2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

[phdhorn 6224]

Cross Post in 3 weather threads

Update:  Gave 1 case away to neighbors who lost water.  Don't much like the husband (lol) but in these times e'rrybody needs help.
With the case I'm giving to our Surly friend tomorrow that leaves me with 2 cases (48 bottles).

Thx.

[HouTex 1847]

Update:
(Never out of the woods, esp. the next 12-24 hours, but...)

WATER!!!
Did the 4-step process to re-pressurize the house.  All the spigots (even the IceMan Otzi northern bib!) are working full gush!  Interior pressured up, no leaks (yet!).

However my pipes are old (copper, 1990's) and we've planned all along anyway to do a total replumb of our house, but I've had 3 leaks as it is, and hopefully they weren't further weakened by cold).

For now, I'm golden.  TBTG.
======
The only lesson I guess I've learned is that I'm still adamantly #teamwrap.  Yes they froze, but it's apparent now that they only froze a few inches into the pipe from the spigots.  And they survived the worst icy outbreak since Marie Antionette Let 'em eat cake!  I'll stick with that plan.  Only thing is I'm not gonna wrap them in any kind of rag or towel (even if sealed), it can condense and put an ice blanket over pipe.  Insulation always now.

Questions, let me know, I think... hope... we're good.

I cannot believe my house survived this storm intact (so far, not gonna jinx shit now).
 

I wrap too (below my cutoff valve) but I am team cut your fucking water off as close as you can to the city supply and then drain your pipes/water heater as best as you can. Before you do that fill your tubs with water to flush your toilets. I’ve been doing that for 30+ years at three homes and never had a problem. If a pipe does break it doesn’t pour water all over the house. And I posted way up thread about this, but dripping your water is a horrible idea. Firefighters couldn’t put out fires because, among other things, too many people are running their faucets.

[Dewey 3280]

I'm hesitant to reset the clocks on the oven and microwave,  I feel that sets off an alarm at the power station.  

[deadshank 24651]

On 2/15/2021 at 8:50 AM, Biff Tannen said:

wat

What did you not understand? 
 

[smoky 837]

Heard from friends at 2222 and Mt bonnell near st Theresa's that they're back online

[Royal With Cheese 3]

5 minutes ago, Dewey said:

I'm hesitant to reset the clocks on the oven and microwave,  I feel that sets off an alarm at the power station.  

WTF???

[hookemATL 11596]

Brother back with power after 120 hours and 40 minutes in a complex on Parmer/Dessau. Was a mechanical failure and they had to replace a bunch of those covered ground level transformers to get things going. His water is still on boil notice so I took him a shitload and a freshly baked loaf of dark chocolate babka. Happy to not have to stress worry anymore and my mom can stop Helen Lovejoying about him. 

[Biff Tannen 45477]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Have family there as well. They are beyond mad at this point. 

Lol, to say the least.  They just got it back.  Thank jeebus.

[Biff Tannen 45477]

53 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

it really is pretty amazing. there should be some kind of class for home ownership and car ownership.  My dad wasn't a car guy.  he used to buy a car every 4 years.  sometimes it was the exact make/model/color/options.  I am by no means a gear head but I keep my cars for 10 years because I fucking hate depreciating assets, so I end up fixing a lot of stuff(electronics, basic part replacement, sensors and shit).  I tell my dad about it and he is always amazed that I do it myself.  I'm not doing major stuff because I don't have the tools or knowledge but with rock auto and a youtube video you can save yourself 1000's of dollars over the life of a car.

TLDR: some people really should educate themselves on likely the 2 highest priced purchases they will ever make.

 

Yep.  My 2004 4Runner has 210k miles and I've done some basic repairs to the interior electronics that would have cost an arm and a leg for the dealer (lol) to do.  Luckily, Toyota makes bomb ass cars that last forever, cause if it had any mechanical problems, eh, not so much my area.

[Biff Tannen 45477]

23 minutes ago, deadshank said:

What did you not understand? 
 

I was not aware of what Griddy was.  That was back on Monday.  I have since learned a lot about power and water and pipes and ice and a bunch of other bullshit I hope I never need to know again.

[UTexasFight 9369]

1 hour ago, dcar00 said:

can you imagine how many people had a pipe break and had to try to find a plumber to explain how to turn off the water? 

100% the same people that call AAA to change a tire 

[Guest Lobo]

1 hour ago, dcar00 said:

it really is pretty amazing. there should be some kind of class for home ownership and car ownership.  My dad wasn't a car guy.  he used to buy a car every 4 years.  sometimes it was the exact make/model/color/options.  I am by no means a gear head but I keep my cars for 10 years because I fucking hate depreciating assets, so I end up fixing a lot of stuff(electronics, basic part replacement, sensors and shit).  I tell my dad about it and he is always amazed that I do it myself.  I'm not doing major stuff because I don't have the tools or knowledge but with rock auto and a youtube video you can save yourself 1000's of dollars over the life of a car.

TLDR: some people really should educate themselves on likely the 2 highest priced purchases they will ever make.

 

We kinda, sorta used to teach shit like this in high schools and just suddenly stopped for some reason.  I would add to your "2 highest priced purchases they will ever make"...and add retirement account and planning financially for children...so in essence, the four biggest monetary impacts 90% of Americans will ever experience (maybe starting a business could be in there as well, but baby steps).  We don't teach maintaining a home, a car, running investment accounts (or just basic bank accounts actually), or the financial impact of children.  Texas lags woefully behind in all these regards. 

I'd surmise thanks to our shitty education system, 75% of Texans couldn't change spark plugs in a car, couldn't locate the the water shut-off valve for their home, couldn't explain the difference between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA, and couldn't tell you how much you'd need to sock away to save for a child's college education at 10% IRR.   But they can sure as fuck tell you the difference between an impingement AR-15 and a gas piston AR-15 by sight.  We might be prepared as a state for the socialist takeover by the federal government but we sure as fuck ain't ready for a winter storm or an early retirement.  

[Brisketexan 104465]

Total: 5 pipe breaks. Also leaned that several of our pipes are vulnerable as shit, so we’ll be working on long term winterizing strategies later. But we got them all taken care of, and we have running water.

Some minor flooding damage from when the leaks manifested, but we were on the cutoff valve each time, so damage is minimal. Will dry some things out, and have some Sheetrock work to do later.

$2200 plumbing bill.

Could have been much worse.

[burntorangebongos 10681]

How did you not have leaks before with so much vulnerability. It is amazing how shit always has to hit the fan at the same time. I'm glad it wasn't much worse and was something you all could handle. 

[Okie State 3775]

We kinda, sorta used to teach shit like this in high schools and just suddenly stopped for some reason.  I would add to your "2 highest priced purchases they will ever make"...and add retirement account and planning financially for children...so in essence, the four biggest monetary impacts 90% of Americans will ever experience (maybe starting a business could be in there as well, but baby steps).  We don't teach maintaining a home, a car, running investment accounts (or just basic bank accounts actually), or the financial impact of children.  Texas lags woefully behind in all these regards. 
I'd surmise thanks to our shitty education system, 75% of Texans couldn't change spark plugs in a car, couldn't locate the the water shut-off valve for their home, couldn't explain the difference between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA, and couldn't tell you how much you'd need to sock away to save for a child's college education at 10% IRR.   But they can sure as fuck tell you the difference between an impingement AR-15 and a gas piston AR-15 by sight.  We might be prepared as a state for the socialist takeover by the federal government but we sure as fuck ain't ready for a winter storm or an early retirement.  

I was going to say they could sure as fuck tell you which Kardashian is dating which athlete. You know, important shit.

[hookemATL 11596]

33 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Total: 5 pipe breaks. Also leaned that several of our pipes are vulnerable as shit, so we’ll be working on long term winterizing strategies later. But we got them all taken care of, and we have running water.

Some minor flooding damage from when the leaks manifested, but we were on the cutoff valve each time, so damage is minimal. Will dry some things out, and have some Sheetrock work to do later.

$2200 plumbing bill.

Could have been much worse.

It’s cool bro, we are all getting some sweet plumbing stimulus checks soon. 

[RamjetFDO 10554]

Weekend preview



/nobert

[Message Board User 12389]

I should have been a plumber.

[dcar00 14023]

55 minutes ago, Lobo said:

We kinda, sorta used to teach shit like this in high schools and just suddenly stopped for some reason.  I would add to your "2 highest priced purchases they will ever make"...and add retirement account and planning financially for children...so in essence, the four biggest monetary impacts 90% of Americans will ever experience (maybe starting a business could be in there as well, but baby steps).  We don't teach maintaining a home, a car, running investment accounts (or just basic bank accounts actually), or the financial impact of children.  Texas lags woefully behind in all these regards. 

I'd surmise thanks to our shitty education system, 75% of Texans couldn't change spark plugs in a car, couldn't locate the the water shut-off valve for their home, couldn't explain the difference between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA, and couldn't tell you how much you'd need to sock away to save for a child's college education at 10% IRR.   But they can sure as fuck tell you the difference between an impingement AR-15 and a gas piston AR-15 by sight.  We might be prepared as a state for the socialist takeover by the federal government but we sure as fuck ain't ready for a winter storm or an early retirement.  

agreed.  and you can lump in the folks who can tell you all about why global warming and the end of the world is just around the corner but can't balance a checkbook

[Guest Lobo]

I don't think we're talking about the same "end of the world" crowd.  Half of 'em are welcoming the event, almost as if they're ushering it on with purpose.  

[Brisketexan 104465]

How did you not have leaks before with so much vulnerability. It is amazing how shit always has to hit the fan at the same time. I'm glad it wasn't much worse and was something you all could handle. 

It just hasn’t gotten that cold in the 9 yrs we’ve been in this house. Down to the high teens maybe twice? The garage etc kept enough residual heat in those short cold snaps so nothing bad happened, I guess.

[Dahobbs 17420]

30 minutes ago, RamjetFDO said:

Weekend preview



/nobert

At least it would be warm? 

[Guest Lobo]

I thought the Asians lived in North Austin?  

[dcar00 14023]

1 hour ago, hookemATL said:

Brother back with power after 120 hours and 40 minutes in a complex on Parmer/Dessau. Was a mechanical failure and they had to replace a bunch of those covered ground level transformers to get things going. His water is still on boil notice so I took him a shitload and a freshly baked loaf of dark chocolate babka. Happy to not have to stress worry anymore and my mom can stop Helen Lovejoying about him. 

good news.  that is crazy. 120 hours straight?

I'd really like to get our hands around why this shit with power outages during ice storms keeps happening.  start cutting down trees, determine how to upgrade/protect these transformers, equipment locations to better work during these types of events.  Additionally, there needs to be more transparency on what is actually happening on the ground.  austin energy is a monopoly.

[dcar00 14023]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Total: 5 pipe breaks. Also leaned that several of our pipes are vulnerable as shit, so we’ll be working on long term winterizing strategies later. But we got them all taken care of, and we have running water.

Some minor flooding damage from when the leaks manifested, but we were on the cutoff valve each time, so damage is minimal. Will dry some things out, and have some Sheetrock work to do later.

$2200 plumbing bill.

Could have been much worse.

450.00 a leak is not bad at all.  good work. no water back for me yet but I am dreading opening that valve.

[SubliminalHorn 6648]

Power went back out after being in for 4 hours. Something is going on with my building itself. The building keeps tripping something. So cruel to have it for a few hours 

[dcar00 14023]

2 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Power went back out after being in for 4 hours. Something is going on with my building itself. The building keeps tripping something. So cruel to have it for a few hours 

man that sucks.  what did you do to piss off the power gods?  I guess they want you to run the last sub freezing night for good measure.  hope it comes back on.  they should have crews at the ready at this point. or you could call doc brown

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

Total: 5 pipe breaks. Also leaned that several of our pipes are vulnerable as shit, so we’ll be working on long term winterizing strategies later. But we got them all taken care of, and we have running water.

Some minor flooding damage from when the leaks manifested, but we were on the cutoff valve each time, so damage is minimal. Will dry some things out, and have some Sheetrock work to do later.

$2200 plumbing bill.

Could have been much worse.

dude. mega bargain. i’ve had two water / fluid issues in the past and have spent more than that on fans and sheetrock blowers alone.

[VABuckeye 2472]

Low of 50 down here in Naples, FL tonight.  Pray for us. 

[hookemATL 11596]

3 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

Low of 50 down here in Naples, FL tonight.  Pray for us. 

Double layer of jorts and you’ll be fine. If things get really dicey just set a couch on fire. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

We kinda, sorta used to teach shit like this in high schools and just suddenly stopped for some reason.  I would add to your "2 highest priced purchases they will ever make"...and add retirement account and planning financially for children...so in essence, the four biggest monetary impacts 90% of Americans will ever experience (maybe starting a business could be in there as well, but baby steps).  We don't teach maintaining a home, a car, running investment accounts (or just basic bank accounts actually), or the financial impact of children.  Texas lags woefully behind in all these regards. 

I'd surmise thanks to our shitty education system, 75% of Texans couldn't change spark plugs in a car, couldn't locate the the water shut-off valve for their home, couldn't explain the difference between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA, and couldn't tell you how much you'd need to sock away to save for a child's college education at 10% IRR.   But they can sure as fuck tell you the difference between an impingement AR-15 and a gas piston AR-15 by sight.  We might be prepared as a state for the socialist takeover by the federal government but we sure as fuck ain't ready for a winter storm or an early retirement.  

Yeah shop class is something as far as I can tell is now gone from school and as far as I can tell is something that’s needed because now being a handyman is more valuable than it’s ever been. Even before all this crap. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

Low of 50 down here in Naples, FL tonight.  Pray for us. 

Cover those plants!

[burntorangebongos 10681]

28 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

450.00 a leak is not bad at all.  good work. no water back for me yet but I am dreading opening that valve.

I think you waiting for more warmth and allowing more thaw is going to mean it will go well for you.  

[Tailgate 3014]

[atomheartbevo 89362]

45 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Power went back out after being in for 4 hours. Something is going on with my building itself. The building keeps tripping something. So cruel to have it for a few hours 

It's not the building, it's your idiot neighbor whose cybermining operating is set to restart automatically as soon as the power is on.

Edited February 20, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[atomheartbevo 89362]

12 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

Yeah shop class is something as far as I can tell is now gone from school and as far as I can tell is something that’s needed because now being a handyman is more valuable than it’s ever been. Even before all this crap. 

I had a couple of shop classes - introduction to electrical systems (semester projects include making an extension cord and installing a light switch and light socket), automotive systems, and woodshed.  Some of the best, most useful classes I had in high school.

Wished I had taken the plumbing one.

[atomheartbevo 89362]

3 hours ago, HouTex said:

I wrap too (below my cutoff valve) but I am team cut your fucking water off as close as you can to the city supply and then drain your pipes/water heater as best as you can. Before you do that fill your tubs with water to flush your toilets. I’ve been doing that for 30+ years at three homes and never had a problem. If a pipe does break it doesn’t pour water all over the house. And I posted way up thread about this, but dripping your water is a horrible idea. Firefighters couldn’t put out fires because, among other things, too many people are running their faucets.

I'm willing to consider this going forward, if we have a forecast for another rough patch like we just did.

I did not like sweating it out over whether or not I did a good enough job wrapping, or if I was keeping enough warm air flowing through the kitchen cabinets.

 

[Brisketexan 104465]

We just went out and hit Taco Cabana, because the wife and boy wanted tacos, and quickly.

“We have a limited menu tonight.” Ok, what do you have? “Quesadillas, tacos, and chips and queso.” Cool....we’ll have that. A lot of that.

Chicken quesadillas, ground beef soft tacos. Queso. It’s one of the best goddamned meals I’ve ever had. Seriously, we all almost cried around the table. We’ve been going since this morning, dealing with plumbing (had to help them a lot), clearing downed trees, cleaning up, and worrying and shit. Hardly stopped to even eat.

It’s the little things. Two ground beef soft tacos were a goddamned dinner at Commander’s Palace to me.

[Okie State 3775]

I learned basic plumbing from my Uncle as a kid and by working one summer for the OSU Physical Plant. The guys I worked with were dipshits, but they knew all there was to know about plumbing...and scoping out sorority girls on campus during rush week.

Also learned a lot about painting working there.

[SimonBolivar 10898]

1 hour ago, dcar00 said:

agreed.  and you can lump in the folks who can tell you all about why global warming and the end of the world is just around the corner but can't balance a checkbook

I know you don't mean an actual checkbook, but its amazing how many Americans still use a checkbook register to keep up with their finances. Did you know that an order of 80 checks is over $20 now with Harland Clake? Waste of time and money.

[BradInATX 9208]

I'm willing to consider this going forward, if we have a forecast for another rough patch like we just did.
I did not like sweating it out over whether or not I did a good enough job wrapping, or if I was keeping enough warm air flowing through the kitchen cabinets.
 

I'm team cut the water always now. After my burst pipe (wrapped), I cut it off the last 2 nights and slept much better. I feel dumb for not having done this way all along. It's so easy. I don't even have to go to the street, the cutoff is in my garage. Why did I ever consider any other option?

[BrickHorn 18176]

29 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I'm willing to consider this going forward, if we have a forecast for another rough patch like we just did.

I did not like sweating it out over whether or not I did a good enough job wrapping, or if I was keeping enough warm air flowing through the kitchen cabinets.

I started out wrapping exterior faucets and dripping interior faucets before the two extremely cold nights hit. Slept like shit, was constantly worried about insulating and heating the pipes, and ended up needing to unfreeze two hose bibs. Before the nasty cold hit, we shut off the water and drained the lines. I slept like a baby that night.

I haven’t turned the water back on yet, so I have no idea whether it was the right call. But it at least gave me some peace of mind.

[burntorangebongos 10681]

3 hours ago, HouTex said:

I wrap too (below my cutoff valve) but I am team cut your fucking water off as close as you can to the city supply and then drain your pipes/water heater as best as you can. Before you do that fill your tubs with water to flush your toilets. I’ve been doing that for 30+ years at three homes and never had a problem. If a pipe does break it doesn’t pour water all over the house. And I posted way up thread about this, but dripping your water is a horrible idea. Firefighters couldn’t put out fires because, among other things, too many people are running their faucets.

I did this but I didn't know how to drain the water heater and that bitch is sitting up in the attic. I guess I'm glad I freaked out when the upstairs sink shut down and the hot water heater stopped making hot water and opened all my faucets, filled my tub and shut the water off. Maybe it was the best call all things considered. The water heater is fine and working okay. But since I don't know jack about them, I had a plumber come and turn on my shit so he could make sure the water heater was okay and no pipe leaks. Paid him just one hour for his time which I would have paid double since the peace of mind and hand holding was awesome after being so worried through most of this ordeal about my house. I felt I had no control and so ignorant about best practices except for the info that I found here and on some plumbing sites. But bottom line is that I don't want to be responsible for a house in extreme cold weather conditions.  It sucks.

[Okie State 3775]

Mine has been off the past two nights. Looks like this will be the last night below freezing for us in the ten day forecast. I'll likely do this going forward as well because it literally takes five minutes to shut off and drain everything.

[atomheartbevo 89362]

14 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

I started out wrapping exterior faucets and dripping interior faucets before the two extremely cold nights hit. Slept like shit, was constantly worried about insulating and heating the pipes, and ended up needing to unfreeze two hose bibs. Before the nasty cold hit, we shut off the water and drained the lines. I slept like a baby that night.

I haven’t turned the water back on yet, so I have no idea whether it was the right call. But it at least gave me some peace of mind.

Yeah, I slept like shit as well, and did too many walk-arounds checking everything.

Friends just got their water back within the last hour.

So now I'm sweating bullets about what happens if our water comes back at one in the morning and there's a problem.  I just keep telling myself it made it through the two roughest nights I'll see in Austin as far as freezes, and had no problems the next day, and we'll start with low pressure anyways (and some of our friends a few blocks over are back to a trickle and wondering if they are going to lose water again).

Edited February 20, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[Nicole44 22023]

Just checking in. Hope everyone is doing ok. Or some better than yesterday at least. Finally got water at 5 pm this afternoon after no water since late Sunday/early Monday morning. No more whore’s baths for me! I hope. 
 

All of y’all are awesome and I am so sorry so many had no power this whole time are damn near close to it. Hope anyone without it will get it soon. If I can help in any way I will be more than happy to. Now I can drive and have had a shower and such. 
 

then I saw a story like this and it just breaks my heart. 
https://www.khou.com/mobile/article/weather/11-year-old-found-dead-after-freezing-cold-night-in-a-conroe-mobile-home-with-no-power/285-4781bcb9-6643-4224-8b5b-c1fc5c725b61

[atomheartbevo 89362]

And my (gas) heater just shut off out of nowhere before it reached the desired temperature.

Fucking lovely.

Edit: Looks like our gas isn't coming through.

Edited February 20, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[Nicole44 22023]

The contractor that worked on this house (improvements and such) popped by out of the blue yesterday just to check on things and cut the water to the street since I didn’t have the right tools. And checked over everything and then came back with a giant Ozarka bottle and a heater and tent to put next to the insulated outdoor pipe. It’s pex stuff so what happened was it froze from the street to the house. He’s awesome. Looks like Noah —as in Ark. he was going around yesterday and today out of the goodness of his heart checking on everyone he knows since he has a big truck the last three days and making sure everyone was ok and checking their pipes and electricity. While he was at our house he found out that his BIL who was in the hospital for Covid was being removed from the ventilator because he had a massive stroke and isn’t expected to live beyond tonite. Still he was helping over here and other places.

if anyone here needs help I am sure when he gets back from the funeral he would be happy to help anyone. Pm me if someone does need some help. 

[BrickHorn 18176]

10 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Mine has been off the past two nights. Looks like this will be the last night below freezing for us in the ten day forecast. I'll likely do this going forward as well because it literally takes five minutes to shut off and drain everything.

5 minutes? Took me two hours to drain the water heater. 

[Okie State 3775]

Yeah, I slept like shit as well, and did too many walk-arounds checking everything.
Friends just got their water back within the last hour.
So now I'm sweating bullets about what happens if our water comes back at one in the morning and there's a problem.  I just keep telling myself it made it through the two roughest nights I'll see in Austin as far as freezes, and had no problems the next day, and we'll start with low pressure anyways (and some of our friends a few blocks over are back to a trickle and wondering if they are going to lose water again).

It's funny reading all the stories about weirdos like me who stay up at night worrying about this shit and checking everything a thousand times. More than a few of my neighbors threw one of those foam covers on their spigots and called it a day.

Also I'll admit I wasn't worried at all about this storm a week ago since I've been through much colder growing up in Oklahoma. That was before I realized our entire power grid was on the brink of collapse.