On 30 Nov 2006 16:46:33 -0800, wrote:


I'm looking for suggestions on how best to finish my laundry room so
the water supply pipes for the washing machine won't freeze. Both the
hot and cold supply lines run across the bottom of the joists and then
down the basement wall. I believe there is only about an inch between
the pipes and the cement.

Should I try and stuff insulation behind and in front of the pipes
before putting up vapour barrier and drywall? Should I build a box
around the pipes, leaving them exposed to the room and insulate/drywall
the rest of the wall? I'm at a loss as the best way to protect the
pipes while minimizing the amount of cold air coming off the cement
into the room.

Thanks for the insights!

Lorraine


Pipes don't need to be touching an exterior wall to freeze up. The
important point is the ambient temp of the space around the pipes and
how low does that get. Specifically, does it go below 32F for an
extended period time.

Insulation wrap around the pipe won't necessarily help either. It
does preserve some of the latent heat from the water in the pipe
itself, but again, if the water is standing still for long periods of
time in a freezing location, the pipe will certainly freeze.

There are also electric heat tapes to help with this condition. The
problem is that they use energy, may be a fire hazard under certain
conditions, and you generally have no indication when they fail (other
then the pipes freeze up again).

Best solution, keep pipes away from exterior walls and unheated
spaces. Also, run the water a trickle when it gets super cold if you
can't move the pipes.

Beachcomber