Waste pipes frozen

fatherted1969

Hi lads

Could do with some advice here. My water supply is grand all pipes upstairs are working but my waste pipes are frozen. Upstairs shower, sink and toilet all blocked. Downstairs sink, and bath blocked. All thats working is downstairs toilet. If this gets any worse we could be using toilet old school

Question is do i leave it and hope the thaw will sort it out or do i try and tackle it and how if so ?

Cheers

mad m

Have you a manhole you could lift on your property? Have you any rods? Are you sure its not just a normal blockage like loo roll in one of the A-jays.....

Lift an A-Jay associated with one of your outlets, I really can't see a 4inch waste being frozen as it wouldnt have a continuous water in it. I reckon something has lodged somewhere and it has built up.

suitseir

fatherted1969 wrote: »

Hi lads

Could do with some advice here. My water supply is grand all pipes upstairs are working but my waste pipes are frozen. Upstairs shower, sink and toilet all blocked. Downstairs sink, and bath blocked. All thats working is downstairs toilet. If this gets any worse we could be using toilet old school

Question is do i leave it and hope the thaw will sort it out or do i try and tackle it and how if so ?

Cheers

Jeez, I have the same problem with two upstairs loos and a shower. My downstairs toilet, shower and sink are working perfectly. I was told by my neighbour who took a look at it and a plumber friend of my brother just to leave it and it will thaw slowly. I notice that the downpipe at the back of north facing back of house, is frozen solid. We got a blow torch to it on Christmas Eve, but it froze again! There is a thaw and I checked it and it is still a block of ice but thawing a little.

suitseir

mad m wrote: »

Have you a manhole you could lift on your property? Have you any rods? Are you sure its not just a normal blockage like loo roll in one of the A-jays.....

Lift an A-Jay associated with one of your outlets, I really can't see a 4inch waste being frozen as it wouldnt have a continuous water in it. I reckon something has lodged somewhere and it has built up.

We did all that and the AJ was clear. Unfortunately, I filled the bath on the day before Christmas Eve as we were told that our resevoir was freezing but the water seeped through the plughole and became a block of ice in the downpipe outside. I don't know if that caused it but something funny is going on.

In my parent's house and theirs is a terraced house, the water froze coming into house and the Ma flushed the loo and it spilt over the top....so something funny there to do with freezing as well.

fatherted1969

mad m wrote: »

Have you a manhole you could lift on your property? Have you any rods? Are you sure its not just a normal blockage like loo roll in one of the A-jays.....

Lift an A-Jay associated with one of your outlets, I really can't see a 4inch waste being frozen as it wouldnt have a continuous water in it. I reckon something has lodged somewhere and it has built up.

The waste water pipes from sink and shower upstairs doesn't connect to the sewer pipe until it gets outside the house and the sewer pipe is clear there cos i checked. The downstairs toilet thats working, the sink and bath water connect into the waste pipe here and that pipe is clear.

Only thing i was thinking could all these waste pipes freeze on the u bends. Upstairs is well insulated and downstairs the waste pipes at the back of the sink are sealed away from room temp same with bath waste sealed behind sheets around bath. Will i take all these away and hope room temp thaws these

suitseir

fatherted1969 wrote: »

The waste water pipes from sink and shower upstairs doesn't connect to the sewer pipe until it gets outside the house and the sewer pipe is clear there cos i checked. The downstairs toilet thats working, the sink and bath water connect into the waste pipe here and that pipe is clear.

Only thing i was thinking could all these waste pipes freeze on the u bends. Upstairs is well insulated and downstairs the waste pipes at the back of the sink are sealed away from room temp same with bath waste sealed behind sheets around bath. Will i take all these away and hope room temp thaws these

Sounds like I have same problem as you. I was told by this plumber friend of my brother's to leave it for a day or two as the ground is still frozen. After that, if nothing happens, it will be time to call the experts, but hopefully, it will be sorted as the thaw seems to be slow enough at ground level.

I would be interested to know how you are getting on. Any tips for all of us at this stage would be of immense help!

fatherted1969

Fingers crossed i dont think i'll fit into the kitchen sink for a bath, not like the old days:D

suitseir

fatherted1969 wrote: »

Fingers crossed i dont think i'll fit into the kitchen sink for a bath, not like the old days:D

Ha!

I wonder if anybody else out there in boards land experiencing this similar problem and if they have any tips?

I just used a de-icer on the drain underneath the shower as it is frozen solid and it moved it a little.

Any plumber out there to give advice?

suitseir

OK. the toilets etc. in upstairs part of the house have started to work again so it wasn't a blockage. We have had a gradual thaw which has helped. I am now down to two outside drains, one for the washing machine and the other for the electric shower which are quite clearly, frozen!

But at least, I had water over this cold period which I should be thankful for!

fatherted1969

Looks like Mr Thaw has fixed most of my problems. Everything back except my upstairs waste pipe from my toilet. If it was frozen i presume it wouldn't thaw out as quick as its a much wider pipe so i'll leave it till tomorrow before i start rooting at it

suitseir

fatherted1969 wrote: »

Looks like Mr Thaw has fixed most of my problems. Everything back except my upstairs waste pipe from my toilet. If it was frozen i presume it wouldn't thaw out as quick as its a much wider pipe so i'll leave it till tomorrow before i start rooting at it

Yea, just leave it. Someone suggested to me to put in some dishwashing salt in the toilet itself as it would help with the breakdown. Don't be surprised if you see some gunge at the end of the pan when the thaw is complete! Looks like `stuff`that may have been stuck to the waste pipe from the toilet.

Sparkpea

leave it to thaw, could be the trap thats frozen or a load of gunk stuck at a bend

fatherted1969

A loud gurgling woke me around 4am this morning in the bathroom. It was the toilet clearing at long last. All back working perfectly now. Good job cos i wasn't looking forward to the job that was ahead of me.

Roll on the next big freeze.

WildOscar

could you have used a hairdryer on the u bend? if so might be something to bear in mind.

lovelace77

We had the same problem with external waste water pipes and the attic copper pipe. Just bought a heating wire for both and insulation to go around the pipes.
Will test it out the next big freeze.