Pex Pipe In Attic Freezing

We had some 1 pex run in an attic that due to several weird circumstances froze up solid like about 70 feet in length.

Pex pipe in attic freezing.

Pex tubing or piping is used for water supply lines as well as radiant floor heating. No pex pipe is freeze damage resistant meaning the pipe will expand if frozen and contract to its original shape when thawed. Let those faucets run until no more water comes out. Pex cpvc poly back in the day even copper in the attics etc.

The whole 70 feet was solid and did not break or split. It was stiff as a board. If you do see a crack contact your. Yes the cold water is hot in the summer very hot in fact due to the heat of the attic.

There s been a lot of debate over pex for the last several years because pex has a few downsides that you might not expect. Pex pipe bottom line. Shut off your main water line. Yes rodents will chew absoultely eveything they step on.

You should use the same standard insulation precautions with pex pipe to help prevent freezing. Pex won t ruin if frozen. My man went up there with a heat gun and after about two hours of thawing we got it flowing again. So far no leaks.

Once my attic warms up after a few hours the next day the pipe thaw. I have a run of pex in my attic that freezes when the outdoor temps falls to about 15 degrees. Open all the faucets that are connected to those pex pipes. While pex does not ordinarily burst in the cold the water in the pipes can still freeze.

Keep the tubing shielded from both hazards to increase its life expectancy and eliminate the. Sometimes they have been insulated makes very little difference to the temp on a july or august afternoon. Pex plumbing is cross linked polyethylene which is a type of plastic. There are no manufacturer guarantees it won t fail.

How to thaw a frozen pex pipe inspect the pex pipes and make sure that there are no visible cracks in the pipe. It is important to insulate pex pipe in an attic particularly in cold weather areas. Pex does not corrode which can happen with both copper and steel pipes leading to leaks and contamination of. Pex tubing is susceptible to cracking when it s exposed to freezing temperatures or ultraviolet light.

Pex pipe is not freeze proof however meaning that the water in the pipe can still freeze and block the flow.