Probably not answerng your question, but when temps get to freezing temps, I turn on my faucets to DRIP.

Yeah, that's what I meant by a trickle. But I have a plumbing issue upstairs (two of them, actually).

I have to wonder about where you live and the insulation in your home. We get 40 below here, but as long as the furnace is on, the pipes are fine. We never leave water dripping. Ever. My water bill would go through the roof in the winter. I would ask a plumber/heater person.

Have you checked to see if you have water available at your fixtures upstairs at this time? If you do, then I don't believe you have a leak from a pipe. If you have a water meter, you can check to see if there is movement of the dials when all water is turned off past the meter. Movement of the dial(s) would indicate you have a leak "somewhere".

I never let the faucet drip and have never had a problem. My mom did but she turned her furnace way to low. I do disconnect my hose from the outside faucet, that can cause ice to back up in the house and crack a pipe. As someone else said it should keep running if it is a water pipe. Also be sure it wasn't snow blowing in through the vents. There are boots around the pipes that runs that water to the sump pump, check and see if that is loose.

alisande, if it's PVC piping and it froze enough to cause a leak then chances are the pipe cracked and the leaking will continue. I'm not sure about other piping....

Since the leak is running down a beam, I'd suspect that ice built up under your flashing or shingles and worked its way down from there. Can you can inspect the underside of the roof from the attic to see if you can find the trail of water to the beam??? Look for any obvious entry points from your roof peaks and chimney flashing, etc. If the leak came from the roof it should still show signs of being wet...

I live in a place with extreme cold temps too..... If you have an occasional problem with pipes freezing, one alternative to leaving the water dripping is to simply turn on a lightbulb and place it near your pipe. Long ago we would always get a two week period in January where the temps were -30F at night and never went above 0F during the day.... I'd leave a lightbulb on under my car hood near the engine so I could start my car in the morning. :)

Thanks, everyone! It sounds like it must have been a roof leak, and the most likely spot is the flashing around one of the dormers. I didn't see any sign of it inside, but this house has double-plank construction (it's very old) and that might explain it.

The roof was put on 12 years ago. I would have thought it would keep me leak-free longer than this, but my other leak (over the kitchen sink) has been going on for several years despite being "fixed" by two contractors.

No water meter--I have my own well. Yes, I have water to my upstairs sink. And the plumber just called and is arriving at 7:45. I'd better get off the computer....

I have wood heat, and don't load the stove up the way I used to at night. So the temperature in the house drops dramatically. The oil burner will kick on at some point, but because the thermostat is very close to the stove it takes awhile. So my house can get quite cold at night. This is fine with me in my cozy bedroom, but not so fine for the pipes, I guess. I'll have to try the light bulb idea, thanks!

You don't have water pipes in an attic or upstairs ceiling......

Yes....a roof leak.

Yes if a water pipe bursts it keeps running until you shut the water off to it, you are correct.

If you have an attic....? It should be an easy fix.....

My guess....the roof leak followed the beam.....typical situation...

Sorry for your water troubles, but I still prefer indoor plumbing to the alternative. LOL Hope you can get this fixed quickly and not too expensively!

Our 'starter home' -- of thirty years -- was on a slab over a one-foot excavation, and the supply lines ran through the attic.

In the mid-fifties there was no insulation in the walls; you just cranked up the (cheap) heat. There was no concern about pipes freezing with all that heat rising.

We installed insulation in attic and walls, replaced the wonderful heat-exchange aluminum windows -- and ran a trickle in each bathroom in extra cold weather. (Nice to be reminded how much I don't miss that house. Never did!)

To confirm what others have already told you. If a pipe freezes and leaks, its because the ice burst the pipe, and it won't stop leaking (a lot) until the pipe is repaired.

My guess it is was a roof leak perhaps caused by an ice dam, where snow or ice prevents the melt water from flowing off the roof, instead making little lakes, which then drains down through the roof.

It is possible for a roof which otherwise is in perfect repair, and not have any leak in any amount of rain, to leak when an ice dam causes standing puddles of water.

my guess would be you had frozen water/snow backed up under the flashing.
Or a vent pipe. I once had such an ice jam from a down spout on a dormer. It drained in the direct path of the vent pipe and made and ice jam.
When it melted it could not drain off the roof fast enough so water found a way into my laundry room.
I ended up putting a shield so the water now flows around vent. Has never happened again.
Good Luck!!

It probably was caused by an ice dam and, as you suspect, leaked around flashing. We have a similar issue with super heavy rain. Water follows the path of least resistance so the leak may be near the beam or somewhere else entirely.

Nicole, there are homes with plumbing in the ceiling. I live in TN and my clean water runs above across the ceiling; waste water runs below. It all depends on the area of the country where you live.

Could snow have been blown in and melted?

ole joyful

yes we definitely have water pipes in the ceilings here in this part of the country (Texas and Louisiana) and of course no basements due to the water table level.
I agree it is not a burst pipe they keep flowing till it is repaired.

When we lived in Houston we had water pipes in our attic and they froze one Christmas morning. My son had to get up there with a hair dryer to unfreeze them before they broke. He just felt the water pipes for cold areas and held the dryer on it. My neighbor in those days had her pipes break and it ruined the christmas tree and presents under it.
Mary

I think Alisande has said she has an old house, I hope the problem can be identified and fixed.

Home builders have adopted various practices over the years to save costs and cut corners - putting water pipes in attics is one of them. Putting HVAC equipment and ducts in the attic is another. You'd never do either of these two things given a choice.

It's truly dumb to put water pipes in attics anywhere where there is any possibility- any possibility- of sub-freezing temperatures. In other areas, it's still a poor choice. Pipes do break and leak, an overhead location is probably the worst place to have a stream of water start from.

For houses built on slabs (another cost cutting technique) the pipes should be in the walls, on the inside-side of the insulation. That's a lot more trouble for the builder and more expensive. Which is why they don't do it. So long as no problems develop during the new home warranty period, they can walk away having pocketed the cost savings and leave the possible problems for future owners.

First off, find out where your pipes are located. If you have no pipes near and above that beam, then it likely was not a pipe. If a pipe cracked from freezing, it will not stop leaking but will continue until replaced. Also, that sort of leak tends to be big, like from a break, rather than a drip. However, A drip may appear at a fitting.

Likely, you had a roof leak from an ice dam at the eave edge. (Look up information about ice dams to see how these develop.) This sort of leak occurs about 2 to 3 ft from the edge of the roof (that's 2 to 3 ft up the roof from the rain gutter).

The overhang of the roof ( soffett ) is cold. Snow melt from high on the roof runs down and freezes at the gutters and on the overhang. As more melt comes down, the ice dam becomes wider that the underlying water proof sheet that is under the shingles and then wets the roof board. Water drips inside wetting the ceiling a little way from the inside wall.

This condition is damaging to the structure. There are three things to combat this condition: Better attic insulation, more roof venting, and a better anti-ice dam sheet under the shingles. The attic insulation and roof venting keeps the top of the roof cold and nearer to outside temperature. This delays melting on the upper part of the roof. The snow has a better chance of being blown off. Also melting should not occur until it is warm enough to melt and clear the gutters. A wide anti-ice dam sheet will give better protection from water running under the shingles.

The worst condition is when there is a deep snow on the roof and the weather turns warm enough to rain! That's when a wide anti-ice dam sheet is sorely needed.