I am a Realtor here in Houston and a builder here has told me that water pipes in the attic do not need to be fully insulated. Do any of you know what the 2003 IBC says about insulating water lines in an attic? The City of Houston told me that the code states that we only need to protect the pipes from freezing. They only require that pipes are insulated 2 feet in from the eaves.
I am of the opinion if the adopted code states that the pipes be protected from freezing and they have not been wrapped completely the builder may have a liability issue if the pipes freeze.
We have had a number of hard freezes in the past that have caused thousands of pipes to burst across the city and am baffled as to why our city is not enforcing the code as written.
Replies
Greetings rich,
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again which will increase it's viewing.
Perhaps it will catch someone's attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
only life affirming platitudes allowed -Doud '07
Would a full cluster of enemies be called an enema? -Piffin
If it gets cold enough in your attic the water in the pipes will freeze. In Yuma, Arizona cold water is a premium in the summer and it never gets cold enough to freeze anything there.
Wrapping pipes so they will not freeze is a hard thing to enforce. I have never been anywhere that enforces pipe wrap as a building code.
In many other states they do not wrap any pipes because most of the homes have basements and the water pipes are far under the ground so they will not freeze.
If there is enough heat in the house and attic they will not freeze. If the home owner will turn on the water slightly the water in the pipes will not freeze because the water is moving.
Pipes freezing is a function of a lot of things.
If there is no heat in a home insulation will not do much good.
When I lived in Texas I never had a pipe freeze but others did when they did not take the proper precautions.
Edited 2/14/2007 7:15 pm by gb93433