Daughter's shower will not drain. Her bedroom is over our car port and gets pretty chilly. I'm assuming there is frozen water in the pipe. What would you all recommend to address this issue? We were going to boil some water and pour it down the drain and wait for it to melt the ice, but is that the right move? We obviously need to act quickly or we're going to have an expensive leak in our hands. Help is much appreciated.

RightWingConspirator said:

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Daughter's shower will not drain. Her bedroom is over our car port and gets pretty chilly. I'm assuming there is frozen water in the pipe. What would you all recommend to address this issue? We were going to boil some water and pour it down the drain and wait for it to melt the ice, but is that the right move? We obviously need to act quickly or we're going to have an expensive leak in our hands. Help is much appreciated.

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If it's not already a leak, it's not likely to become one. Doing something now will not really change the outcome.

Don't pour hot water in it. It could cause cracking. Try a space heater to slowly melt the clog.

RightWingConspirator said:

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Daughter's shower will not drain. Her bedroom is over our car port and gets pretty chilly. I'm assuming there is frozen water in the pipe. What would you all recommend to address this issue? We were going to boil some water and pour it down the drain and wait for it to melt the ice, but is that the right move? We obviously need to act quickly or we're going to have an expensive leak in our hands. Help is much appreciated.

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If there is alot of water stacked up this might get the plug out.

However if the pipe is already cracked, the ice might be holding a leak back.

Troutslime said:

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Don't pour hot water in it. It could cause cracking. Try a space heater to slowly melt the clog.

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Not sure how a space heater would help only because the problem area of the pipe is well on down the line. I don't doubt your advice, but wondering where we'd need to put the heater to benefit a plugged pipe 5-10 feet downstream of the drain.

don't pour boiling water down it.. but hot water would be fine.

The clog is likely in the P-trap as that is the only portion of a drain that holds water, unlike a pressurized supply line which always holds water. Warm water might get the ice melted enough to get it moving. If you've got one of those old single cup water heaters (for old instant coffee/tea) you might pull the drain cover and try suspending it in the drain. Just keep it from touching the PVC.

What's the ceiling material in the carport? How easy would it be to pull that ceiling if need be?

We poured hot water down it, but there is still no drainage. At this point, I guess we just sit and wait.

Sounds like a good time to cut an access door in the carport ceiling. It will give you a chance to inspect P Trap and insulate.

A hair dryer is handy in this situation. Probably frozen in the p trap, right under the shower drain opening. I have had this happen before and a hair dryer should work, might take a few minutes. Now that you know this location is susceptible to freezing, next time get some of the pink rv antifreeze and pour in the trap before the cold weather hits. Just replenish after using the shower.

If you end up cutting into the carport ceiling, when you close it up, leave yourself a scuttle hole to access it later as needed. Could be as simple as putting a small work light up in there during the next hard freeze.

The anti-freeze suggestion isn't bad either (sans any environmental considerations).

We stuck a snake down in there, but it went in pretty deep which tells me the frozen portion is likely further downstream of the p-trap. Based on a previous comment, if it's not in the p-trap, is it possible it could be further downstream?

Would there be some other reason the water would not drain? It drained fine yesterday so I don't believe it is hair or the like plugging it up. There is no drainage at all in that shower basin.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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If you end up cutting into the carport ceiling, when you close it up, leave yourself a scuttle hole to access it later as needed. Could be as simple as putting a small work light up in there during the next hard freeze.

The anti-freeze suggestion isn't bad either (sans any environmental considerations).

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rv antifreeze can be put in the sewer system. non toxic, environ friendly.

What about sinks? Toilet?

How many vents are in the roof? This could give an indication how many separate lines there are, and location of the obstruction.

We stuck a little bit of antifreeze in there and tested it out on an ice cube. It doesn't appear to "melt" the cube. The stuff I'm using is Peak Green antifreeze and coolant.

RightWingConspirator said:

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We stuck a little bit of antifreeze in there and tested it out on an ice cube. It doesn't appear to "melt" the cube. The stuff I'm using is Peak Green antifreeze and coolant.

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Antifreeze isn't to melt stuff. Also, green (car) antifreeze is toxic. Don't put that in your drains and make sure to wash it off your skin. RV antifreeze (pink) is used to winterize drain pipes as a preventative to avoid bursting when not in use. Neither will melt frozen water.

RightWingConspirator said:

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We stuck a little bit of antifreeze in there and tested it out on an ice cube. It doesn't appear to "melt" the cube. The stuff I'm using is Peak Green antifreeze and coolant.

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It was never suggested to use it to melt ice.

You use it to prevent freezing in your p-trap in the first place. You displace the water in the trap with pink.

Do not put automotive antifreeze in you drain for crying out loud.. reread the suggestions above.

Where does this line run after going over the carport? In other words, where does it tie into the sanitary stack? (That's the pipe going vertical in a wall)

What kind of snake did you run down it? One of the cheapo hand held ones you get from Home Depot or a legitimate motorized sewer machine?

TH, I believe the line would run down into my kitchen along the outside wall. The outside wall would still be under my carport.

If the frozen portion of the line is in fact in the p-trap, I'm guessing that would allow for expansion without busing the pipes, would it not? Today was a little warmer, but so far we have little evidence there is a leak.

As far as the snake, the builder installed the drain plug incorrectly and so there is no easy way to remove the plug to the shower. The snake we ran was small enough to get through the plug opening, but it was not a full blown snake like what would be used for the toilet. We've not figured out how to remove the plug without brute force and completely breaking it. We hadn't resorted to that just yet.

At this point, I'm inclined to wait it out and see if it will resolve itself once it warms up a little more tomorrow. Thus far it does not appear that we have a leak, but that could be a function of the ice having not melted just yet or maybe there is enough room for expansion without bursting my pipes.

I'm putting money on a big hair ball in the pipe.

RightWingConspirator said:

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TH, I believe the line would run down into my kitchen along the outside wall. The outside wall would still be under my carport.

If the frozen portion of the line is in fact in the p-trap, I'm guessing that would allow for expansion without busing the pipes, would it not? Today was a little warmer, but so far we have little evidence there is a leak.

As far as the snake, the builder installed the drain plug incorrectly and so there is no easy way to remove the plug to the shower. The snake we ran was small enough to get through the plug opening, but it was not a full blown snake like what would be used for the toilet. We've not figured out how to remove the plug without brute force and completely breaking it. We hadn't resorted to that just yet.

At this point, I'm inclined to wait it out and see if it will resolve itself once it warms up a little more tomorrow. Thus far it does not appear that we have a leak, but that could be a function of the ice having not melted just yet or maybe there is enough room for expansion without bursting my pipes.

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a drain line isn't going to burst because it's not a closed system; like you said, water can freeze and expand but a drain is basically a vent so no issues. Water lines are what burst. When it expands, it increases pressure in the line so it bursts.

I thank you guys for your time and help today. It has been a huge help and a learning experience.