VIEWPOINT (cont.)

It was only then that she passed on our friend’s friendly reminder about the pipes. That’s when it occurred to me that the attic might be a little bit cooler than the rest of the house (by about 60 degrees or so). I investigated and sure enough, the “hot water” pipes were actually quite cold and a little layer of frost had formed on them.

Now, I have heard horror stories about burst water lines, including from another friend who had it happen to devastating results twice in a threemonth span. So, I did what I do these days and I Googled it. There were a variety of suggestions, but the cheapest and simplest solution seemed to be to simply slowly warm the pipes and allow the ice inside thaw.

So, armed with a space heater and a blowdryer, I bundled up and headed back upstairs. It was a slow process, but I knocked the frost off of the pipes with the blowdryer and set the space heater up next to the pipes and then played the waiting game.

The waiting game ended up being too slow for my tastes, and despite the dubious look I got from my wife when I came in from the shed with my propane torch, I decided to speed the process along.

I gave the length of exposed pipe a thorough twice-over but didn’t want to get it too hot — just enough to “wake up” the ice inside a little. Then I went back downstairs to continue the “Supernatural” marathon on Netflix we’ve been on since the first of the year. About an hour later, we heard a few spurts and squirts coming from the kitchen sink, and sure enough, the faucet started spitting water out — hot water. I’m not an expert fix-it guy, but I was very proud of myself (and very thankful that I didn’t have to call a guy or have to deal with busted pipes).

I’ve seen examples of how badly it could have gone from a couple of my Facebook friends this past few days, and I wish them luck getting their disasters in order.

Bundle up, stay warm…

and let your faucet drip!