Hey all, I'm a first time homeowner with no plumbing experience. Hoping someone could give me some advice.
I had a small freeze in the main water line to the house. Our water line comes in through the slab - has a ~6ft copper "loop" in our crawl space for the purpose of supplying the outdoor faucet and an extra main shutoff. The line then transitions to PVC, and runs up an exterior brick wall to the second story where I assume it branches into the house above the finished basement, since the rest of the lines are interior (water heater and sinks do not share exterior walls).
When we woke to no water - I realized that the previous homeowner had installed heat tape around part of the copper section, and up the PVC section (this was not plugged in when the freeze occurred). When I realized what it was, I plugged it in, and the line unfroze ~20 min later. Unfortunately the damage was done and I had a small drip from the PVC section that needed repair.
My question - since I already have the drywall ripped up, what should I do to prevent reoccurance?
My thought is to just let the heat tape do it's thing --- The plumber who came suggested I use a portable space heater in the crawl space to try to prevent freezing in the space between the wall and insulation, but I'm wondering - wouldn't that just cause the heat tape thermostat to not kick on? Sure it would prevent freezing of the pipes in the crawl space (which is especially concerning as I would hate to see a freeze before the main valve) -- but if the therm doesn't kick on - then I'm not utilizing the heat trace for the whole stretch of PVC that runs to the 2nd floor?
Should I use the space heater on extra cold nights? never? just leave the crawl space door open?
Thanks in advance~
I had a small freeze in the main water line to the house. Our water line comes in through the slab - has a ~6ft copper "loop" in our crawl space for the purpose of supplying the outdoor faucet and an extra main shutoff. The line then transitions to PVC, and runs up an exterior brick wall to the second story where I assume it branches into the house above the finished basement, since the rest of the lines are interior (water heater and sinks do not share exterior walls).
When we woke to no water - I realized that the previous homeowner had installed heat tape around part of the copper section, and up the PVC section (this was not plugged in when the freeze occurred). When I realized what it was, I plugged it in, and the line unfroze ~20 min later. Unfortunately the damage was done and I had a small drip from the PVC section that needed repair.
My question - since I already have the drywall ripped up, what should I do to prevent reoccurance?
My thought is to just let the heat tape do it's thing --- The plumber who came suggested I use a portable space heater in the crawl space to try to prevent freezing in the space between the wall and insulation, but I'm wondering - wouldn't that just cause the heat tape thermostat to not kick on? Sure it would prevent freezing of the pipes in the crawl space (which is especially concerning as I would hate to see a freeze before the main valve) -- but if the therm doesn't kick on - then I'm not utilizing the heat trace for the whole stretch of PVC that runs to the 2nd floor?
Should I use the space heater on extra cold nights? never? just leave the crawl space door open?
Thanks in advance~
