How are you preparing?

I went to my local HEB and did some panic buying.

Brushy Creek area.

Propane and Gas to run generators and Mr. Buddy Heater. Water.

i brought a couple plants in.

Need to stock up so headed to HE …… err …. I mean Total Wine !!

Dry January here

If it's snows, I'll drink

Buccees cups work too but you have to drive to Giddings or Bastrop to get some.

Aggie Therapist said:

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Dry January here

If it's snows, I'll drink

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Boo dry January !! You should see yourself about that……..

Or Temple!

The need a Bucees central to Austin

What gives?

Wrap outside pipes and drip.

Ask me how I know to drip cold AND hot water on all faucets? In 21 I dripped only cold and had no hot water for 3 days. Daughter was pissed at not being able to shower.

Partied like it was 1999. Okay, going to get good gas for the generator and 4x (NY strips + ground Vinson) for a massive chili batch tomorrow am with at least two cords of firewood from the last ice storm, and 4 flavors of burbon, no Scotch, and some beers.

Will probably need 800 rolls of tp for no good reason also. Let's go!

FYI wife went to HEB tonight and said the shelves were wiped out. Reminded her of the beginning of Covid.

Aggie Therapist said:

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Or Temple!

The need a Bucees central to Austin

What gives?

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Depending on where you live (south Austin like me), the New Braunfels location might be closest, or close enough. Or you can at least go by Gruene Hall for some music and beer before/after Bucees

If very concerned, Just cut your water off at the street for the night. Fill a tub and a kitchen sink for hand washing and toilet flushing. Probably not required tonight but don't want to chance anything freezing in the wall or attic.

The bad one we had a couple years ago with days of under 30 had a lot of my neighbors in bee cave with waterfalls for walls. Not gonna mess with that crap and will just cut the water again and not worry about it. Should just be overnight tonight then back on during afternoon and then off again till Tuesday. Not ideal and not required for this one but gonna do it anyway for peace of mind.

SteveBott said:

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FYI wife went to HEB tonight and said the shelves were wiped out. Reminded her of the beginning of Covid.

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Same. All the meat and chicken was gone, and almost all TV dinners . Most fresh produce too.

Lots of fear .

Aust Ag said:

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SteveBott said:

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FYI wife went to HEB tonight and said the shelves were wiped out. Reminded her of the beginning of Covid.

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Same. All the meat and chicken was gone, and almost all TV dinners . Most fresh produce too.

Lots of fear .

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Sugar isle is well stocked.

It's crazy. Pretty sure the stores will be open normal business hours.

Moral High Horse said:

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Sugar isle is well stocked.

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What island is that?

That bad?

I got a bunch of frozen pizza and beer

Lol

Nah, my middle older brother messaged that. Cracked me up. We just got good gas for the generator and stopped at Hudson Meats for a bunch of NY strips and ground venison for two double batches of chili. Picked chilies before the freeze, life is good, chili is excellent.

Hanrahan said:

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If very concerned, Just cut your water off at the street for the night. Fill a tub and a kitchen sink for hand washing and toilet flushing. Probably not required tonight but don't want to chance anything freezing in the wall or attic.

The bad one we had a couple years ago with days of under 30 had a lot of my neighbors in bee cave with waterfalls for walls. Not gonna mess with that crap and will just cut the water again and not worry about it. Should just be overnight tonight then back on during afternoon and then off again till Tuesday. Not ideal and not required for this one but gonna do it anyway for peace of mind.

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I'm with ya man, I went ahead and sold my house on Thursday just so I won't have to deal with issues. Probably buy back in to the market in the post-catastrophe for pennies on dollar too.

Hanrahan said:

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If very concerned, Just cut your water off at the street for the night. Fill a tub and a kitchen sink for hand washing and toilet flushing. Probably not required tonight but don't want to chance anything freezing in the wall or attic.

The bad one we had a couple years ago with days of under 30 had a lot of my neighbors in bee cave with waterfalls for walls. Not gonna mess with that crap and will just cut the water again and not worry about it. Should just be overnight tonight then back on during afternoon and then off again till Tuesday. Not ideal and not required for this one but gonna do it anyway for peace of mind.

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This only works if you have a low point drain, which most homes in TX do not. Shutting off your water and leaving it in the pipes is much worse than leaving the water on and dripping faucets.

Aust Ag said:

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It's crazy. Pretty sure the stores will be open normal business hours.

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They will be. People like to panic.

Wife went to WalMart yesterday, and they had plenty of stuff. We grabbed a few things, but that was just stuff we are normally out of.

If everyone could just wait a few days, things would be back to normal.

Aggietaco said:

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Hanrahan said:

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If very concerned, Just cut your water off at the street for the night. Fill a tub and a kitchen sink for hand washing and toilet flushing. Probably not required tonight but don't want to chance anything freezing in the wall or attic.

The bad one we had a couple years ago with days of under 30 had a lot of my neighbors in bee cave with waterfalls for walls. Not gonna mess with that crap and will just cut the water again and not worry about it. Should just be overnight tonight then back on during afternoon and then off again till Tuesday. Not ideal and not required for this one but gonna do it anyway for peace of mind.

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This only works if you have a low point drain, which most homes in TX do not. Shutting off your water and leaving it in the pipes is much worse than leaving the water on and dripping faucets.

