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How deep below ground does it freeze


Trigger Mike

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I have a cabin by a pond.  It actually is an old mill house the previous owner fixed up.  On one side of the house a few inches below ground is water as in I planted a tree one time and brought up as much water as I did dirt.

 

I have a water cut off under ground by the house.   With the week of rain once you lift the lid to access the cut off it is nothing but water to the top.   

 

How cold would it have to get before that water freezes the pipes going into the house since the pipe is surrounded by water right now?

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Always depends where you live. Deserts of Arizona water line may be 1-2" below ground and the water lines run through walls or attic. Missouri you are safe at 36". Alaska, just chip up ice and melt it for your water. 

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A couple years ago I went out on some water main breaks here in Vermont and the frost down 5 feet+ under the roads, a bit less under the snow on the sides and yards.

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1 hour ago, Trigger Mike said:

I have a cabin by a pond.  It actually is an old mill house the previous owner fixed up.  On one side of the house a few inches below ground is water as in I planted a tree one time and brought up as much water as I did dirt.

 

I have a water cut off under ground by the house.   With the week of rain once you lift the lid to access the cut off it is nothing but water to the top.   

 

How cold would it have to get before that water freezes the pipes going into the house since the pipe is surrounded by water right now?

 

How far below ground level are the lines?

 

What is the cover made of?

 

Can you sit a hay bale on top of the cover?

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Howdy,

Maybe contact a nearby town and ask what depth they have water mains.

Go a little deeper than that.

That map seems like a good guide.

100 inches...wow.

A good heavy layer of fallen leaves could help too.

Best

CR

 

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Sit a hay bale or two side by side over the top of it. They'll insulate it enough that it shouldn't freeze.

 

Even as cold as it has been in TX, water lines a foot below ground haven't frozen unless it was at the meter box where the lines are fully exposed.  All it takes to prevent that is 4 inches of fiber glass insulation or some old clothes in a plastic bag over the top of the lines to keep them from freezing.

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Not a bad idea. Around here, 36 to 48 inches is a safe depth at the home. Main lines are quite a bit deeper. We insulted our unused water hook ups with roll fiber glass and plastic heavy duty trash bags. Then if we had them ,either a 5gal. bucket or one of the larger kitty litter pails. Even at that, we've had to replace ball valves due to freeze up. They would crack. All homes in this park have heat tapes with thermostats and foam wrap insulation on the above ground part of the hook up:blush:.

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My above ground faucets for my goats I insulate with pipe wrap and leave the line to the waterer hooked up but put an empty 50 pound dog food bag over it with a 5 gallon bucket on top as well.  Thus far it has worked.  If Temps fall into the 20s I turn the water off so the water level goes below the valve to refill it during the night and turn it on the next day.  

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5 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Google “frost line map”:

 

3CCE83BB-3FAB-4AD4-91A6-C3494842D17C.jpeg.57eba94f6d74bb008834c9ccc4801dcf.jpeg

But don’t go by it necessarily. It says 20-30” for my area. Local code says 36”.

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Nome, Alaska in 1901.  18feet 4" Daughters house Nome Alaska 2002, 18 feet. 

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4 hours ago, Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 said:

We insulted our unused water hook ups with roll fiber glass...

I read that four times, trying to make sense out of it. Then I decided otto did not know how to spell insulate.

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Depends on what side of the house the lines are on also. North and East sides will freeze first and deeper than the sunny South or West sides.

I've seen frost down to 5 feet on the east side of one of my buildings, broke the teeth off the backhoe bucket trying to dig up the water line.

Moisture content of the soil is also a contributing factor.

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interestingly enough that frost table fails to take into consideration soil makeup - im in 42" area , just north of me is 60" [that map has to be the extremes] but a bit farther north of me the sand hold no moisture and you can lay footings about a foot down , id keep my pipes well insulated and deep tho 

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