If you have a loft - OPEN THE HATCH....

[frostyfingers]

DH is a plumber and as you can imagine has been busy with burst pipes etc. One piece of advice which he has given out a lot is if you have your water tanks in the loft, open the hatch to let some of the warm air up from the house......

The other piece is for god's sake find out where your mains water comes in and make sure the tap is easy to get to so you can turn your water off quickly if necessary.

Posting just to get this on my threads so I can ask dh where everything is when he gets in. Thanks.

Thank you frostyfingers

That is excellent advice - thanks for posting frostyfingers!

Told DH and he was straight up into the loft - the only problem is the house is now freezing with the hatch open!! Better than a burst pipe though

if i don't have a water tank will i still have pipes in the loft (that is probably a really thick question)?

Thanks frosty - someone gave me this advice on another thread yesterday as I am going away for three weeks (hopefully) on wed.

Cheeky request but what does your DH think about switching the water off - last thing I want is a burst pipe. Thanks

Thanks for the tip!

I can't do this, as DS2 has suspected asthma and the cold downdraught and the dust would set him off. We do have a water tank in the loft but had more of a problem with a frozen bathroom waste (not the soil pipe I hasten to add but I have heard of those freezing...). DH had to go out with an extension and warm it up with a hairdryer. Didn't help that the outdoor drain at the bottom was blocked with my hair, and water had backed up the pipe. The pipe is an old metal one, I think we're going to have to lag it. And to remember to turn the dripping tap off in the bath

Does your DH have any other useful tips?

The trick is to make sure your pipework is on the warm side of the insulation, ie underneath it, with no insulation between it and the warm ceiling.

Of course this means finding your pipework, if it's not hidden under boards. But if you can manage this, it will be so much better than leaving the loft hatch open for any length of time in this weather (agree burst pipes worst possible option).

Ditto with tanks. Insulate up and over them, but not under them, so they are within the heated envelope of the house.

Hmm. Another alternative to opening loft hatch might be pulling up whatever insulation you can, even if you can't get at the pipework. Then you'll be heating the loft slightly through the ceiling but without the howling gale.

my plumber advised the other day if you are going on holiday at this time of year turn off the stopcock asa precaution.

Alternatively, put an extension cable up through the hatch and a fan heater?

If you turn off the stopcock but have a watertank then wouldn't you also need to drain the system?

We have the hatch open Christmas Eve as its Santa's entry route to the house since the fireplaces disappeared

Thank you frosty can't think why we didn't think of that ourselves. Your DH has quite possibily saved our pipes.

excellent advice...would have saved a 2.30am phone call...call out to workers cottage and someone spending the night on our sofa (which gave my DS the fright of his life in the morning) if they had followed this!
any more plimbing advice greatfully received!

Thanks to the fact that the muppet who put the loft hatch in has left a half inch gap around it, I think we'll be fine for the tank in the loft. It's not so fab for bank account... I was going to get it 'sorted' but might not now?!

Aforementioned fuck muppet installed kitchen cabinets in front of the stop cock so the only way to get to it is to cut through the back of the cabinets - of course it's in the middle of two cabinets which will both need cutting.... idiot.

We should do this now before it becomes and emergency cut through, but it seems such a shame to do it :(