Eric Wininger
New Member
I have a 2nd floor bathroom above an unheated garage. There is insulation but no heat in garage. This winter these pipes froze three times and on the final freeze both the hot and cold lines burst. It froze towards the end of the line, behind the shower. The line runs from the unfinished basement up the wall (between garage and heated mud room) to a 2nd floor vanity, toilet and then shower in that order.
For those that ask why not keep the water running I will answer that I tired that and the drain froze and flooded the bathroom. In addition, the Moen faucet on the shower at the end of the line is designed to only allow cold to drip. For hot you need it on full blast.
I brought in a professional plumber. He wants to reroute the hot and cold lines into the ceiling above the adjacent heated room (below heated bedroom above heated library room) so only the last foot of the pipe is above the garage (rather than the whole line). He will add insulation. Will this work?
The idea of heat tape was brought up but I believe it is a fire hazard to put heat tape on pipes behind sheetrock?
I asked about installing a Watts Recirculating pump but he said this won't work. His explanation was cryptic but he said "because hot freezes faster than cold" it won't work. He said the line will still freeze. He said because the shower is last on the line it would require me to leave the faucet running. It would also require me to find a new faucet that allows hot and cold to drip, if this exists for a shower.
He further agreed to install a third return line and a recirculation pump to further prevent freezing. I assume this will only protect the hot and return, but not the cold line?
Price for this is $2200.
Comments?
For those that ask why not keep the water running I will answer that I tired that and the drain froze and flooded the bathroom. In addition, the Moen faucet on the shower at the end of the line is designed to only allow cold to drip. For hot you need it on full blast.
I brought in a professional plumber. He wants to reroute the hot and cold lines into the ceiling above the adjacent heated room (below heated bedroom above heated library room) so only the last foot of the pipe is above the garage (rather than the whole line). He will add insulation. Will this work?
The idea of heat tape was brought up but I believe it is a fire hazard to put heat tape on pipes behind sheetrock?
I asked about installing a Watts Recirculating pump but he said this won't work. His explanation was cryptic but he said "because hot freezes faster than cold" it won't work. He said the line will still freeze. He said because the shower is last on the line it would require me to leave the faucet running. It would also require me to find a new faucet that allows hot and cold to drip, if this exists for a shower.
He further agreed to install a third return line and a recirculation pump to further prevent freezing. I assume this will only protect the hot and return, but not the cold line?
Price for this is $2200.
Comments?