2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

[Royal With Cheese 3]

After being out for 24 hours, the power is back on in the 78729. Right off of Pond Springs Road. I'm never turning our heat off again.

[Message Board User 12395]

I feel like the thread title should change to "Don't hurt me plz" or "Prepare your anus."

[Guest Lobo]

2 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

There are plenty o' filters at Bee Cave.  No one's thunkin bout those in the midst of their UFC-style rumble to get any kind of pipe wrap or insulation.  Tarps were all gone, too.

Good to know, be a good excuse to get out of the cabin fever house in a couple of days and keep the engine block warmed.  pissed at myself thought of everything but filters. 

You're the weather expert---I'm seeing people covering landscaping with tarps.  With the precip coming, won't that have the opposite of the intended effect?  It'll lock that backside frozen moisture in with the plants, right?  You need something more porous or just thicker and non-slick?  A canvas or poly tarp is gonna lock in all the frozen shit, no?  I use moving blankets personally but then...I've never seen 5+ nights of hard freezes.  

[Trey3216 15346]

Wunderground now showing we won’t get above freezing in Waco until Next Friday.  That’ll be 9 days straight.  Jesus 

[phdhorn 6224]

6 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Good to know, be a good excuse to get out of the cabin fever house in a couple of days and keep the engine block warmed.  pissed at myself thought of everything but filters. 

You're the weather expert---I'm seeing people covering landscaping with tarps.  With the precip coming, won't that have the opposite of the intended effect?  It'll lock that backside frozen moisture in with the plants, right?  You need something more porous or just thicker and non-slick?  A canvas or poly tarp is gonna lock in all the frozen shit, no?  I use moving blankets personally but then...I've never seen 5+ nights of hard freezes.  

Unless there's some heat source under there, or the soil is warm, I don't know what good it'll do now.  But you can use a solid tarp to do it (hell I used trash bags one year, worked fine).

But this thing?  Fortunately I don't have any cherished plants, because I don't think any of them are gonna make it through Wednesday.  

(Also Cactus Flinthead is THE plant expert, you can ask him a lot of stuff.  I'm kinda a B+ horticulture self-crowned (but undeserved) smartass.

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

holy shit - my hot water heater is dripping, but from where a tube meets the bolt. slow drip, but i am freaking out. plumber can’t come until tomorrow. turn off water at main, drain hot water in tub and turn off electric hot water heater?

[washparkhorn 9939]

16 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

It's a good idea to know how to shut off your water main in a hurry if shit goes haywire.

Absolutely. And to have the tool necessary to complete the task, if required. 

 

8 hours ago, ztejas said:

Can someone explain to me why massive power outages would be a thing? Just from trees/branches falling on lines? 

From my time in Denver - In ice storms, the power lines also get weighed down by the ice and touch tree limbs, which causes a short - which blows up transformers. Hopefully the utilities where you live have the supplies necessary to replace. It can take some time to replace each one. It sucks.

7 hours ago, Hate said:

(food/meat) Can’t you just put it on the porch until the power comes back?

I learned from iowa/nebraska inlaws that coolers are handy to keep beer from freezing in the cold weather outside. 

5 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

I've got a small space heater I ordered on Amazon arriving today that I'm putting in the garage in the vicinity of my front outdoor faucet/pipe.  Hopefully it will keep it just warm enough to not freeze up too badly.  

Learned from Alaskans - consider tenting the area you want to heat to create a warm pocket on the section you need to heat 

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Drove about 150 feet around a curve and this.

So I ended up hiking the last 1/4 mile with my toolbag.  Got shit taken care of at least.  And learned, if your lock is frozen shut, piss on it.

Learned from off-roading - always carry a chainsaw

___________________________

Sincerely,

Texan who adopted to cold weather in Chicago and Colorado (which is why I now live in Southern California)

[Anastasis 23469]

7 minutes ago, Axle Hongsnort said:

holy shit - my hot water heater is dripping, but from where a tube meets the bolt. slow drip, but i am freaking out. plumber can’t come until tomorrow. turn off water at main, drain hot water in tub and turn off electric hot water heater?

That sucks.  No valve at the water inlet?

[atomheartbevo 89650]

5 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Y’all are freaking me out. I just had $4k worth of water damage in my laundry room and I really don’t want to go through anything like that again. 

It's the rum talking (not making a proper liquor run), but if you get an outside faucet break, just crank all of the indoor faucets wide open to lower the water pressure to the broken faucet, and then figure out how to cut off your water supply.  

That may or may not be a good idea.

