Frozen Pipes

  One of the most common problems in Alaska in the wintertime is frozen water pipes. When pipes get too frozen they burst, many times not leaking until they are thawed out.
  Of course the best way to deal with the problem is to not have it in the first place, proper inspection and maintenance is the key. On new construction where pipes are going to run under the house, make sure they are up inside the joists close to the floor. When you install insulation later they will be well inside that insulation barrier and heated by the ambient heat coming through the floor. It involves a lot of hole boring and pre-planning but is well worth it.
  Say you didn't build the house and it's your first winter there. Inspect the plumbing, look for exposed pipes under the joists or even coming up from the ground. Wrap these pipes with pipe wrap insulation or one piece foam insulation tubes made for the size pipes you are insulating.
  Some pipes are in such an exposed location they will always freeze, these pipes may need a heat tape. When installing heat tapes, tape the tape to the pipe with electrical tape every two to three feet, then wrap the pipe as well.
Whatever you do don't ever cross the heat tape over itself, it may melt and cause a fire in the event the thermostat malfunctions. Try to always use a thermostatically controlled heat tape.
  One last thing is check the skirting around your house. Make sure there are no gaps or holes and insulate that as well. Really cold areas like Fairbanks and the arctic have the plumbing under the house running in a loop with risers going up to the service points in the house. These loops are hooked to a circulation pump, much like a boiler circulation pump. These pumps need to be turned on in the fall and off in the spring, they keep the water in the pipes moving so it won't freeze.
  We will talk about what you do once the pipes do freeze in another post.