Have any of you noticed that water pipes freeze or burst just after a cold snap - at the onset of a slight warmup? Similar to this is the issue of frost going deeper into the soil upon a warmup or for fisherman, that ice becomes thicker at the onset of a warmup. Does anyone know of any reason for this or is this just hearsay?
Frost Deeper ????
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MossRoad
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I think the water in the pipe freezes and cracks the pipe. The leak only becomes noticable after the thaw.
As far as ice fishing goes. I've never seen it get thicker after a warm up. Only smoother after a warm and refreeze. Tried to go fishing last weekend, but the ice was not safe enough. 3-4 inches of good ice over here, 1-2 inches of mush over there. Bluegills are tasty, but not worth dying over. Mrs. Paul's will have to do for now.
As far as ice fishing goes. I've never seen it get thicker after a warm up. Only smoother after a warm and refreeze. Tried to go fishing last weekend, but the ice was not safe enough. 3-4 inches of good ice over here, 1-2 inches of mush over there. Bluegills are tasty, but not worth dying over. Mrs. Paul's will have to do for now.
Bird
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Marty, for your water lines at home, I think for the most part MossRoad is right. Lines freeze, but you don't have a leak until they thaw. However, for even very deep water mains that could never freeze, city water departments have the problem you mentioned, and I've seen it several times in my area. I've been told by water department employees that sudden changes in the temperature of the water flowing through the lines causes them to expand or contract, and produce leaks.
TerryinMD
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Another issue is that the ground shifts with the freezing and thawing. This causes fractures to the piping.
Terry
Terry
MossRoad
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Boy that's true! It has been hovering just around freezing here for weeks and the roads are a bumpy mess because of the frost heave.
My grandmother's house developed a burst pipe one spring. It was in the pipe leading to the outside spigot. Apparently, she shut off the inside shutoff in the fall as she was supposed to, but did not open the outside spigot to drain the stub to the outside. The pipe cracked over the winter, and in the spring she turned on the inside shutoff and got her head soaked. The crack occurred about 2 feet into the house from the spigot, right past the inside shoutoff valve. So now I alway remember to open the outside spigot after shutting off the inside shutoff valve.
My grandmother's house developed a burst pipe one spring. It was in the pipe leading to the outside spigot. Apparently, she shut off the inside shutoff in the fall as she was supposed to, but did not open the outside spigot to drain the stub to the outside. The pipe cracked over the winter, and in the spring she turned on the inside shutoff and got her head soaked. The crack occurred about 2 feet into the house from the spigot, right past the inside shoutoff valve. So now I alway remember to open the outside spigot after shutting off the inside shutoff valve.
frank_f15
Super Member, Rest in Peace
MARTY: Mossroad is right about the water pipes, about the fishing i can't help u.