My bathtub drain is frozen. And my tub has had water in it for twos day.?

Question

t’s in the single digits here at night and no higher then 28 degrees during the day

Answer 1

MY bathtub drain is not frozen. My tub has no water in it.



It's in the double digits here and is currently around 40*.



What will your weather and/or tub situation be tomorrow?

Answer 2

So, what is your question? I have no idea what you want to know, or if you just wanted to tell us that your tub drain is frozen. If you want to drain the tub, you're going to have to thaw the drain. That should be fairly obvious.

Answer 3

It sounds like you may have a couple issues going on. Gurgling noise from drains is often due to a clogged vent pipe for the plumbing. You need air flow behind flowing drain water for proper draining so if the vent pipes get clogged from debris, bird/critter nests, snow/ ice buildup, etc.., it can slow down the flow of drain water which creates clogs or a suction in the system and gurgling drains. I'd say check the system vent pipes on the roof if possible. A plumber can use a borescope if needed to check for clogs in the system.I use a trick where I insert a short piece of flexible garden hose into the toilet drain hole in the bottom of the bowl...just enough to reach up into the toilet where it curves into an S which allows air into the drain system. Or remove a P trap from one of the nearby sinks temporarily. Then try flushing as usual or pour water down the toilet or another sink and see if the gurgling noises do not occur. If so, that shows that you need more airflow in the vents.



Another issue may be how the drain field is setup. Do you have an outside pit which stores water/sewage until it's pumped into the field? If so, then you may have a problem with the float in the pit or the pump is not working to eject effluent to the field....blown breaker,bad pump, wiring damage, etc..Most systems like that have a warning device/alarm in the house or garage which beeps if the water level in the drain pit gets too high but that alarm may be not working, etc.. Check to make sure that pit is not too full and working properly or causing a backup in the system. Check for any blockages in the drain pipes/ lines to the field...frozen pipes, etc.. My brother had one situation where a guy dug trenches to run electric power to a shed and nicked the drain pipe just enough for sandy soil to get in and clog it up.



If the bathtub drain.trap is frozen, then you will need to get under the bathtub area /crawlspace and defrost the pipes with a space heater or hair dryer...then insulate the pipes or wrap them with heat tape and use that when temps get too cold. You can try pouring rubbing alcohol down the tub drain which will also thaw/deice the trap but may still need to insulate the pipes/trap at some point.



Home centers or plumbing suppliers, etc.. also sell caps or plugs to cover an unused toilet drain pipe/flanges...might be a better, water tight solution than a temporary cover or seal.



https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AOHY_enUS709US709&ei=9PZMWtK0HumMjwSJ3pKQBA&q=toilet+flange+cap+&oq=toilet+flange+cap+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i22i30k1l7.3537.8903.0.9092.29.20.0.3.3.0.142.1702.8j9.17.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..11.17.1389...46j0i67k1j0i131k1j0i46k1j0i131i67k1.0.AY20J_q3gp4

Answer 4

can we assume that the other drains [lavatory, toilet] are working properly?



the likely culprit is that the trap under the tub is frozen. that happens in the weather you describe if there is an unheated crawl space or basement under the house. might even happen if the bathroom is on a slab and close to the exterior wall.



you have to thaw the trap in order to get the water to drain. remove the existing water [shop-vac will get the last of it or else sponges] and pour boiling water directly from the teakettle into the drain. May take several applications. That'll clear the trap enough to shower up [the hot shower will finish the job].



It will, of course, freeze again ... but now you know what to do





***

long term ... that trap needs insulation ... task for next spring/summer

Answer 5

Ok

Answer 6

I'll start out by saying that I have a well & pump system and a septic tank.



After a severe leak over a year ago, two of my bathrooms are in the process of being remodelled/repaired. The half-bath is being used as storage space as it is too small to be used by most of the people in my household. We installed a Toto Drake w/ SanaGloss in the main bathroom over a year ago and were waiting for the floor to be repaired in the 2nd bathroom before installing another. (Btw, unfiltered/unsoftened water can stain the SanaGloss terribly-- getting the water filter and softener setup is a project on our long list of things to do).



A few weeks ago the sinks in the two adjacent bathrooms started gurgling whenever the toilet was flushed. I figured the septic tank needed to be cleared. Unfortunately nobody in my family listened to me and it became so full that sewage started backing up into the uncovered pipe in the bathroom that is under repair (there is no toilet in there, the pipe is open and I had been putting things over the opening to prevent odor from coming up). I finally called someone to suck the sewage out of the tank and he came the next day. Unfortunately, draining did not clear the problem and we had him come out a couple days later to use a really long snake to clear the clog (our own snake wasn't working). It was $100 just for the snaking and the guy indicated that he didn't really want to come back out again.



Yesterday the pipes started gurgling again and sewage came up the pipe in the bathroom again. Now the toilet will not flush. I tried clearing it with Liquid Plumber (the kind that is septic tank and plastic pipe safe-- for the record, I was against pouring stuff directly into the open sewer pipe-- I wanted to use the sink and tub that were being used frequently) and it seemed to work in the one pipe. I'm going to try it again in the sink and tub to see if that helps, but my father thinks that the pipe not having a toilet on it is what is causing the water to flow improperly. I've temporarily sealed it with Press'N Seal and put a paving stone on top to hold it down. Could the lack of a toilet there be the problem? I still think it's a clog.



Getting a plumber to come out where I live is not easy. The plumber who serviced this house for over 50 years is now in a nursing home and I'm not sure if there are any plumbers still in my town.



Any advice on how to fix this? (also, any advice on how to clean the mess up? My father tried to snake through the open pipe where the toilet used to be and it ended up spraying crap all over my walls-- and I'm apparently the only one in this house capable of cleaning anything).