Kswl, I'm so sorry, but amazed you've come through this with your sense of humor intact. You have a great GC! Buy his wife flowers. Here in SC we've got a bit of a situation here at the marina. It's gotten down into the teens for a couple of nights running, and while the marina staff turned off the water to the docks Sunday and opened all the valves at each and every spigot on our power stands,the pipes didn't drain sufficiently and there are shattered water pipes on every dock and the main dock. I think they're going to have to replace all the water lines. Meanwhile we have no water to the boats. On our own boat we're having problems with our water pump, and we've got to keep our hot water heater running, because we're afraid our own water lines will freeze. We can't run water continously because our water tank is finite, only half full, and who knows when we'll have a water source again from the dock. I'm ready for this weather pattern to abate.

My guess.. lack of snow. Snow insulates the ground from the really cold weather. No snow allows the cold to penetrate the ground deeper. My second guess is that you have black polyethylene water line buried. It's very common to use this material in private water systems, especially in long runs from one building to another or from the well to the building. The problem with this type of pipe is that you cannot apply heat to it effectively because it will deform or melt if the temp gets too hot. I agree that your problem is likely quite close to one of the buildings. If the outbuilding where the pump is has heat in it, then the heat is likely just enough to keep the pump and pressure tank from freezing. If so, my third guess is that this building is where the problem is. You need to go to Home Depot's electrical aisle and buy a heating cable and a roll of black electrical tape. These cables come in various lengths and are usually orange in colour. You will have to wrap it around the plastic pipe tightly starting where the pipe leaves the building. Use the electrical tape to secure the end of the cable that is furthest from the plug, to the pipe and then continue wrapping until you have used up the entire length. Use more electrical tape to secure the heating cable. If you have some old blankets around, wrap them around the heating cable to help hold the heat in. Plug in the heating cable and just leave it. Go in the house and partially open a tap and leave it open. Make sure the drain is open. The idea here is to gently heat the pipe and the water that is in the pipe. If the freeze up is close to the building, the warmed water should thaw it. If it thaws even a little, water will begin to flow from the tap you opened. Warmer water will flow toward the frozen area and thaw it out very quickly. Let the water run for a good twenty minutes to get all the ice out of the line. I would keep this heating cable in place and turned on. If you read the directions, you will find that these cables have a thermostat built into them where the orange meets the black. Tape this thermostat to the pipe. Anyone capable of planning a wedding can certainly accomplish this task. Good luck and let us know how you made out.

My husband and I both now think this problem in shower is really a valve/cartridge problem... the plumber is not coming out until Monday -- the company said that they were not required to come out sooner because 1--the weather is still under 32 and apparently this plumbing co will not check frozen pipes when it is still freezing (unlike some others -- I know that is a jacked-up attitude) and 2-- we don't really HAVE an emergency since we have another shower to use and there is no evidence of secondary damage occurring-- frankly I think that is because we are using our home warrenty contract to cover this call and they know they can't jack up our rates -- We have no basement--house is in DFW TX area--homes here (unless they are built on sloping lot with serious elevation change)almost never have basements... We still have no prblem w/water flow in any bathroom except for this shower-- but we are letting it drip again tonight--and a sink faucet on an exterior wall...(just to humor me more than anything) Do either of you know if having a re-circulating HW system so that you get "instant" hot water when you turn on that tap makes a difference when you are trying to prevent freezing pipes-- I don't know how these plumbing lines are run for that system--and I have read there are couple of ways to design/install one...

It is good practice to shut off the heat supply to the water heater if the water supply is off- especially if the heater is electric. There is more than one potential way that a non-pressurized heater can drain at least part of the water. If the heater element in an electric heater is powered when dry, it will burn out the element very quickly.