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

oh yeah, crawling behind and there is spigot to hot water heater i’ll turn off

[Guest Lobo]

10 minutes ago, Axle Hongsnort said:

holy shit - my hot water heater is dripping, but from where a tube meets the bolt. slow drip, but i am freaking out. plumber can’t come until tomorrow. turn off water at main, drain hot water in tub and turn off electric hot water heater?

Is that door-frame on the bottom left...is that the way to access the water heater unit?  How the hell did you squirm into there then up to be even with the unit to take that photograph?    Dear God, you're the actual Radical Larry...you can vibrate through walls and burrow underground, can't you?  I knew you existed! 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

11 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Absolutely. And to have the tool necessary to complete the task, if required. 

 

From my time in Denver - In ice storms, the power lines also get weighed down by the ice and touch tree limbs, which causes a short - which blows up transformers. Hopefully the utilities where you live have the supplies necessary to replace. It can take some time to replace each one. It sucks.

I learned from iowa/nebraska inlaws that coolers are handy to keep beer from freezing in the cold weather outside. 

Learned from Alaskans - consider tenting the area you want to heat to create a warm pocket on the section you need to heat 

Learned from off-roading - always carry a chainsaw

___________________________

Sincerely,

Texan who adopted to cold weather in Chicago and Colorado (which is why I now live in Southern California)

Ok now tell me which end not to saw on, so that it doesn’t snap up from stress.   😂. Nah I’ll just shove that booger out of the way with a tractor.  

[BrickTop 477]

Lol Khou guy said Monday morning 30 mph sustained winds 18 degrees, snow and sleet should be an interesting day at the fire department.

[BrickTop 477]

Oh and blizzard like conditions

[Wiler77 1566]

12 minutes ago, Axle Hongsnort said:

holy shit - my hot water heater is dripping, but from where a tube meets the bolt. slow drip, but i am freaking out. plumber can’t come until tomorrow. turn off water at main, drain hot water in tub and turn off electric hot water heater?

My hot water heater dripped one time.  I looked at those 2 x 75gallon tanks, one of them dripping, and thought about what would happen if we had a major issue up there in the 2nd floor attic.  I immediately replaced them with tankless.  It definitely takes longer for water at a far away spout to heat up, but the peace of mind is worth it.  That's not helpful at all to you right now, but something to think about.

[HiggyBaby 2529]

So I have two faucets (bathroom) that back up to an outside wall. I plan to leave the cold side dripping and the cabinets below open. Should I also drip the hot side? I have a tankless heater in the attic FWIW.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

2 minutes ago, HiggyBaby said:

So I have two faucets (bathroom) that back up to an outside wall. I plan to leave the cold side dripping and the cabinets below open. Should I also drip the hot side? I have a tankless heater in the attic FWIW.

just run everything wide open, the bays will appreciate the input.

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

it seems good news (from a frozen pipe standpoint) is that point of leak as on the hot/output side of tank. so i turned off inlet to hw heater and depleted the hot water in the tub, and drip has all but stopped. will hang tight until plumber arrives and now go drink bourbon.

[washparkhorn 9939]

9 minutes ago, HiggyBaby said:

So I have two faucets (bathroom) that back up to an outside wall. I plan to leave the cold side dripping and the cabinets below open. Should I also drip the hot side? I have a tankless heater in the attic FWIW.

When it was really cold in Colorado, we dripped both hot and cold.

Learned that from some plumber from New Jersey. Never had frozen pipes in Colorado (but the house was built for the cold and the heat, so who knows whether it was necessary).

[Somnio 751]

34 minutes ago, Axle Hongsnort said:

holy shit - my hot water heater is dripping, but from where a tube meets the bolt. slow drip, but i am freaking out. plumber can’t come until tomorrow. turn off water at main, drain hot water in tub and turn off electric hot water heater?

Don't forget to check your cold water heater as well. 

[washparkhorn 9939]

19 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Nah I’ll just shove that booger out of the way with a tractor.  

Lucky!

 

[Paper_jam 831]

Argh, I just found out that one of my outdoor spigots is leaking...maybe 1 drop every two-three seconds. I had wrapped it in a towel and put a foam cover on it, but the leak just soaked the towel and the foam cover forced the leaking water back against the brick, where it trickles down and freezes on the brick exterior below. I'm not sure if I should just take the cover off to keep the leaking water from backing up into the brick, or if its tolerable as it is.  I guess it won't hurt the brick to get wet/icy, to a point...

 

 

 

[Armybrat 40832]

We are all pussies here. 
Think of what these guys put up with at -35f with thousands of screaming Chicoms shooting at them all during the 17 day Battle of the  “Frozen” Chosin Reservoir , November 1950.

