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Texas deep freeze carnage thread

immamac

By immamac
in Daily Texan

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CHIEF
CHIEF

I am beat. My friend Chris, that I get my oysters and crawfish from, came home to a flooded yard, and water coming out from around exterior doors. Two story house built in the late 80's. He put the wo

Post Oak
Post Oak

After 73 hours    

Eastwood
Eastwood

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horn4life

horn4life 3762

Posted
Posted

Right now I am OK as we did get some power last night to get the house warm until 4 am.  I am really concerned about the one line in the attic that we did in the remodel.  If that fucker splits I am screwed.  But I won't know until it would start to thaw.... I think I am gong to go out and shovel off the Manhole cover and get my eater valve key at the ready... and pray that the prep is for nothing...

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CleverNickname

CleverNickname 1319

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, B00M said:

Anybody have any experience with these? You.know, for 10 years from now when this happens again. Or 2 weeks. Whichever 

https://www.amazon.com/Freeze-Miser-Pack-Replacement-Maintenance/dp/B08HKQ2HSP?ref_=ast_sto_dp

I was just about to buy em. But now water out, so... checkmate mother nature.

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Ten Bears

Ten Bears 2481

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, BradInATX said:

Got a leak here. Ended up with a layer of water in my office. Luckily I was in there. Bout 95% sure it's related to the one outdoor spigot I couldn't keep unfrozen. The one I've been worried about the whole time. FML. Shop vacced up maybe 3 gallons and soaked 4 towels finishing it up. So not a ton of volume fortunately.

Cut a hole in the drywall where I thought it would be, missed but can feel wet insulation. It's not too bad. Only thing I can see or feel is this. Doesn't connect to anything horizontally but it sure doesn't look right. Anyone recognize this, or just want to make copper dick jokes?

If I can get out of this with a minor exterior wall leak that's fixable and I'll consider us lucky as hell. I can half ass the drywall repair because it's in my office closet that stays locked because it has ammo and bourbon.

a431e34806109a0e26c41c4b0a8141cf.jpg

 

2 hours ago, Bojack said:

That looks like a copper cap.  It could be an abandoned line going to nowhere.  It might also be the end of an air chamber, connected to some fixture.  Either way, if that's all that's broken, you'll just need to replace that cap.  Are there any plumbing fixtures close to this pipe?

img_3635-jpg.21186

 

That looks to be the end cap of a water hammer arrestor which is what the upright capped off pipes in Bojack's pic are.  They are designed so that you have air pockets in your water system to eliminate the water hammer affect which will tear the shit out of your pipes.

I would be happy if that was my only leak as it is an easy fix.  Just cut off the cap and solder a new one back on.  A plumber could fix it in 5 minutes.

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18014

Posted
Posted (edited)

Zero fucking issues until a neighbor texted that some water was dripping on the side of my garage. WTF. There's no water over there at all.

Go and investigate, and sure enough, water is dripping. Cut through the sheet rock and the previous owner had capped an outdoor spigot in a garage wall with no insulation.  Capped is loosely defined here since it wasn't capped, they pinched off the copper pipe and soldered the end of it. The previous owner WAS A FUCKING PLUMBER!  Motherfucker. Now off to Lowe's to get a cap or something to fix it.

 

Edited by CooterBrown
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BabaYaga

BabaYaga 15301

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, gmr548 said:


Nothing like a keyboard tough guy take incorporating the word “poon”

I'm not justifying idiots emptying entire isles of the grocery store because of a few days of cold.  Same idiots that stocked up on toilet paper during the initial COVID nonsense.  

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Guest

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Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Bojack said:

Texas produces very little hydro power.  I read somewhere that Mansfield Dam is the top power generating dam in the state.  It's not exactly Grand Coulee or Three Gorges.

Toledo Bend Dam has a flow of about 13000ft^3/ second and is the highest is Texas.

Grand Coulee averages above 100000ft^3/ second.   We don't have the narrow watersheds/ rainfall rates with elevation changes relative to those areas.

