In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 07 Sep 2015 03:44:01 +0000, GMC
wrote:

The U shaped pipe under my garage floor has frozen the last 2 winters in
the lengthy extreme cold spells. I have been away for 10 weeks each of
the last 2 winters. The first winter my house watcher flushed toilets
and ran water once a week.

Why? Do you mean that when he came over he wanted a drink of water
and needed to use the toilet?

Because I was going to suggest while your away you turn off the water,
drain the pipes, and pour winnebago antifreeze in your traps, sinks,
toilets, and maybe even dishwasher? In case the heat goes out.

Is this only a problem when you're away, 6 days at a time, or also when
your home, using the toilet every day, twice a day. Can it freeze if
you sleep for 8 hours and go out for 8 more?

This resulted in a mess inside the house from
backing up after a few weeks. The second winter I decided to skip
having him run any water in the house to avoid a repeat situation. What
I did not realize was the furnace gave off condensation (about 3 gal per
24 hours) and goes through the waste water pipes under the garage floor
through the U shaped pipe and out towards the sewer. This amount of
water also froze over time. The 2 feet depth on each side of the U freeze
solid. I am not 100% sure but it may start in the section of pipe under
ground just outside the wall of the garage. It took 4 hours of umbels
time and 1 hour of time from a guy with a steam jenny (sp?) to thaw it
out.

I have no idea how to keep underground pipes from freezing. This is a
townhouse built on a slab. I know of 2 other homes on the street with no
one home for an extended period of time during this cold period that did
not have any issues.

Go talk to the owners.

Redirect the condensation from your furnace, at least when you are not
home. Even if you have to run it out through a tube through a hole in
the wall. And

Any suggestions on a solution?


--

Stumpy Strumpet
the bimbus
for dogcatcher