My kitchen sink is on an outside wall and during the winter when the temperatures go down to the teens the pipes freeze. I have added an electrical pipewrap to the pipes and have put some insulation around the pipes leading from under the house (in a crawl space) to the pipes going up to the floor but there is about a 12 inch gap that is hard to get to - the pipes going directly up from the floor to the bottom of the sink cabinet. Is there something else to do?
thank you
COMMUNITY FORUM
Hi lin,
Maybe, and I say MAYBE, if you 'widen' the hole that the pipe goes through to match the width of the Insulation Tubing (that you buy at the Home Centers), perhaps PERHAPS, you can get it to slip through the hole. The only additional problem you might have is the part where the pipe 'bends' to come up.
The Insulation Tubing is just that. Ask for it in the Plumbing Aisle at the Home Center. It comes in 4' lengths (I believe.)
If you're in the Crawlspace, can't you get to the ENTIRE piping under there? What's preventing you from getting to that last 12"? It almost sounds like there's plywood, or something, nailed up under there. In my home, I can see the sub-floor in my crawlspace which is what the piping goes through. I put the Tubing on it and then insulated with R-30 insulation as you would a floor above a crawlspace. Is your Crawlspace insulated? What part of the country do you live? Is your Crawlspace 'enclosed' by cement block or is it 'exposed' to Mother Nature like a porch?
One last option is to pay a Plumber to re-route the piping so it CAN be insulated. His fee for this would be a lot less than it would be if the pipes were to freeze and burst.
Come back w/more info or 'fire at will'. My best to ya and hope this helps.
Jay J -Moderator