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tfoolry

tfoolry 8218

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My normal plumber can’t come until 3/4 to fix burst pipe.   I had called around yesterday & only one company answered phone & only making emergency appointments.  $350 charge to just come out & couldn’t guarantee that would be applied to any service.  Fuck that.  There will prob be people claiming to be plumbers going door to door this weekend due to widespread damage. 

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LABEVO

LABEVO 928

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, tfoolry said:

My normal plumber can’t come until 3/4 to fix burst pipe.   I had called around yesterday & only one company answered phone & only making emergency appointments.  $350 charge to just come out & couldn’t guarantee that would be applied to any service.  Fuck that.  There will prob be people claiming to be plumbers going door to door this weekend due to widespread damage. 

im going to be destroying south austin mom's piping 

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luke duke

luke duke 6413

Posted
Posted
You are right. Ball valves with a 90 degree lever are intended to be open or closed.  They can do some partial closure but aren't deigned for it.  I don't know what the downside is. 
 
A gate valve with a knob that rotates continuously between open and closed is designed for partial flow. 
If you have a ball valve I am not sure I would fuck around with it too much. Plus the handle is liable to come off in your hand at any moment. 


At low pressures (like household water pressures), it don’t make a shit. At high pressure, damaging the seals.
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Bookman

Bookman 4639

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, slorch said:

It is not WalMart's( or any grocer) choice.  The food cannot be donated.

Health code prohibits it.

They do in fact make donations of close dated dry goods to food banks, but perishables are a different matter.

I don't know what you mean by it's not their "choice." Of course it's their choice. The Health Code is just words on paper.

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Guest

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Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Bookman said:

I don't know what you mean by it's not their "choice." Of course it's their choice. The Health Code is just words on paper.

and this is just a picture of Benjamin Franklin

depositphotos_4630577-stock-photo-benjam

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washparkhorn

washparkhorn 9939

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Bookman said:

I don't know what you mean by it's not their "choice." Of course it's their choice. The Health Code is just words on paper.

He's trolling. 

Walmart - to its credit - is stepping up and has been for a while now.  They continue to socialize the negative externalities associated with their business model, but they are making efforts:

When food goes unpurchased by consumers, Walmart works to maximize its use and get food that is still edible to people and places that need it most. Through our food donation program in the United States, food banks and agencies pick up food that can’t be sold from Walmart stores, Sam’s Clubs, and distribution centers. Those organizations then distribute this recovered food to people in need. Since 2005, we have donated 3.3 billion pounds of food to such organizations, including more than 600 million pounds in our fiscal year ending February 2017 (FY2017). https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/look-walmart-s-food-waste-reduction-program

Edited by washparkhorn
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XYZ

XYZ 2154

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Why do so many Texans heat their homes with electricity instead of gas? Because electricity is so cheap?

If so I never realized that. I’ve never heard of anyone having an electric heater for their home. It’s all gas here.

Lots of places that don’t have natural gas.

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Dry Elbows

Dry Elbows 142

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Why do so many Texans heat their homes with electricity instead of gas? Because electricity is so cheap?

If so I never realized that. I’ve never heard of anyone having an electric heater for their home. It’s all gas here.

My furnace is gas but the blower is electric. 

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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14922

Posted
Posted
Lots of places that don’t have natural gas.


I did not know that.

My furnace is gas but the blower is electric. 


They all are, but I don’t think the blower creates significant power demands. The added demand seems to have been part of the problem here. I’m used to summer being the big power demand season, not winter.
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bolverk

bolverk 29684

Posted
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7 minutes ago, Dry Elbows said:

My furnace is gas but the blower is electric. 

That's my situation as well. Fortunately, power came on last night and I haven't lost it since. I will say, I'll gladly trade not having water (situation right now) for no heat. That 45 hours without power sucked ass.

