Southern plumbing and Polar Vortex

I have no problems with my house, fortunately.

It was down to 3 degrees F on Tuesday.

I made sure that they installed "freeze resistant" hose bibs and made sure the hoses were removed.

The rest of the pipes are insulated under the craw space and the main lines are between the heated first and second floors.

I'm in South Carolina.

My brother balked at the extra expense and labor, when I insisted that he install insulation around the pipes in his unheated craw space without floor insulation, when I re-plumbed his house for him in South Georgia 7 years, ago.

Now he has nothing but praise. Not one sign of water hammer which he had before the re-plumbing and no frozen pipes.

 

We had 0 degrees the other night and I found a PVC pipe at our well head had burst. Just watered the countryside until I discovered it and turned off the pump. All is well with the well now.

I did place lots of insulation around it after the repair.

 

I only 'water dripped' the cold water as usually the vast source of heat that is your water heater keeps the hot pipes warmer. What I forgot to consider is that I had installed a tankless water heater. Ah well, it thawed in the early afternoon yesterday.

 

It was a pipe actually in the washer itself? I'm thinking most washer makers assume the device will be in a heated area of the house, or at least a spot that won't see freezing temps. I think the only thing you can do is disconnect the washer and run hoses from the supply to a drain or outside to run a drip.

 

i remember reading about the nightmare in dallas area back in the late 70's or early 80's when they had a pretty substantial freeze and many municipal waterlines burst.

 

Sorry to hear about the mess!!
You might be able to get the washer back in battery depending on where it failed.
When you get them pulled away from the wall maybe you can wrap some of the pipes.
If the AGW doom and gloomers are right, then there will be another weather cataclysm that causes lower than expected winter temps and you'll be doing it all over again.
Of course....when"Vortex fatigue" sets in and they stop selling commercials off of it they'll have to come up with another weather feature to monetize, which is why you don't hear them wailing about El Nino as much these days.

I made a temporary repair on a 1960's Maytag one time with epoxy that lasted for 6 years until something else broke...so it might not be time for your CFO to go washer shopping just yet.
If she does?
The newer ones are pretty dang efficient.
I read where washer hoses are one of the top things that cause home damage if they're not replaced every XX years, so it might be a good time to do that as well.

Good Luck!