Frozen pipes under ground in upstate NY cold winter

[GMC]

On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 22:44:01 -0500, GMC
Farmers in times past would've put square straw bales over the area
of the suspected freeze up. Would the insulation blankets used by
concrete workers be any help?
My second thought was to constantly run RV antifreeze into the
pipes. Irrigation wells have oil drippers to constantly oil them.
A couple pictures: http://preview.tinyurl.com/okzaw63
The brass knob adjusts the flow rate. It's typically a few drops/minute.
The black piece is an automatic shutoff. It can be set to run constantly.
Another picture: http://preview.tinyurl.com/nqnumh4
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The person watching the house did not need to use any water. The source
of the water that freezes is the condensation from the furnace. I don't
want to turn the furnace off and leave the house unheated.

I am not sure of frost line here. I have been fine for 25 years but the
last 2 years have had longer periods of extremely cold temps for the area.
I am not sure if the condition would exist if regular daily water usage
in the house was happening during these periods of cold.

The temporary manual solution this past winter was to use marine anti
freeze down the opening of the U shapped trap openings. (Took cap off to
pour it down). Of course over a 24 hour period the condensation water
dilutes it so it has to be done every day. Not what my house watcher
bargained for when accepting the job.

Are heat blankets safe to use for weeks on end unattended?

I appreciate all the comments.


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[GMC]

How do you *know* it is a "U shaped pipe"? Do you have visual access to

it?

Have you probed it with a snake, etc.? Or, has someone just told you
that it is U shaped and that it is under your garage floor?
Don't you LIKE the cold weather? :>
Why did it back up? Did the house-watcher not notice that the pipe
was blocked/frozen? Or, did this happen in his absence?
Again, how do you *know* this? I assume your garage floor is a concrete

slab?

You could "shade"/insulate the pipe before burying it! I.e., put it in
a material that is less of a thermal conductor.
You could also wrap them with a heating element and deliberately keep them
warm.
You could ensure an adequate flow of "room temperature" water is flowing
through them to keep ice from forming.
So, what's different between your property and theirs? Sun exposure?
Soil composition? Different construction techniques??
What is the diameter of the pipe in question? Is it a typical 4" drain?
Or, something that *feeds* the drain pipe?

Yes, visual look at it both tops of the U have caps that open. Pipes
loook lie this... ----U---- where left dotted line is pipe from house
then the U trap. The right dotted line is the pipe leaving the house to
the sewer.

No I do not like winter much


House watcher did not notice as he was not looking. A water alarm I
installed in the house alerted him to the backup and experience made him
open the trap caps to see the frozen water right to the top of both sides
of the U.

I would have to dig up the garage floor to wrap the pipes. Can you really
wrap underground pipes?

Yes 4 inch pipes. I do not know what the difference is from my house to
my neighbors. I wish I did.



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[Iggy]

replying to GMC, Iggy wrote:
It sounds like you have a poor and improper or even illegal installation. For
anywhere in NY you should be an absolute minimum of 6-feet below any
surrounding ground-level surface, below or deeper than the frost-line. A drain
line should never have the ability to freeze and this sewer trap should most
likely not be anywhere indoors as well.

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for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/plumbing/re-frozen-pipes-under-ground-in-upstate-ny-cold-winter-5853-.htm