Think I might have issue with a frozen pipe. Looking for help diagnosing

[Pacman]

House is a bungalow. In our main floor master bathroom, I've got 2 sinks, shower and a bidet.

During this most recent cold snap, the hot water on the one of the sinks stopped working. The cold water worked fine and the hot water worked on the sink next to it as well as in the shower and bidet. The hot water also worked fine in our other 2 bathrooms in the house as well as the kitchen. I assumed that perhaps the faucet got plugged or perhaps the valve for the hot water on that sink had an issue. I felt the pipes and they didn't feel too cold.

Now that it's warmed up, the water all of a sudden started working today. Now I'm thinking it must have been frozen somewhere along the line.

What's the best way to try and figure this out?

Assuming the hot water line for the bathroom is one pipe and then it just splits off right before it gets to each sink/shower/bidet or would it split off much further down the line? Basement is developed so not easy to trace each line without tearing down the ceiling.

[88CRX]

Yes, it was frozen. I'd assume it splits close to the other sink.

Is it in a cantilever space or close to an exterior wall?

Or check the exteriors... does it look like a furnace intake is in close proximity to the sink(s) or the path between your mech room and the bathroom in question.

[Pacman]

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Yes, it was frozen. I'd assume it splits close to the other sink.

Is it in a cantilever space or close to an exterior wall?

Or check the exteriors... does it look like a furnace intake is in close proximity to the sink(s) or the path between your mech room and the bathroom in question.

Yes, both the sinks are on an exterior wall. However, there is a heating vent that comes out at the bottom of the cabinet where the sink is, so I feel like it's getting a bit of heat in the general area but no clue how close it is to the pipe. '

I'll have to check and see if there is a furnace intake on that side of the house

[pheoxs]

Make sure none of your devices are using water (don’t forget about an humidifier) and then go look at your water meter and see if it’s moving at all. Take a pic and come back in an hour or whatever and check the reading again. If it moves then you know you have a leak.

[Pacman]

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Make sure none of your devices are using water (don’t forget about an humidifier) and then go look at your water meter and see if it’s moving at all. Take a pic and come back in an hour or whatever and check the reading again. If it moves then you know you have a leak.

Will give that a try tonight. Guessing I need to get a plumper in to put some type of a sleeve on the pipe?

[ThePenIsMightier]

Is the basement a suspended ceiling, or a real, sealed ceiling?

[bjstare]

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Will give that a try tonight. Guessing I need to get a plumper in to put some type of a sleeve on the pipe?

A plumper you say?

[Pacman]

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Is the basement a suspended ceiling, or a real, sealed ceiling?

sealed ceiling so no way to look at the pipes without tearing it out I guess

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Make sure none of your devices are using water (don’t forget about an humidifier) and then go look at your water meter and see if it’s moving at all. Take a pic and come back in an hour or whatever and check the reading again. If it moves then you know you have a leak.

2 hours in and the water meter hasn't moved at all. Taking that as a positive sign. Question is, what do I do now? Get in a professional to send a camera down the hole under the sink in the cabinet to trace the pipe and see where it might be getting cold and try to wrap it with some insulation?

[firebane]

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sealed ceiling so no way to look at the pipes without tearing it out I guess

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2 hours in and the water meter hasn't moved at all. Taking that as a positive sign. Question is, what do I do now? Get in a professional to send a camera down the hole under the sink in the cabinet to trace the pipe and see where it might be getting cold and try to wrap it with some insulation?

You need to get someone in with a thermal camera and check that wall.

[ExtraSlow]

You can rent one.

[bjstare]

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Get in a professional to send a camera down the hole under the sink in the cabinet to trace the pipe and see where it might be getting cold and try to wrap it with some insulation?

Yea, but the cold air is coming from somewhere, and that source is the place you want to seal off/insulate. Insulating the pipe is addressing a symptom, not the cause of the issue. I had something similar happen last week (but with my washing machine cold water line). I traced it to an exterior wall penetration for my sprinkler system controls that was poorly sealed and letting cold air in right next to the pipe. It was easier for me though, since the frozen spot just happened to be in my utility room where there's no finished ceiling.

[firebane]

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You can rent one.

Even better!

[eblend]

As @bjstare said, your enemy is the air movemen. My guess it's coming between the sill plate and the foundation. No easy way to seal that up in a completed house. I have same issue in my house, water always freezes. Easy solution...leave it dripping when it gets cold out. Water won't freeze if it's moving. Just one drop every 10 seconds is enough to prevent it from freezing. That's what I ended up doing, didn't want to rip into finished walls. I was able to slide some pipe insulation onto the pipe as far as I could, but it didn't do anything. The moment the pipe goes through the bottom plate on the wall (as seen from my basement), it's all over. Real solution would require some destruction unfortunately.

[Pacman]

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As @bjstare said, your enemy is the air movemen. My guess it's coming between the sill plate and the foundation. No easy way to seal that up in a completed house. I have same issue in my house, water always freezes. Easy solution...leave it dripping when it gets cold out. Water won't freeze if it's moving. Just one drop every 10 seconds is enough to prevent it from freezing. That's what I ended up doing, didn't want to rip into finished walls. I was able to slide some pipe insulation onto the pipe as far as I could, but it didn't do anything. The moment the pipe goes through the bottom plate on the wall (as seen from my basement), it's all over. Real solution would require some destruction unfortunately.

Thanks for the reply. I've contacted someone who is a tenured home inspector who is going to come over and see if they can figure out what's going on and then come up with a game plan.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Thanks for the reply. I've contacted someone who is a tenured home inspector who is going to come over and see if they can figure out what's going on and then come up with a game plan.

That's a pretty good strategy.

[ExtraSlow]

That should work.

[Pacman]

had a pro come over with a thermal camera. Can't see anything that would suggest poor insulation. Also, noticed now the water flow is about 50% in the suspect faucet so thinking it could be the faucet itself. Will wait until next cold spell.

[ExtraSlow]

remove the aerator from that faucet. Run without it for a week. Flush it out.