Overnight temps hit 8F and the pipes to the kitchn sink on the north wall of the kitchen, froze up. I spent altogether too much time inside the lower cabinet straining to work behind the garbage disposal and dodge the pipes and valves and hoses...
I opened up the wall by cutting the sheetrock to discover that the plumber had put the pipes against the outer wall of the cavity and adding insult to inury the insulators ahd insulated the pipes FROM the heat in the house. I managed to get the clamps off of the pipes, secured with ring shank nails #%$(*# mind you.
I pulled the PEX piping away from the outer wall and placed rigid sheet foam insulation behind the pipes.... Ahh, all better now.
The next night was 3-4 degrees F and in the morning there was no water flowing anywhere in the house. I went to my water control area and switched from rural water to well water and got zip, nada, zilch, nothing..... This is when I called the plumber. He showed me where he HID the valve that turns on the well water to the house. Next he checked around for water and found that the pipes inside the rural water district's meter box for the water meter that serves my house had frozen up. They didn't bury it deep enough. We sure made the resident mouse i the meter box nervous when we used a propane torch to thaw it out. I'd like to keep the mouse living in there so his body heat will help keep the pipes thawed out!
I insulated the inside of the box, burried it under a FEL load of dirt and raked the dirt off till it wa level with the lid. Hope that is good enough as it is a few hundred yards away and not convenient to electricity. Now I am finally feeling like I got 'er done. Just prior to lunch I notice that there is no water at the sink in my wifes tea room. I shove a small heater under the sink and close the door. After lunch it is thawed. I go to F_I_V_E stores before I find a heater tape. I get a heater tape wth thermostat, cut a hole i the attic closet wall to access the back side of the wall where the froxen pipes are and now that is done. I raeason that it is cheaper to use a heater tape on a thermostat than to set the zone stat up enough to prevent the problem when we aren't using the room.
I get a call from my general contractor who had heard all about day one but not day two. He had spent the day taking siding off of his latest two completed homes to cut the OSB to access the frozen pipes that had insulation on the wrong side.
He claims he will now change the way he builds. In future no water pipes in outside walls because you cant trust the plumbers to do the right thing and you cant trust the insulators to do the right thing. He will bring the pipes up out of the slab a few inches from the wall instead of inside the wall.
The crisis is past but I will be doing some explatory surgery. I will open up the wall in two more location to see the situation and change it if needed.
Hope this tale of woe helps someone from suffering a problem like mine.
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