plumbing issues pt.2

Repair help for the do-it-yourselfer.
For mobile home parts, click here.

Moderators: Greg, Mark, mhrAJ333, JD

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All-Is-One

I have a 1996 mobile home. SRI model. If that helps. Toilet line in en suite washroom seems to be frozen, cause my toilet wont refill with water. Went underneath mobile to discover that the insulation is bellying and that it has frozen as well. Guess that means the pipe must have burst. Looks as if repairs were made before but i just bought this home and took possession in November. The reason for believing that repairs were done before is because the original tarp is gone and a clear one has been put up and i can see the pink insulation and how much of it is frozen. This sucks and my home inspector should be shot for such shoddy workmanship. Please any advice can really help, seeing as their doesn't seem to be any plumber who wants to help me and no mobile repair companies in the province.

P.S. really thankful that this website exists.
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Yanita
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Hi, Welcome to the site.

In the task bar above click on the articles link, there are 2 articles that you should read. One is about PEX pipe and the other is thawing your water lines.

Since you can see frozen insulation then anything that is wet/frozen will need to come out and be replaced with new.

Keep an eye on the floors as they may start to warp from the water damage.

I do not know the laws or procedures for Canadians, but we have a great group of you guys and certainly someone will jump in and let you know if there is any recourse on the inspection.

Happy Holidays,

Yanita
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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JD
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As Yanita said, all wet/frozen insulation will need to be removed. This will expose your leak problem. The water line leak can be fixed DIY with a SharkBite fitting from Lowe's. The SB will work with copper, steel, cpvc and polybutylene pipe. Replace the insulation and get some true mobile home underbelly material from the Parts & Books link above. The Extreme Belly Repair Kit with the spray adhesive may be enough material for you, if not, just request additional tarp material when ordering the repair kit.

Finding a plumber or mobile home repair tech to fix this in freezing weather for you can be difficult and expensive. If you can do this yourself, you could save a lot of money.

JD
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All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
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Greg
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Hi & welcome to the family. Ok you obviously have plumbing problems that need to be fixed, but it MAY have been fine when the inspector looked at it. All it takes is 1 freeze up to make a major mess. I am not standing up for anyone here but before you point fingers find out for sure what really happened. Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
All-Is-One

I know, its my first home and im getting bent out of shape, dont mean to blame anyone. Thanks for the advice though, it is very appreciated and i will be going underneath to see what can be done.
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Jim from Canada
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Being in Alberta you will need to be careful of the underside of your home. It gets really cold out there so you want the repairs to be good and the plumbing well protected from the arctic blasts you get. Make sure the belly is well insulated after the repairs and the plumbing is on the warm side of the insulation. Another thing that I do for the winter is to close up the skirting. All my access doors are vented for the summer and solid for the winter.
All-Is-One

Found the waterline that leads to toilet. Started cutting it 2 inches from copper elbow that leads into flooring and into mobile. Water started trickling out, so i stopped, to let drain before fully cutting, expected it to be frozen, though. Already shut off water valve to mobile but decided to test out what would happen if i turned on taps in ensuite washroom. When turning on ensuite washroom sink and tub, water started coming out of water line for toilet. Took apart toilet piping connected to water line, everything seems fine. No plugging or ice nothing. I hope im making sense here. But truthfully everything seems fine. Not just that but where the frozen insulation is, theirs no line of ice leading to waterline. What i mean is that the toilet waterline is a good one and a half feet away from where the frozen insulation is and theirs no ice leading to the toilet waterline, so that i can see how it got there. But the toilet drain pipe is right above the area where the frozen insulation is. But then why is my toilet not filling up with water. Not to mention that their was no frozen insulation around the toilet waterline. I am so lost its not even funny.

From what i can deduce the toilet waterline is perfectly fine, i think the toilet drain pipe must have a crack or leak and is what has caused the frozen insulation. But the only thing i cant answer is why my toilet wont fill with water. And can i patch the tiny cut i put into the toilet waterline so that i dont have to replace at least till spring. Please advice is really needed.
All-Is-One

Also and i should have mentioned this before, but when i first moved here, the ensuite washroom flushed normally, lately, it seems to fill up pretty high, like its clogged, before finally flushing. So i am goiong to assume that the drain pipe is cracked and water has started to freeze in it.
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Yanita
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Hi

I gotta admit, you got me a bit confused on what works and what doesn't. You have one toilet that will not fill, is that correct? If so have you checked down behind the toilet to see if the shutoff valve is in the off position?

Yanita
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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Greg
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It is possible that you have 2 problems going here. If you have checked for leaks in the supply side and found nothing leaking but the toilet is not filling , you could have a fill valve going bad (cheap fix). The wet insulation could be a leak in the septic line from the toilet. It sounds like you will need to do some more checking. Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
geraldk
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Location: edmonton alta

i think im following ya on this one
2 inches from the copper elbow below the floor may not be frozen as its close to the floor but aways down where the insulation is frozen the line(supply) could be. im gonna guess that the supply line and waste line are in the same general area, andif the waste side froze and broke as its prob. abs pipe the supply line could be froze 1- 10 ft away from where you cut it, as for the cut you made you should fix it properly patching it wont do it at -30 or -40.
if you are in a mobile home park as like me the office will give you a name or two of ppl who repair these homes.
as others have said ,pls check the supply line shutoff and fill valve in the toilet tank..


a bit cool as i type-20c an -30c with windchills not nice temps to be under the home ..
im not a dr. but ill take a look
All-Is-One

Your right, the fill valve (if thats located in the tank) was the problem and has been fixed. Toilet is filling and working fine. Yay! Now my problem is why is the insulation below the septic (ABS) pipe freezing. Assume that their is a hairline crack or something and it has been slowly leaking. Have to keep searching. As for the cut polybutylene pipe, i have fixed it instead of patching, with pex piping and adapters. My very first plumbing job, hope i did it well.

Once again, give thanks to you all, good to know their is some wisdom out there, to help those in need.
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Yanita
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Hi,

Just wanted to add that once you do your belly repairs please do them properly as well. Clear plastic or any plastic is not a good belly wrap choice. The belly needs to breathe. Clear plastic can hold condensation and it can make you freeze up quickly.

In the book/parts link above Mark sells belly wrap repair kits at a reasonable price.

Another thought I had is...where does your dryer vent to? I ask because if you can not find any leaks then maybe your dryer is venting to under the home causing all this condensation, hence the freezing, make sure the dryer vents to the outside of the home.
My Hubby recently helped someone with this very problem.

Anyways, Glad we could help...

Happy Holidays,

Yanita
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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