The weather has been crazy

[crosscourt]

You could use an electric pipe wrap that heats up and keeps the pipes from freezing. We used them here onsite for years with great results and they arent expensive.

[wove]

That is a good idea and heat tape is commonly used in the area. The house is 150 years old, with remodeling done to prior remodeling. None of that was done with the idea of "how would we ever fix that pipe." And to add to the problem the remodeling work done at some point makes it impossible to replace/re-route the pipe without doing an extensive amount of work. Generally it is only a problem when the temp is below -5F(-20C) along with high winds out of the north.

[crosscourt]

Im going to ask a possible stupid question but you said the water in the rest of your house is separate from the kitchen. Why cant you create some new water lines thru the house to the kitchen to solve the issue? Pex lines are very handy for working with older houses where plumbing has a lot of challenges. Cap the old kitchen lines, shut them off if possible and ignore them.

[wove]

The house pre-dates indoor plumbing. Originally the house had a cistern under the kitchen, which collected the rain water from the roof. Water at the sink was obtained by a hand pump beside the sink. When city water became available, the pump was removed, the city water was ran to the pipe that lead from the cistern to sink and more modifications were done to change the pump over to a faucet set. Over time the rest of the indoor stuff was fleshed out and I imagine that all was well and no freezing.

Spinning ahead to the 50s the owners decided they needed a fallout shelter, yep we have a fallout shelter in our basement. (We actually sheltered in it, while the tornado of '99 ravaged the town.) They used the cistern as the basis, adding a concrete ceiling, and adding a concrete wall along the outside walls. I have no idea why they just did not use the stone foundation which was adequate for the cistern, but adding a four inch thick concrete wall along side the stone foundation buried all kitchen water pipes in concrete, making that piping unreachable closer to the outside world and without access to a basement that never freezes. The final nail in the coffin was they poured a concrete roof on the cistern, which goes up to within about two inches of the kitchen floor joist.

The upshot is that to reroute/rerun piping to the sink can only be done by pulling up the floor in the kitchen. That is a lot of tedious work. The cabinets are not modular like new ones, but built in place as one compete unit, so new cabinets would be needed. Many thousands of dollars would be needed, and it would probably be at least a two week project to complete. I am just too old for that much upheaval.

[crosscourt]

I was thinking more in terms of say a bathroom on the first or second floor where the pipes could be extended to the ceiling and thru the walls to the kitchen to create a new connection. Particularly easy if the bathroom is on a second floor as the pipes can be routed with Pex very easily with little wall damage.

[CaptNoize]

This morning was brutal... -10 below wind chill here. Temperature was 5 degrees. Now I know,wove, that's nowhere what you're used to. I was in Duluth Minnesota, back in the 80's, doing a show with Twisted Sister, and it was -32 degrees below there..! But, I 'm not used to this kinda nonsense. It didn't get above 19 degrees Fahrenheit here all day, with the winds howling at 10 mph. I went to the bank, then to Walmart. You shoulda seen the idiots in there. They were fumbling and bumbling around, couldn't get their together.

[crosscourt]

Its going to warm up later in the week into next week so things will improve. I havent been out of the house in over 3 weeks and dealing with an overly aggressive Condo Association thats forcing a lot of stupid policies on residents. They give me no respect for having worked here and blow me off when I complain about their policies. Its pretty much put up or shut up which really burns my ass.

[CaptNoize]

Typical, CC... That's the whole problem with the world. People who think they know it all, and know nothing. Just like the last place I worked.. I alone, was making the company I worked for, $240,000 a month. Yet, the owner,and the owners daughter, a spoiled little princess, who respected no one, treated me, and the rest of the workers like insects. Every time I would ask what she needed me to do next, I was told to " Go F**k Myself"...
I'm still boiling about it, and I quit 8/22..! You have to understand, I didn't want to " quit" the last job of my career. But, it was either that, or go "postal" on that place. I opted out. I TOTALLY understand your frustration. At least, for me, I just got pissed, and one day when she told me, " Why Don't you F**king Quit" I walked out... You can't...you live there..
Perhaps, report them to the Attorney General's office....? Or, maybe HUD...? There's no reason for you to have to tolerate that kinda disrespect...!

[crosscourt]

I contacted some of the board members Ive known for quite some time and it appears they arent for the stupid rule changes either. They wont agree with allowing for instance, people having to pay for required inspections of their units. They intend to refuse and so are quite a few other people, some who were former board members. Its going to be interesting to see what happens.

[crosscourt]

The two storms werent too bad with 3 inches with the first one and 2.5 inches on the second one. Its really pretty to be honest and great that I dont have to shovel any of it. Its been really cold, down to 11F last night with a 15mph breeze and the temp today hasnt broken 25F. Blue skies and sun though but looking forward to the warmer temps coming down the road.