 

[BradInATX 9208]

My freezeproof setup is hillbilly as hell. I've got two spigots outside that come up from the ground with one or two feet of exposed pipe.

One has a halogen shop light pointed at it, with an easy up over the whole setup to keep water out. The other one has an upside down ice chest over it with an incandescent cage light inside. Our well house has a little ceramic heater inside running on low. Sometimes you gotta get creative and a little redneck.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

Honestly if you have a slab house with brick walls and a few outdoor spigots coming out of those walls, wrap with a towel, cover the spigot with a spigot cover and keep your heat on and you will be fine.  During the week of the Jerrah SuperSnowBowl in 2011 it was sub 20 degrees for 4 days straight in DFW (though admittedly lowest temp was something like 8-10 degrees and not 0)That's all I did and I was fine.  The surface brick may get cold but your pipe is quickly back into the insulated wall that is absorbing heat from inside your house.

Now for you dudes with pier and beam and supply lines running openly in the crawl space....good fucking luck, we salute you.   

Edited February 13, 2021 by Surly Bevo

[Wanker Bob 379]

Well went outside and both the side yard and back yard spigots were frozen. Heated them up and got the water flowing again then wrapped the shit out of them with rags and a plastic bag then tied off with twine. Thinking about just wrapping the shit out of them with duct insulation. 

I'm going to have to go out and thaw them every day arent I?

[Newdoc 3439]

1 minute ago, Surly Bevo said:

Now for you dudes with pier and beam and supply lines running openly in the crawl space....good fucking luck, we salute you.   

Guilty. Some are insulated. Vents are blocked off now and my hvac vents under house leak a little to unintentionally condition the short crawl space but faucets will be running starting Sunday. I know I’m good down to about 15-20 degrees without running the water.

[CHIEF 5079]

My master bath is sitting at 50 degrees, even with the thermostat, on that end set at 68. It's always cold as fuck in there. I went to get a small heater to put in the garage that is pointed at the wall where the outside spigot is. We have a larger bathroom heater that I turned on and opened up the vanity cabinet to circulate heat under the sink and to the pipes. I bet the plastic on that little heater I pulled out from under there was 40 degrees, even with 3 1/2 inches of foam insulation in the exterior wall.

We have been below freezing since Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, and it looks like we won't be back above it, till Thursday/Friday of next week.

CHIEF

[dcar00 14181]

2 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

Well went outside and both the side yard and back yard spigots were frozen. Heated them up and got the water flowing again then wrapped the shit out of them with rags and a plastic bag then tied off with twine. Thinking about just wrapping the shit out of them with duct insulation. 

I'm going to have to go out and thaw them every day arent I?

I wish I could do that.  going on 30 hours without power in NW Austin

[TwiceHorn 31451]

8 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Honestly if you have a slab house with brick walls and a few outdoor spigots coming out of those walls, wrap with a towel, cover the spigot with a spigot cover and keep your heat on and you will be fine.  During the week of the Jerrah SuperSnowBowl in 2011 it was sub 20 degrees for 4 days straight in DFW (though admittedly lowest temp was something like 8-10 degrees and not 0)That's all I did and I was fine.  The surface brick may get cold but your pipe is quickly back into the insulated wall that is absorbing heat from inside your house.

Now for you dudes with pier and beam and supply lines running openly in the crawl space....good fucking luck, we salute you.   

I didn't remember it was that low.  I didn't do shit and we were fine.

[TwiceHorn 31451]

5 minutes ago, Newdoc said:

Guilty. Some are insulated. Vents are blocked off now and my hvac vents under house leak a little to unintentionally condition the short crawl space but faucets will be running starting Sunday. I know I’m good down to about 15-20 degrees without running the water.

What did you block your vents with?

[Royal With Cheese 3]

2 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

I wish I could do that.  going on 30 hours without power in NW Austin

Have you called Austin Energy about your power outage?

Here is the number to call: Austin Energy 512-322-9100

[Steel Shank 9422]

2 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

The bigger thing is, if you're pruning you control the cut and can make it clean and seal it (or not) and it will heal pretty quick.   Limbs breaking because of ice aren't clean wounds, and tend to attract the beetles when it warms back up.  Pruning is not as bad as it's been sold to be.  Breaking limbs are worse. 

Agreed. I just wasn't sure what Lobo was getting at, but it does make sense. I have some very large (and small) live oaks that I want to take care of/baby. I also have a Treaty Oak sapling that is doing gang busters. Advantage - Steel Shank.

[ztejas 43418]

15 minutes ago, Royal With Cheese said:

Have you called Austin Energy about your power outage?

