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Preparing around the house for unusually cold weather

34,348 Views | 202 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by AustinCountyAg
Average Joe
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EMY92 said:

Average Joe said:

I thought I was really well prepared until I went to get water out of the fridge this morning. Waterline runs into the attic. I hope this isn't going to be painful.
Every few years when I decide to turn my water to the fridge off, the stupid valve always breaks. Installed a new one on Saturday and disconnected the line to the fridge. I have had it freeze before without issue (copper line), but didn't want to chance it.

When I hook it up again, I'll verify that there are no breaks before I walk away.
Thanks for the suggestion. It wasn't the solution to my issue, but it gave me an idea that lead me to the right solution.

The previous owners had some work done on the pipes under the kitchen sink. Like most homes, this is where the fridge line connects. I've cursed whoever did it a few times because they did a **** job replacing the drywall. I figured that if they did a bang up job on the drywall then they probably didn't do a good job replacing insolation behind it.

I ripped away the drywall and, sure enough, hardly any insolation. Blow dryer took all of 10 seconds to clear the only block. Stuffed some towels around the pipes and we're looking good for now. I'll keep the cabinets open and we should be good for now.

JYDog90
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Welp. They say everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. I dripped my faucets, running the pool constantly, have my attic open, etc.

5:00am the power goes off AND the water district has an issue so we don't have water or power. It's 50* in my living room with the fireplace and it's 36* in the attic. I've pulled all my plugs on my pool equipment and turned off the power to it and released the pressure.

I'm guessing I'm gonna have some issues with my plumbing when the thaw happens
Formerly Willy Wonka
Teddy Perkins
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aggiedata said:

I hope this wasn't anyone here. No prep for the back flow.


Just slap some flex seal on that geyser.
agz win
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"have my attic open"

Could be wrong, but I don't think you're supposed to draw heat up into your attic.
dubi
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Close your attic door!
Josepi
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Funny story at my house this AM.

My wife tries to run a load of laundry and the washer won't fill with water. So I disconnect the cold water line from the washer and sure enough, no water come out, so I assume it's frozen somewhere. I stick the cold water line in a sink in the laundry room, and I rig up a space heater that blows directly on the cold water spigot in the wall. My plan was that eventually the space heater will thaw the blockage, and the water will start flowing through the line and into the sink.

I'm back in my office, and my wife calls me in a panic. I rush up the the laundry room, and the cold water line is whipping around the room shooting water everywhere. Apparently, I had left the water on full blast when I set up the heater to thaw. There was water pouring out the door, and every inch of the room had water dripping off of it.

On the bright side, we found about 10 socks behind the washer when we pulled it out to dry.
JYDog90
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I thought we were supposed to allow heat to go up into the attic to keep it from getting too cold up there.

It's crazy, I read so much freaking stuff, I don't know the difference between "come here" and "sic' em" right now.
Formerly Willy Wonka
Average Joe
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My wife got up to use the restroom around 4 a.m one morning. She flushes and it causes the waterline to break. I've never in my life gone from sound asleep to fully freakin' awake in such a short amount of time.
XXXVII
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Average Joe said:

My wife got up to use the restroom around 4 a.m one morning. She flushes and it causes the waterline to break. I've never in my life gone from sound asleep to fully freakin' awake in such a short amount of time.


As I read this I just found that one of my toilets is no longer refilling the tank after flushing. Probably a frozen pipe that supplies the toilet. What are the chances my bathroom is going to flood when the temps get back above freezing?

Anything I should try to do about it now?
Canyon99
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No water at my house as a water main in town broke overnight. I've been melting snow on a propane cooker and refilling toilets. Three girls in the house otherwise I'd be just fine!
Tabasco
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Willy Wonka said:

I thought we were supposed to allow heat to go up into the attic to keep it from getting too cold up there.

It's crazy, I read so much freaking stuff, I don't know the difference between "come here" and "sic' em" right now.


Pretty sure cracking your attic door allows warm air to go up and quickly out the eves, while filling your house with cold air.
dubi
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Average Joe said:

My wife got up to use the restroom around 4 a.m one morning. She flushes and it causes the waterline to break. I've never in my life gone from sound asleep to fully freakin' awake in such a short amount of time.


Plastic waterline or valve? Always use metal.
EMY92
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Willy Wonka said:

I thought we were supposed to allow heat to go up into the attic to keep it from getting too cold up there.

It's crazy, I read so much freaking stuff, I don't know the difference between "come here" and "sic' em" right now.
The lack of insulation in my house does that without any additional help needed.
Average Joe
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dubi said:

Average Joe said:

My wife got up to use the restroom around 4 a.m one morning. She flushes and it causes the waterline to break. I've never in my life gone from sound asleep to fully freakin' awake in such a short amount of time.


Plastic waterline or valve? Always use metal.
It was an old plastic one from before we moved in here. It got an upgrade to metal, along with the sinks and toilets in all bathrooms.
mhnatt
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Average Joe said:

dubi said:

Average Joe said:

My wife got up to use the restroom around 4 a.m one morning. She flushes and it causes the waterline to break. I've never in my life gone from sound asleep to fully freakin' awake in such a short amount of time.


Plastic waterline or valve? Always use metal.
It was an old plastic one from before we moved in here. It got an upgrade to metal, along with the sinks and toilets in all bathrooms.
Those plastic valves at the service line to toilet should be outlawed. One of ours randomly broke (normal temps) while we were away for a week. Came back and the house had flooded. This happened right before we were to close on selling our house. Deal fell through and we still live here.

Amazing what a crappy a piece of corner-cutting-plastic can do to your life.
wanderer
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No issues at the house, have faucets/shower heads dripping.

