Brrrrr or Grrrrr?

It's cold.  Really cold.  Like we should be somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon Line cold.  (Bear in mind that I live in desert-y west Texas and am a cold weather WIMP!)  But wimpiness aside, I have actual proof of the extreme cold: my pipes are frozen. 

As part of the upstairs remodel, we decided to get the house re-plumbed.  There were pin-hole leaks in each of the walls the contractor opened up, so it seemed prudent to take care of it sooner rather than later.  We decided to go with PEX tubing since it would get all plumbing out of our foundation and was also reported to be 'freeze proof' by our builder.  In case of freeze, the pipes would swell to the size of a softball without bursting.  Sounds great, huh?

And it is.  The pipes have, in fact, not burst in the sub-freezing temperatures.  But frozen?  You bet!  Starting on Wednesday, we have had progressive water loss throughout our house.  First, we lost water to the kitchen sink.  Then we lost water to the water heater that supplies three-quarters of the house.  Then we lost water to the fridge.  Next came the master bathroom.  Luckily, the kids bathroom has its own water heater.  It is currently our only source of hot water.  The upstairs bathroom is still working, but only if you like cold showers.

Irony alert:  a couple of weeks ago when we had a hard frost, I noticed that the area over our garage was completely frost free.  I reported to T that we really needed to do something about the insulation there - we were losing a lot of heat!  He gave me the brush off and said the house was sealed up tight and not to worry my pretty little head over it. 

Once the pipes started freezing, he went up to the attic to see what was going on.  Huh.  The pipes weren't insulated!  As a matter of fact, the entirety of the new construction has cold air circulating freely under the (uninsulated) floor.  No wonder our utility bills have been so astronomical.  The heat was going straight out the attic vents.

Awesome.