House is 1949. Addition with family room/hallway/powder room is around 1989. The addition does not have a basement. The original house does. Bought the house in October. Carpet bathroom (gross). Clearly a pre-existing and chronic freezing supply line problem in powder room. No duct work in there or in the hallway so it is colder. Also-not accessible crawl space under the addition. I don't think there is much insulation under there other than some fiberglass type that the previous owner shoved near the toilet.
When I lifted the carpet, I found a chunk that had been cut out of the floor by the previous owner. I lifted the sub floor chunk to find that the supply line to the toilet had been wrapped in heat tape and an old extension cord was also shoved next to it but not plugged in anywhere.
Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed that the toilet had not refilled, so I assumed the line was frozen. I immediately opened the floor and plugged in the heat tape. Within 4 minutes, it thawed.
This is not a long term solution. No one wants a creepy extension cord coming out of their floor. I'd like to tile the bathroom or put down just about ANYTHING other than carpet.
Here are some thoughts:
1. Rerouting the pipes-That seems expensive and difficult.
2. Keep the heat tape but have an electrician install an outlet somewhere else so that it doesn't need an extension cord? I still don't like the idea of not being able to monitor this since it's UNDER the floor with no basement underneath.
3. This is just a thought and I don't know if it would work--have a wall heating unit added to the room (perhaps recessed if possible). Use it in the winter. Add a vent in the floor prior to tiling so that the heat gets to the pipe. Would this even be enough heat? I'm not sure.
The cut in the floor is such a strange shape, I don't know how we will work with it if we do want to create a proper access prior to tiling or putting in another type of flooring.
Here are some photos:
When I lifted the carpet, I found a chunk that had been cut out of the floor by the previous owner. I lifted the sub floor chunk to find that the supply line to the toilet had been wrapped in heat tape and an old extension cord was also shoved next to it but not plugged in anywhere.
Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed that the toilet had not refilled, so I assumed the line was frozen. I immediately opened the floor and plugged in the heat tape. Within 4 minutes, it thawed.
This is not a long term solution. No one wants a creepy extension cord coming out of their floor. I'd like to tile the bathroom or put down just about ANYTHING other than carpet.
Here are some thoughts:
1. Rerouting the pipes-That seems expensive and difficult.
2. Keep the heat tape but have an electrician install an outlet somewhere else so that it doesn't need an extension cord? I still don't like the idea of not being able to monitor this since it's UNDER the floor with no basement underneath.
3. This is just a thought and I don't know if it would work--have a wall heating unit added to the room (perhaps recessed if possible). Use it in the winter. Add a vent in the floor prior to tiling so that the heat gets to the pipe. Would this even be enough heat? I'm not sure.
The cut in the floor is such a strange shape, I don't know how we will work with it if we do want to create a proper access prior to tiling or putting in another type of flooring.
Here are some photos:
