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2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

Parliament

By Parliament
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11 hours ago, Wanker Bob said:

Where can one find a pool noodle in February? I haven't seen those in the stores as I don't believe they're stocking summer stuff yet. I've got some extra duct insulation so that's why I was thinking of measuring it out and then fashioning a cover from it with a little cap and gorilla tape it all together

Don't laugh at me... at WalMart if they have any Super Bowl displays still up, they use the yellow pool noodle thingies to look like goal posts for football.  They probably would let you have the yellow pieces for free if you asked.

Question since this is quasi plumbing protection thread: was checking my mom's house yesterday and one outside spigot had a hose connected...&*&^%$!!!!!!!!  I disconnected the hose and turned it on...no flow.  I could feel the ice inside, so I used a lighter and warmed it until a plug of ice about as thick as one of your fingers shot out.  Then I did the wrap and tape.  Coached her on keeping the faucet running slightly in her kitchen sink( outward wall) and opening the cabinet underneath.  Anything else you would do?  It's 90 miles from my house, so if the roads get bad, I might not be able to get down there.

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SubliminalHorn
SubliminalHorn

Power back on. 109 hours. I almost want to cry a little 

Machinator
Machinator
BradInATX
BradInATX

I've actually been turning my heat up a degree every time a new Surly member loses power on this thread. It's a nice balmy 94 in here.

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Mrs Whiggins

Mrs Whiggins 13050

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8 hours ago, Stringer said:

I have 3 large live oaks surrounding my house in Highland Park West.  I don't see any chance of the trees themselves toppling, but I'd say one has a material amount of branches over the house.  

How fucked am I?  Is it worth trying to trim some of the ends to lower the weight or will that cause rot issues right now?  Or do I just need to cross my fingers and hope for the best?

With respect to the branches and trimming--IIRC if you're going to trim then February is a good month to do it in south and central Texas. However you probably ought to weigh that against the risk of you getting out in inclement weather to do it. We usually trim what we can reach in Feb with the pole saw and then every other year call in the pros as we have above ground power lines we have to keep clear and they do it with the tree health in mind. One of our neighbors was awful about taking care of his trees and the power company came through and completely butchered his trees--topped them except for one side branch so it looks awful. It's on my task list so my husband doesn't have to worry about it. With live oaks specifically, Skip Richter (Ag Hort dude) doesn't recommended it unless you have a weak structured tree.

TL/DR--They're probably fine but if you feel up to it, I wouldn't worry about the rot issue.

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Posted
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Just now, Message Board User said:

What's her address?  I'll be glad to help her out with her plumbing.

She's 83 and recently widowed.  You might have a shot...

( and your post is exactly why I love this board)

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Deej

Deej 77292

Posted
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HEB is making a killing. Did curbside at Rundberg HEB this morning and the guy said they had people from over an hour away picking up because they had the only available slots. First time I haven't been the only car at curbside at that location. 

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31705

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One of the few pipes I have that is close to the wall, but inside are the washer hookups.

I'm not aware of a way to make them drip.  Should I just run the washer a bit periodically?

I suppose the fact that there is a hot water line inches away from the cold line helps.

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Homercles

Homercles 10206

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So my 4yo starts yelling about her big poop blocking the toilet, and I plunger it and move onto other things.  Weird...she’s 4, these aren’t Vic girls poops.  Plunger again, no go.  
 

Instantly reminded me when our sewer line had a root in it, with zero flow.  Get a little desperate and really wrench on it, starts to trickle, and eventually flushes normal.  
 

Am I to assume it could have frozen up?  Or did she really drop a mega deuce.  

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utee94

utee94 15901

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15 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

One of the few pipes I have that is close to the wall, but inside are the washer hookups.

I'm not aware of a way to make them drip.  Should I just run the washer a bit periodically?

I suppose the fact that there is a hot water line inches away from the cold line helps.

Dude, just wash your clothes, ya savage.

 

 

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Mrs Whiggins

Mrs Whiggins 13050

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26 minutes ago, Bert Orange said:

I know many of you will be tempted to test the ice on ponds and lakes, but REMEMBER, it’s not safe to drive your BMW on it unless it’s AT LEAST 9” thick. 
image.thumb.jpeg.4fb94e1fbd4ce05e7f528b839c6dd44d.jpeg

We lived in Wisconsin for many years, there are a number of attorneys on Surly who might appreciate this tale: lawyer tells his office he's taking the rest of the day off, doesn't feel good. Goes home and gets his iceboat out and promptly dumps it in the middle of the lake where the ice had not quite frozen thick enough. Newspaper puts the photo on the front page.

I was an indoor rink rat, so skating outdoors was a novelty. Nothing quite like hitting a stick when they haven't flooded the surface recently.

The craziest souls were the ones who would fish on a bucket with no shelter in the middle of a blizzard. We lived a block away from a bay, so it was somewhat sheltered, but most people put up their rig and lil shelter and left it there. The bucket guys were dedicated but when the high was in the negatives, I don't know how they managed, I love the cold but I always keep moving.

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Guest Lobo

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9 minutes ago, Jeffro Wilson said:

My 2.5 yr old recently started potty training and tends to hold it a bit. He took a shit the size of his forearm the other day. It could have clogged a toilet.

Yep, just threw you some rep.  I can empathize...we are trying to start our littlest one (she's still small for her age, only about 24 pounds or so) on potty training at least for pee-pee time.  Anyway, i hear wife hack-coughing upstairs yesterday.  She tells me to come get a diaper and throw it out immediately.  I thought, "Oh because it's too cold for you outside?"  she says "No, it's the worst shit I've ever smelled."  It was like a Waffle House after Mardi Gras in her diaper.   Granted there was a diaper and some wipes involved, but the whole situation weighed over 2 pounds.  Damn impressive for a toddler that size.  It's 20 degrees outside and I can still smell it in my trash bin.  If she had done this in August, we'd have to leave our HOA.  

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South Austin

South Austin 52764

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12 minutes ago, Jeffro Wilson said:

My 2.5 yr old recently started potty training and tends to hold it a bit. He took a shit the size of his forearm the other day. It could have clogged a toilet.

I’m amazed at the size of the turds that come out of my kids. Constantly clogging their toilet. I had to have a talk with them about the concept of a courtesy flush.

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Homercles

Homercles 10206

Posted
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8 minutes ago, Jeffro Wilson said:

My 2.5 yr old recently started potty training and tends to hold it a bit. He took a shit the size of his forearm the other day. It could have clogged a toilet.

This isn’t my first rodeo, the 4yo is #2 and she does the same thing...no poop for 3 days then out comes a baby leg of infinite density.  So yeah I think it’s equally possible either way.  That particular toilet is the first to show problems as it’s closest to the sewer main.  
 

By nature I’m a more anxious person, but this will be pretty unprecedented and I’d rather be finding a lot of false alarms instead of assuming this is a normal cold snap where things are checked like once a day.  

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4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Perhaps foolishly, we did laundry yesterday.  I'm sure we can find some other shit to wash.

This is us.  2 loads a week basically.  When the kids were still at home we did laundry almost every day.

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3314

Posted
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vTexas Temperature Map - Air Sports Net (usairnet.com)
quick way to check area temps.  
Any of you guys think to buy charcoal (for cooking not warming the haus) or camp stove fuel?  If ya' lose power at least you eat some thing warm.  In a pinch taping(several layers) a nickel over both terminals of a 9v battery will warm it up.  I've never done that with a new one, but used "dead" ones with success for hunting/fishing trips for a pocket warmer.
I'd also recommend that if you decide to try to get out to the local hardware store to pick up insulation add to the basket some items to make temp repairs for when the that comes.  PVC glue, caps, plugs, PEX connectors, cutters things to stop a leak or fix as you find it.
 
Tell me more about this nickel 9v setup. How long does it last with a new battery? Sounds like it could be a good solution for keeping an outdoor spigot warm if you wrap it in a towel but will it catch on fire?
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Message Board User

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11 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yep, just threw you some rep.  I can empathize...we are trying to start our littlest one (she's still small for her age, only about 24 pounds or so) on potty training at least for pee-pee time.  Anyway, i hear wife hack-coughing upstairs yesterday.  She tells me to come get a diaper and throw it out immediately.  I thought, "Oh because it's too cold for you outside?"  she says "No, it's the worst shit I've ever smelled."  It was like a Waffle House after Mardi Gras in her diaper.   Granted there was a diaper and some wipes involved, but the whole situation weighed over 2 pounds.  Damn impressive for a toddler that size.  It's 20 degrees outside and I can still smell it in my trash bin.  If she had done this in August, we'd have to leave our HOA.  

You'll definitely have to repeat this story for her when she's a teenager.  Preferably in front of her friends.

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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13 minutes ago, Shaggybevo said:

Flyovers at 183 / MoPac closed. Road conditions worsening. Be very cautious if you have to get on the road today.

Roads are very bad.  Just made a normally 10 minute trip down my hill to the store, took 35 minutes.  On 71, just in the short time I was on it (like 5 mins.) I passed a car that was being put onto a tow truck, it obviously spun and hit something(?) and completely dislodged its left front wheel.  Then a fire truck passed me going west on 71, then an ambulance.  I went to get gas - the electronics worked, but the pump was frozen (nothing came out).

I'll 'splain later, but the missus and I are saying to hell with all this - we're gonna hole up in a hotel in Lakeway for 4 days.  I'm drainin' the faucets and cutting off the water to my well.  Not to mention we're on a high hill and once the snow hits, we'll be stuck most likely (haven't passed that legion of Bee Cave plows recently).

It's just not worth it to us.  Feels like I'm trying to hold off the Barbarians at the gate.  We'll come back Thurs or Fri when temps are > freezing.

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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

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I'm going to cut the water to the house and run the outside spigots until they are empty, close them back up, then turn the water back on. It won't completely empty them and some water will get back in, but I'm hoping it will open up enough space to allow expansion if they freeze.

