How Pipes Freeze

[kb4mdz]

I can personally attest that the 'split' is not the only way pipes will freeze & burst.

In Dec. 83, my new wife & I were renting a ranch house in Nashville TN. In typical TN fashion, there was no basement, just a crawlspace, with vents in the foundation. We both grew up near Buffalo, NY, in houses with basements, and did not know how to deal with crawlspaces. We did not know, nor did the landlord prompt us, to close the foundation vents in the winter.

We went back home to WNY for Christmas & New Years, and that was a terrifically cold & windy year, all across the US, and esp. in Nashville. While we were gone the prevailing winds in Nashville were from the North and hit the front of the house, streamed thru the crawlspace and out the back. Every copper water pipe in the crawlspace burst, but not often by splitting. Almost every one had pushed off the elbow at the end where it turned to go up to fixtures. Just completely broke the solder joint and pushed the elbow right off the pipe.

We came back from our vacation to a river of ice down our driveway to the street; a neighbor had seen it, had tried to get the water dept. to shut it off, but the wouldn't do anything without say-so from the landlord, so however long the water was flowing and freezing, it took several more hours to get the landlord involved.

Yes, ice can be stronger than solder.