Water freezing... trailor??

[becca011906]

Hi all,
I just can't live like this anymore and need some tips me and dh are at our wits ends about this.... I HATE LIVING HERE!!! Durring the winter months usally dec-march our pipes stay frozen up about 50% of the time, it's such a pain, i can't cook, clean, laundry, bath, ect, ect, i have to load up 3 kids and 5 loads of laundry to relitives or something i just can't take it...
WHAT CAN WE DO???

here's what we have done...
we have put heat tape on the pipes we can see, and then they were wraped in foam isullation on top of the heat tape by the community action weatherization program and they also built a box out of some kinda 1inch green almost like fiber glass material to help keep the wind down and said that should take care of all of it and we should have any problems this winter.... well guess what we have already lost our water 3 times now and i can just see it happening yet again this weekend when temps drop below 15 at night time. we also leave our water driping, have left it running, ect. nothing seems to help. it has to be freezing right as it comes out of the ground and inot the pressure tank that is below our trailor.... the heat tape can't touch the ground so we don't have it all the way down to the ground... I'm just so stressed and broke!!! My grandparents offered to give us some $$ to see if my dh could get the problem fixed but we are at a lose to what to do now... HELP!!!

[srain]

I wonder if it could also be freezing underground if the ground is frozen. My only idea is to dig down a couple feet and ads insulation to the pipes underground. (Does the insulation stop at the ground now?)

Do you have a well or municipal water?

[swimswamswum]

I am not sure if this helps, but sometimes when it is really cold, our pipes freeze and we have to go to the basement with the hairdryer to unfreeze them. I know it is different in a trailor, but if you can find the source of the freezing, you can thaw it with the dryer. Do you have neighbors? Maybe they have some suggestions.

Good luck! I am really sorry that you all have to deal with this.

[MelMel]

we live in a trailer, too...ours is in a park/community and we have well water. x-mas morning last year (about a month after we moved in) our water was frozen...and we didnt have any. no showers before visiting relatives

we were able to correct it with heat tape at the point the water comes up from underneath the trailer/ground, and keeping it running a bit when the weather goes below freezing overnight (which in northeastern ohio happens most nights in the winter)

i also wonder if yours is freezing before it reaches your pipes, but how could the underground lines be frozen this early in the season?? you are in indiana and probably have a similar climate to me.....hmmm. are your pipes OUTSIDE the trailer? ours are all underneath and the heat from the house keeps them pretty protected except in excessively cold/windy times...then the other measures have seemed to keep it from freezing again.

I dont know very much about this stuff, as we have only lived here a year....i will ask my dh. I also have some mobile home/trailer resource websites in my favorites i can scan and post.....

i am sorry you arent happy, we love living here...so small, streamlined, low clutter, and economical!

[becca011906]

Yeah last christmas morning not only did we not have water when we woke up but we also lost 1/2 the electric to our trailor... it was not a MERRY christmas for us last year. I'm so worried about having to practicly live at the inlaws again this chirstmas session... atleast i really do love my inlaws so that helps out!!!

We do have well, and live in the middle of a corn field on all sides, closest neighbor is aobut 400 feet on way in a nice HUGE warm comfy house and our others area bout 500 feet away and anothe huge old farm house. the wind just ripes through the house. i can only imange what it does under the house with only skirting to keep out the cold.... Mel Mel i would love to hear what your dh has to say or web links!!!

[Alkenny]

How long ago was the heat tape put on? You might check and make sure that it's still working for starts. Also, where the pipes go down into the ground, stuff insulation down into there. You can buy foam board insulation that you can put up behind your skirting for an extra layer against the wind.

We live in NW Ohio, right off a cornfield too. We used to have pipes freezing up all the time until we did all of this (plus what you said you did...the box around where the pipes come up, stuffed the box with insulation.)

Good luck!

ETA: As a temporary solution, are you leaving the cupboard doors open under the sinks at night? With nothing blocking air flow, the heat from in the house will keep the pipes a few degrees warmer also.

[srain]

Sos is there a box where the pipes come out of the ground? You might consider just installing a 75-watt light bulb in there- we've done that with wellhouses and it's enough to do the trick.

Where exactly in the pipes is the water freezing?

Is your water quite cold in the summer? (It might be that your water source is very clod in the first place, so it freezes more easily than otherwise.)

[carriedaway]

are your pipes sitting vertically or are they sort of hortizonal? we lived in a mh and last year our pipes froze and we discovered that one had slipped and had a low spot where the water woul gather and freeze. i would really check to see if something like this might be happening.

we fixed the pipe so it would drain properly, and then rented a forced air heater to thaw it.

so sorry, mama!

carrie

[Snowdrift]

I suspect this might be fire hazard, but i've seen pics of trailers with bales of straw stacked up against the skirting. Definitely better insulation from wind for the whole space.

[becca011906]

yeah anything that could possibly be a fire hasard is a NO GO, dh is a fire fighter so he knows all to well what can happen to a trailor!!! We are frozen up once again... it's suppose to warm up tomorrow and then over the weekend be up in the 40's so dh is hoping the ground will thaw enough to dig some around the ground pipe and stuff some insulations down father.
I know the heat tape is working still, we have straw stacked up too, dh is also going to remove the big box and tack up insulation to the inside of it and get another smaller box to go around the presure tank and the spot where the pipe comes up out of the ground. I know we have very cold well, they had to drill 2 to get water so it's pretty deep down and is very cold water... Oh i just can't stand this, i'm exahused b/c once again today i had to drag all three kids (one sick) 3 loads of laundry and some sippy cups, and some jugs over to my grandmas to get all done... argggggg!!!!

[Alkenny]

Good luck getting them unthawed! I'm glad your DH is a firefighter and knows all the hazards...we just watched our neighbor's trailer go up in flames yesterday from the plumber trying to unthaw their pipes.