How to detect frozen pipes?

[Conan The Librarian]

I just got an e-mail from my buddy who has a "cabin" (nicer than my house) in southern Alabama. It's a single level ranch built on a slab. It's an older house, built in mid-50s I think. He lives there but works abroad mostly as a construction engineer. He said he was last there in October, and he says that he shut the water off at the main, then ran all of the faucets until no more water came out. With the cold weather, he's afraid he might have a burst pipe. He told me where to find the key, and I'm going to stop by there on an upcoming road trip that will take me to that general area (Dothan).
 
I don't have any experience with this. Can you point me in a good direction for how to troubleshoot the house to find out if there's any pipe problem? I'm thinking I should have a plumber come out and do it, but I'd like to at least be able to do a triage to see if there's a problem that should be escalated to a pro.
 
Any help you can give me will be much appreciated.

[blind ear]

Temp needs to be above freezing long enough for all pipes to thaw. Cutting the water on with some frozen only shows up by a faucet not working or the HWH not filling up along with water running in places that it shouldn't be.      Don't cut the hwh on until you know that it has water in it, result burned out element. If it wasn't drained the tank could be burst.
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A burst pipe will cause no problem until you turn the water on. If one is broken and you have it repaired now, the same thing may happen in February. If he isn't coming home soon I would wait until closer to his return.
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If you cut all faucets off in the house and give it a few minutes for the pressure to equalize the meter should stop moving, be in there listening and looking around. In cabinets under sinks and hot water closet etc. 
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Does he have any auxiliary lines in the attic? If so they need to be observed when the water is turned on or the ceilings could be damaged quickly.
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Works best as a two person job.
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More and better advice is surely on the way. ear

[Conan The Librarian]

Thanks Blind Ear. I really appreciate it. It's a simple house. The pipes are either in the slab or right near the vicinity of faucets, like washer, sinks, and tubs. There is no plumbing in the attic. He said there is some exposed pipe visible from within a utility cabinet that is near the bathtub. He said he also let the outside faucets run until they stopped.
 
I think I'll try turning the water on at the main gently and then looking for a leak, and see if the meter continues to run. I don't think there's any serious water damage that can be done, just a mess maybe. I've been there a few times and I think most of the concern will be around the washer, the water heater, and the faucets. I'll see if I can get somebody to help me with it. Then probably call a plumber anyway.
 
 
He doesn't have the heater on while he's away.

[BBF]

If the house is on municipal water there should be a turn off near the meter on at least at the entry point of the house.

[Conan The Librarian]

BBF,
 
It is municipal water, and it is turned off. He turned it off, then drained the water heater and ran the faucets until they stopped dripping. But there is still going to be water in the pipes.  He doesn't remember if he left the faucets open or closed.

[PowPow]

I don't think its been cold enough long enough to freeze pipes in the typical concrete slab house in Dothan.
It the water has been turned off and residual water froze, its thawed by now (almost 70 deg there on Saturday) and drained out.
Probably already dried up.
I'd leave it off; if it froze and drained, fixing it will require a subsequent fix. (unless you are staying there and not just stopping by.)

[Dand]

Hopefully Pow Pow is right.  What a headache if the pipes in the slab do freeze. Overall Pow Pow is probably right too. Just opening faucets after shutting off water is often not good enough to protect from frozen pipes. Often there will be low spots where the water collects.  If it freezes without room to expand - pop goes the pipe - unless some of this new plastic tubing was used.  Some of the plastic can stretch and withstand freezing. We used to try to blow water out of lines with a compressor hooked to a valve but again that only works if the plumbing is well installed  and made to be drained.


If it appears no pipes broke and you know a cold spell is coming you could turn the water on and let the faucets  trickle for the duration of the cold.  There was a time some Alaskan locations would set up their faucets to trickle all winter just to prevent freezing.  They weren't metered.  I remember my dad telling of a new plumber that came to an installation in deep winter.  He disappeared the first few days then appeared announcing how he was ready for the next project now that he got all those darned faucets fixed.  Real quick he had a HUGE project and lots of unhappy people and a major lesson in learning how stuff is done locally BEFORE charging into a job.


Or you can put RV water system antifreeze into the pipes after shutting off the water. Again might have to set the system up to receive the anti freeze but it could help.


Good luck. Hope they didn't break.


One cold winter I spent hours on my back in the cold and mud under a state building in the Aleutians trying to sort out the spider web of piping.  Pipes had frozen so many times, most piping was abandoned and rerouted, abandoned and rerouted again - it was a mess.

[PowPow]

What I'm saying is that even though we had what is being called "snowpocalypse" here in Alabama, it really wasn't that cold compared to where most of you are. Actually wasn't that much snow either.

Doubt that any pipes froze anywhere in the house, even if the heat was off for a long time.
Slab pipes will never freeze in Dothan Alabama, at least not until the next ice age.
Winter design day for Dothan is about 25 deg F. That means the ambient air gets below 25F for less than 32 hours per year, usually in 2-3 hour periods in the morning for 3-4 days about 4 times per year.


Frozen pipes in Lower Alabama happen on mobile homes with no skirts, pier-mounted houses and outdoor faucets. Not on slab houses. 

[Conan The Librarian]

Thank you!


I'll have to update the thread with what I find. Hopefully it is good news.

[Empty Quiver]

You might try and hold your ear up to the pipes to help hear if water is running.

 Get next to the water heater for example. Open the valve and listen, then as you close It listen, you'll tell the difference if its running. Every burst pipe I've dealt with was pretty serious breach, not a pinhole.

[Conan The Librarian]

Good to know! Thanks!

[buck460XVR]

For water in pipes under the slab to freeze, the ground under the slab would have to be frozen for some time.  Water froze in pipes above ground would either be fine or have burst. As long as the water is shut of at the main, there should be no concern about any damage. Any repairs if needed can be easily done during warmer weather and unless the pipes have burst where exposed, one will need to turn the water on to find them.

[SHOOTALL]

Depending on how low the temp got most pipes freeze with exposure to wind and cold. A house that gets down to the low 30's may not have frozen pipes that burst. It would take a cold draft to freeze them unless the temp. was down for a few days or more. We leave test on pipes in ground works over night when the temp is in the mid 20's with little problem. If he got as much water out as possible then there is room for expansion.
 I agree with not turning the water on until needed or warm up. If the house has no heat I would suggest filling any traps with RV antifreeze.
 When you turn the water on It would be wise to turn off the hose bibs and hot water. Check the cold water by bleeding out all air . Check the meter indicator (the little triangle that spins if you have one ) and make sure it stops. Then check the hose bibs as they tend to be prime freeze points. Last check out the hot water as you did the cold water. Make sure to check wash machine hoses and ice maker hoses., shower heads as the pipe up to them often gets over looked while draining or can't be drained. If you find a garden hose hooked up that is a place to look as often they freeze and it backs up into the house .