Um yeah, that’s definitely broken
Well, things are finally starting to thaw out a bit here…but with the thaw came the revelation that we have a water line break. The copper piping running from our mudroom out into the courtyard and finally to the guest house burst wide open, with about a two inch gash that has peeled back out of the piping. Thankfully we noticed the water running down the courtyard early on and shut everything off. But all the water in the house has to be shut off since we only have the one main shut-off valve (something we are finally going to remedy this weekend).
So I’m sitting here now waiting for a plumber to show up. They are all extra busy today since about 5 of the main water pipes in the next town over burst…not to mention lots of individuals are noticing that they also have burst pipes of their own. I’m sure these plumbers are really going to make a killing today. I just hope they’re not going to charge us an arm and a leg for this visit…
UPDATE 6:00pm: The plumber was here…two young guys from the company Hotz. Didn’t take them long to repair the pipe but they were skeptical about how long it might hold since there is still no insulation around it and the pipe doesn’t go very far underground here. Not that it would matter since it’s not the part underground which was the problem…it was the stuff in the wall. So we’ll see. I stuffed some more insulation in the hole outside and a bit from the inside too, then set a radiator over there by the pipes where they run outside from the mudroom. We’ll just have to pray that it won’t freeze again in the next little while. Otherwise Stefan may be doing the replacement himself next time…but at least I can suggest how to go about it 
Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the 
Is it on a line that hooks to a faucet somewhere in the house? If you leave it dripping, it should move enough not to freeze. (I used to live in a cold area, and that’s what we did to keep the pipes from freezing. Either that, or heat tape.)
We did heat coils two or three years ago, best maddeningly necessary thing we ever did.
Yes, we should have left a faucet dripping before the freezing set in. That was our first mistake.
But since we’ve discovered that the pipes are clearly not buried low enough we’re going to have to try something new in the spring. Either bury the pipes down lower or install lines with a heating coil that can be turned on to keep the pipes warm when it gets this cold again.