I'm considering shutting the main off at the street. Any harm in doing that??
Bottlerocket
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wanderer said:

No issues at the house, have faucets/shower heads dripping.

I'm considering shutting the main off at the street. Any harm in doing that??

The consensus here is that this is probably not the best idea unless you can be sure you get all the water out of your lines. Some guys said that usually require some pressurized air or something
Ferg
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my kitchen hot water came back on line, was frozen when i got up this am.
Old Sarge
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I have three outdoor faucets, all of which pipe comes from out thru brick wall. All covered with styrofoam covers. The one facing south is OK and water flows. Replaced cover. The other two are on north side, and no water comes out. Replaced covers, until I get some ideas. No other known water issues at this point. Oh, no electricity. Only heat from Big Buddy propane heaters, one each pointed at, not on, the inside of wall where faucets are at exterior.

Do I let it ride as is? Do I attempt to thaw now, with a risk of creating further issues and 8-10 forecast for tonight?

Edit to add:

Put my hands over one of the frozen ones, did not feel painfully cold, opened again.....trickle....little more.....then she opened up. The other not a drop. Put a couple hand warmers in and closed it up. Electricity back after 14 hours, turned heater on in bath with common wall, and propane heater off. Will see tomorrow.

Edit again:

Decided to do d a double check on the hand warmer one before going in, walked around corner and heard water hissing and thought sheeeett, but when I had reseated the valve it had not seated completely. Opened her up all the way to flush, closed, and putting a couple dry hand warmers in for the next run tonight.
Average Joe
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Old Sarge said:

I have three outdoor faucets, all of which pipe comes from out thru brick wall. All covered with styrofoam covers. The one facing south is OK and water flows. Replaced cover. The other two are on north side, and no water comes out. Replaced covers, until I get some ideas. No other known water issues at this point. Oh, no electricity. Only heat from Big Buddy propane heaters, one each pointed at, not on, the inside of wall where faucets are at exterior.

Do I let it ride as is? Do I attempt to thaw now, with a risk of creating further issues and 8-10 forecast for tonight?
2/3 of mine are good, but I think one is frozen. It's 6 inches from our dryer vent, so I've ran the dryer a few times to see if it can heat enough of the area to help.
BlackLab
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Old Sarge said:

I have three outdoor faucets, all of which pipe comes from out thru brick wall. All covered with styrofoam covers. The one facing south is OK and water flows. Replaced cover. The other two are on north side, and no water comes out. Replaced covers, until I get some ideas. No other known water issues at this point. Oh, no electricity. Only heat from Big Buddy propane heaters, one each pointed at, not on, the inside of wall where faucets are at exterior.

Do I let it ride as is? Do I attempt to thaw now, with a risk of creating further issues and 8-10 forecast for tonight?


Same issue here. Try to thaw faucet now or wait until tomorrow?
Ferg
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One of my outdoor ones, which sometimes drips, had some nice icicles hanging from it even though covered by the styrofoam thing. I wrapped a bath towel over the styrofoam to minimize the amount of cold getting through. its against the garage wall vs house. Don't know if its the best way to handle, but hoping for the best.
Wheatables02
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Teddy Perkins said:

kdm_01 said:

First winter with a pool. Patchy ice is beginning to form on in areas of surface of salt water pool. Pump is running continuously. Are there any concerns or anything I should do at this stage of the game? Outside of Memphis with next temps above freezing forecast on Saturday.
If you lose power you'll want to turn off power to the equipment and drain the system. I found these videos helpful.




My pool was doing great and not freezing but then my backwash vertical valve sprung a leak. Ice was forming everywhere and the pool was losing water so I made the decision to pull the lid of the filter skimmer, pull the drain plugs, and leave the skimmer lid off. I covered them with some old towels but I wasn't able to get the filter drain plug out...I even tried using a hair dryer to unthaw it but no success...I was able to release the pressure from the top of the filter...ugh
Sazerac
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Just wait out the frozen faucets guys
TREX01
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Shower in master bath is frozen i assume. Had water at 2:00 last night but nothing at 8am. Recently had bathroom remodeled and plumber used the flex tubing? What should i be most concerned about as a try to thaw this?
WorkerBee
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TREX01 said:

Shower in master bath is frozen i assume. Had water at 2:00 last night but nothing at 8am. Recently had bathroom remodeled and plumber used the flex tubing? What should i be most concerned about as a try to thaw this?
Woke up this morning with similar problem, Master Bath showers not working, master tub not working and and a guest room with no shower, toilet or sink working. Climbed in the attic and master had exposed flex tubing of about 2 feet for the tub and and about 3 feet for the shower. Thawed them with a hair dryer and luckily had some extra foam pipe insulation. Similar story for the guest bath but the sink, toilet and and shower all split off right next to each other and the idiots had put foam pipe insulation on the middle (toilet) line for both hot and cold but left the left and right exposed. Did not have enough foam pipe insulation so just wrapped them in towels for now.

Those exposed lines were frozen solid and took me about 10-15 minutes each to thaw. I have checked them twice since then and no leaking. Was told I am good but I cant help but worry. What pisses me off is that I noticed no other exposed flex lines other than the ones above.

From what I have been told you should be good. I hope for my sake and yours that is correct.
TREX01
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thanks for this info. that is exactly what happened in my situation. Back in business.
AustinCountyAg
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Is it a dumb idea to leave a space heater turned on in the attic this week when it gets cold at night? I'm worried about the pipes freezing over up there. Our insulation isn't the best and most pipes are wrapped but some spots are not. I figured every little extra bit of heat the attic can get the better?
 
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