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3314

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I'm going to cut the water to the house and run the outside spigots until they are empty, close them back up, then turn the water back on. It won't completely empty them and some water will get back in, but I'm hoping it will open up enough space to allow expansion if they freeze.
Are you hoping the air bubbles are enough space to allow for expansion? Won't the air bubbles be displaced when you use other faucets since they're all on the same line?
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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

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Just now, gsoda3 said:
4 minutes ago, Eastwood said:
I'm going to cut the water to the house and run the outside spigots until they are empty, close them back up, then turn the water back on. It won't completely empty them and some water will get back in, but I'm hoping it will open up enough space to allow expansion if they freeze.

Are you hoping the air bubbles are enough space to allow for expansion? Won't the air bubbles be displaced when you use other faucets since they're all on the same line?

No idea about the front spigot, but I had to replace the entire main line to the house in June of '19 and we found out that the back spigot is actually pex pipe that is run off of the main line and dug all the way around the back of the house and the pipe comes out of the ground and connects to the back spigot. The front spigot is in the wall next to the garage, so I'm not too worried about that one and I have a spigot cover. The back line, though, in theory, should have some air cushion because it has it's own line off of the main line and not a part of the house lines.

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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

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Just now, Red Five said:

I opted to drip my outside faucets last night. Bad move. One of them is frozen. Anything to do besides cover it and wait for it to melt? Take a blowtorch to it?

DO NOT blowtorch. Hair dryer will work just fine. Heat it evenly all over until it starts flowing freely.

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FORTY NINE TO ZERO

FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2645

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3 minutes ago, Red Five said:

I opted to drip my outside faucets last night. Bad move. One of them is frozen. Anything to do besides cover it and wait for it to melt? Take a blowtorch to it?

How cold was it where you are and how long have you been below freezing. Trying to plan things out down south 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105690

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My friend’s friend here in SA that works in a hospital is telling him that the state & national governments are expecting the death toll in CenTex from this cold snap to be in the tens of thousands, primarily from people freezing to death in the power outages. I said that sounded pretty far-fetched and he was probably fucking with him.
 
Right?



You clearly don’t understand.....



Thousands of bodies in the icy, snow-covered trees 
 



THIS guy understands.




giphy.gif


Shut up and take your beating like a man.
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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

How are road conditions to the south? We can get to Franklin on surface streets for a pickup....but how is 1-35 to San Antonio?

We're dry in the north part of Bexar County, but we didn't get back over freezing this morning like we were supposed to and there is a patch of freezing drizzle coming up from the south, which is earlier than forecasted. If you get down here, you might not get back to Austin without a struggle.

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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3 minutes ago, Chet Steadman said:

What time tomorrow are things set to get dicey?  I’m debating getting us a hotel downtown for a few days but would prefer one less night if possible.  

Are things expected to be okay mid-morning tomorrow or will the icing have already started?

The snowstorm isn't supposed to hit until dinnertime or after.  However, this little disturbance moving thru now has made more of a mess of things than the one the other day.  Roads are ICY and not just the flyovers.  I've been on them this a.m. and they're bad.

I hope they can treat them before the snowstorm, if not it'll be a slippery ride downtown.  I'm going 4 miles to the hotel tomorrow afternoon, and I'm going to have to use all my Snowbird driving skills just to make it out of my subdivision.  Taking the '96 just in case I hit something/something hits me.   No way I'm taking a good car out on this stuff.

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Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11830

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33 minutes ago, Red Five said:

I opted to drip my outside faucets last night. Bad move. One of them is frozen. Anything to do besides cover it and wait for it to melt? Take a blowtorch to it?

The city of Austin website says  to drip outside faucets at 5 drips per minute.  WTF?  They are crazy.  

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Wanker Bob

Wanker Bob 379

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I don't see any way to keep these fuckers from freezing. Last night I found two covers at the store when looking for pool noodles and also got some rubber pipe insulation. Went out freezing my ass off and rewrapped them this time with the rubber insulation then covered with the new covers then wrapped that and duct taped it all sealed. That shit is still gonna freeze. I wonder if we should open the valve just a bit to relieve pressure and when it thaws the water has somewhere to go. 

 

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Gale Snoats

Gale Snoats 243

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I don't see any way to keep these fuckers from freezing. Last night I found two covers at the store when looking for pool noodles and also got some rubber pipe insulation. Went out freezing my ass off and rewrapped them this time with the rubber insulation then covered with the new covers then wrapped that and duct taped it all sealed. That shit is still gonna freeze. I wonder if we should open the valve just a bit to relieve pressure and when it thaws the water has somewhere to go. 
 

Think I’m going hand-warmer, noodle, towels, plastic bag, tape and just hide and watch.
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drt

drt 642

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Holy shit, these wind gusts on Monday are going to be the end to many tree limbs. 049620931d8ab95ffd16dd521a938a69.jpg

If true that will indeed fuck shit up. Damn. I’m going to make a grocery run before that, kids are definitely going to be home all week. 

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