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Not sure where you are getting that. It isn't much worse to leave water in pipes under no pressure. Yes it may freeze in the pipes but that isn't going to burst anything if it's not freezing under pressure. Maybe in an empty house with no heat after a very long freeze where you can get pressure from water freezing in between multiple frozen spots and over a long run. But as long as you very slowly turn the water back on you aren't going to mess anything up, frozen or not. It's the pressure, not the freezing, that busts pipes. I do the same at my ranch. No problems through any of the bad freezes and there is plenty of water left in the pipes.

Hanrahan said:

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Aggietaco said:

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Hanrahan said:

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If very concerned, Just cut your water off at the street for the night. Fill a tub and a kitchen sink for hand washing and toilet flushing. Probably not required tonight but don't want to chance anything freezing in the wall or attic.

The bad one we had a couple years ago with days of under 30 had a lot of my neighbors in bee cave with waterfalls for walls. Not gonna mess with that crap and will just cut the water again and not worry about it. Should just be overnight tonight then back on during afternoon and then off again till Tuesday. Not ideal and not required for this one but gonna do it anyway for peace of mind.

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This only works if you have a low point drain, which most homes in TX do not. Shutting off your water and leaving it in the pipes is much worse than leaving the water on and dripping faucets.

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Not sure where you are getting that. It isn't much worse to leave water in pipes under no pressure. Yes it may freeze in the pipes but that isn't going to burst anything if it's not freezing under pressure. Maybe in an empty house with no heat after a very long freeze where you can get pressure from water freezing in between multiple frozen spots and over a long run. But as long as you very slowly turn the water back on you aren't going to mess anything up, frozen or not. It's the pressure, not the freezing, that busts pipes. I do the same at my ranch. No problems through any of the bad freezes and there is plenty of water left in the pipes.

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I'm glad your actions have protected your pipes, but this explanation is not correct. "It's the pressure, not the freezing, that busts the pipes" - what pressure, from what source, are you referring to? Water always sits in a household pipe around 50PSI, but without freezing of course the pipe never breaks. Any expansion pressure from freezing is added to the 50 PSI.

Water expands when freezing. Put an unopened water bottle in the freezer and it will burst - due to the ice formation, no other pressure. Pipes can do the same. If you turn off water supply and leave faucets open that will certainly reduce the chance of a pipe bursting but bursting is still possible, depending on piping layout and if ice could form at two ends of a pipe length before the middle freezes. Since you turned off water supply and I assume left faucets open, you have relieved the pressure in lines (~50PSI) so any ice expansion pressure is added to a lower baseline PSI and less likely to bust the pipes (depending on pipe material).

Running enough water the pipes - in teen temps and lower I do a slight stream - is a more surefire way to prevent pipes bursting.

Complete Idiot said:

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Hanrahan said:

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Aggietaco said:

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Hanrahan said:

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If very concerned, Just cut your water off at the street for the night. Fill a tub and a kitchen sink for hand washing and toilet flushing. Probably not required tonight but don't want to chance anything freezing in the wall or attic.

The bad one we had a couple years ago with days of under 30 had a lot of my neighbors in bee cave with waterfalls for walls. Not gonna mess with that crap and will just cut the water again and not worry about it. Should just be overnight tonight then back on during afternoon and then off again till Tuesday. Not ideal and not required for this one but gonna do it anyway for peace of mind.

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This only works if you have a low point drain, which most homes in TX do not. Shutting off your water and leaving it in the pipes is much worse than leaving the water on and dripping faucets.

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Not sure where you are getting that. It isn't much worse to leave water in pipes under no pressure. Yes it may freeze in the pipes but that isn't going to burst anything if it's not freezing under pressure. Maybe in an empty house with no heat after a very long freeze where you can get pressure from water freezing in between multiple frozen spots and over a long run. But as long as you very slowly turn the water back on you aren't going to mess anything up, frozen or not. It's the pressure, not the freezing, that busts pipes. I do the same at my ranch. No problems through any of the bad freezes and there is plenty of water left in the pipes.

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I'm glad your actions have protected your pipes, but this explanation is not correct. "It's the pressure, not the freezing, that busts the pipes" - what pressure, from what source, are you referring to? Water always sits in a household pipe around 50PSI, but without freezing of course the pipe never breaks. Any expansion pressure from freezing is added to the 50 PSI.

Water expands when freezing. Put an unopened water bottle in the freezer and it will burst - due to the ice formation, no other pressure. Pipes can do the same. If you turn off water supply and leave faucets open that will certainly reduce the chance of a pipe bursting but bursting is still possible, depending on piping layout and if ice could form at two ends of a pipe length before the middle freezes. Since you turned off water supply and I assume left faucets open, you have relieved the pressure in lines (~50PSI) so any ice expansion pressure is added to a lower baseline PSI and less likely to bust the pipes (depending on pipe material).

Running enough water the pipes - in teen temps and lower I do a slight stream - is a more surefire way to prevent pipes bursting.

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Yes. You said the same thing. You just used a lot of words. Freezing water doesnt do anything to a pipe. Pressure from the expansion does, like I said above if you have a house with no heat you could get freeze plug on two ends which is bad. You do you. I've never had a pipe burst. And streaming water doesn't work for a house you don't live at, like my ranch and lake house.

I watched a couple of near crashes in Bastrop after the sleet froze to the ground and slipped and fell on my ass in a parking lot. Fortunately several layers to keep warm also is good padding.

Prepare thy anus, for another freeze is upon us!

Well it is January