Here is the number to call: Austin Energy 512-322-9100

Can someone give me Wee Mac Kelly's direct line? 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

3 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

Agreed. I just wasn't sure what Lobo was getting at, but it does make sense. I have some very large (and small) live oaks that I want to take care of/baby. I also have a Treaty Oak sapling that is doing gang busters. Advantage - Steel Shank.

If you can cut them and keep them from breaking, advantage steel shank.  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Just now, Judge Roybeanbag said:

If you can cut them and keep them from breaking, advantage steel shank.  That’s the bottom line.  

 

[Guest Lobo]

I like to break them, then cut them, then insult their families.  

Wait, we talking 'bout trees?  

[Steel Shank 9422]

1 minute ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

If you can cut them and keep them from breaking, advantage steel shank.  

I bought a bottle of Russell's bourbon as a thank you to a friend who did something nice for me. I had second thoughts and gave him a bottle of wine and kept the bourbon for myself. Now during this megastorm/freeze, I have 5 bottle's of Russell's. Advantage - Steel Shank.

[dcar00 14181]

19 minutes ago, Royal With Cheese said:

Have you called Austin Energy about your power outage?

Here is the number to call: Austin Energy 512-322-9100

yeah called.  one side of my street is on, my side is off.  They said "thats funny we show you have had power since 1PM" 

they said the street in back of me has power also.  I said no it doesn't. another "that's interesting" and then a "we are working on it but can't tell you when"

yay city run utlities!

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

2 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

I bought a bottle of Russell's bourbon as a thank you to a friend who did something nice for me. I had second thoughts and gave him a bottle of wine and kept the bourbon for myself. Now during this megastorm/freeze, I have 5 bottle's of Russell's. Advantage - Steel Shank.

Just save up some nice warm piss, in case.  I think we’ll all live.  

[Royal With Cheese 3]

1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

yeah called.  one side of my street is on, my side is off.  They said "thats funny we show you have had power since 1PM" 

they said the street in back of me has power also.  I said no it doesn't. another "that's interesting" and then a "we are working on it but can't tell you when"

yay city run utlities!

They told me the same thing this morning and I kept calling them. Continue to call them. 30 hours without power is unacceptable.

[washparkhorn 9939]

6 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

yeah called.  one side of my street is on, my side is off.  They said "thats funny we show you have had power since 1PM" 

Same thing would happen to me. No power at my house but neighbors across the street with full power. Because there were less than 10 homes on the transformer in question at that time, we were lower priority than larger outages (which does make sense in widespread outages).  Good luck. 

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by washparkhorn

[dcar00 14181]

1 minute ago, Royal With Cheese said:

They told me the same thing this morning and I kept calling them. Continue to call them. 30 hours without power is unacceptable.

yep.  I'm very concerned about pipes in an older home.

[Brisketexan 105095]

Well went outside and both the side yard and back yard spigots were frozen. Heated them up and got the water flowing again then wrapped the shit out of them with rags and a plastic bag then tied off with twine. Thinking about just wrapping the shit out of them with duct insulation. 
I'm going to have to go out and thaw them every day arent I?

Pool noodles, dude. Pretty decent insulation to put around exposed pipes.

I went to wrap one of our outdoor faucets in heat tape (it had insulation and a cap from a couple of years ago on it). The old set up had gotten wet in the rain, and had already frozen. I wrapped the heat tape around it, and it was cold enough that it started heating right away. Then put a piece of foam pipe insulation around it, then covered it with a cap, then covered it with a small soft sided cooler.

And...will be hopeful.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

28 minutes ago, Royal With Cheese said:

They told me the same thing this morning and I kept calling them. Continue to call them. 30 hours without power is unacceptable.

Yeah that’s not right, in this situation.  

[dcar00 14181]

bunch of Karen's on next door bitchin up a storm.  the dumbass "system" kept showing we had power.  

[washparkhorn 9939]

2 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

bunch of Karen's on next door bitchin up a storm

They need to get off NextDoor and get to calling and asking for managers at Electric Co. This is where karens are quite useful. 

[Steel Shank 9422]

45 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Just save up some nice warm piss, in case.  I think we’ll all live.  

5 gallon bucket sez 'Sup?

[atomheartbevo 89650]

1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

We are all pussies here. 
Think of what these guys put up with at -35f with thousands of screaming Chicoms shooting at them all during the 17 day Battle of the  “Frozen” Chosin Reservoir , November 1950.

 

None of them are wearing cargo shorts and sandals. 

[dcar00 14181]

luckily, I have my tailgate generator Honda EU1000 runnin the garage fridge and small TV with antenna.  getting caught up on wheel of fortune and price is right as well as some 60's/70's sitcoms