I'm insulating the access area some more so the heat stays concentrated in the trap area.  Once the outside temp hits zero all bets are off.  Sometimes we shower in 6" of very cold water.  But we don't shower for long.