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The Royal We

The Royal We 3072

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We’ve been lucky so far here in Nac with the power more up then down. The fucking freezing rain this morning has changed that. The power started flickering and going off for a few seconds before going full off around 10 am this morning. I’m sure a tree is down over a line so it’s likely going to be a few days before the trucks can get out and fix it. 
 

The weight of the ice is causing big limbs to fall all over the place. I’ve got a couple of 100+ year old pines in my yard that I’m hoping don’t take major damage. 
 

My one hose bib that I couldn’t thaw yesterday with a heat gun freed itself with the increased temp today. I was walking past it and noticed water streaming out from my reinforced cover. My heart sunk while I started tearing through the layers of shit I had put back over it after my last attempt to thaw. Luckily it was just my dumb ass not closing the valve all the way and not a burst pipe in the wall! A small bit of good news, I’ll take it. 

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dcbc

dcbc 14487

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Pump station has no power here in Westlake so now we have no water at all. What is the play when they get water turned back on?

I currently have multiple faucets dripping but now nothing is coming out because you know no water. Should I go around and close them all of leave them open?

There is something going around on social media today saying to leave them full open.  But everything I have read from seemingly more reliable sources says to shut off the water to your house and bleed as much out of your pipes as possible (faucets open). 

I'm curious as to what some Surly experts have to say on the subject.

So far, for us, no power loss and still have water (boil notice because of pressure).  We've been letting everything drip and have filled up some coolers for others. 

Edited by dcbc
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31495

Posted
Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Why do so many Texans heat their homes with electricity instead of gas? Because electricity is so cheap?

If so I never realized that. I’ve never heard of anyone having an electric heater for their home. It’s all gas here.

Because gas plumbing and gas appliances are expensive.  Electric is all you ever see in apartments (understandably) and low-cost homes.

And yes, a lot of more suburban-ish and rural-ish, as well as rural, areas don't have gas built out.  

Edited by TwiceHorn
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bolverk

bolverk 29684

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Pump station has no power here in Westlake so now we have no water at all. What is the play when they get water turned back on?

I currently have multiple faucets dripping but now nothing is coming out because you know no water. Should I go around and close them all of leave them open?

Water went completely out here in SW Austin a couple of hours ago. A good ol' boy redneck by the name of "Buddy" was out on the block helping all our neighbors turn off the water at the street so that when pressure comes back on our pipes all don't burst since we can't drip/stream any longer. You might look into doing the same since we're going to have three more nights of hard freezes.

Edited by bolverk
Buddy has always been a helpful neighbor. God bless Buddy.
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XYZ

XYZ 2154

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Pump station has no power here in Westlake so now we have no water at all. What is the play when they get water turned back on?

I currently have multiple faucets dripping but now nothing is coming out because you know no water. Should I go around and close them all of leave them open?

I would probably try to empty the pipes by closing the main valve and opening the faucets. If some water remains in the pipes, it should bust them since there’s plenty of room for the ice to expand. Not sure what I would do about the water heater, though. You could turn it off, connect a hose to the spigot, and empty it. Or you could close the valves in and out and leave the water inside, and leave it on to keep the water warm. But take this with a grain of salt.

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dcar00

dcar00 14269

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Posted
1 hour ago, TexArcher said:

Just lost mine in 78750 about an hour ago.  Power flickered once, but it's stayed on throughout the whole week so far.

you in balcones?  im in 59. lost water at 11:30.   lost power at 7am, the other side of my street has had power all morning.  same thing happened last week during the first ice storm.  we are obviously in the red area  on the map on load shed circuit.  we'll be the first ones they shut down in the summer as well.

most of the folks in 50/balcones I know have had power the whole time or very short periods of outages.  may be time to downsize and move.  

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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14922

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Posted
Because gas plumbing and gas appliances are expensive.  Electric is all you ever see in apartments (understandably) and low-cost homes.
And yes, a lot of more suburban-ish and rural-ish, as well as rural, areas don't have gas built out.  


Appliances I get. Furnaces not so much. But if there is no natural gas distribution then that makes sense.

Texas is big.
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XYZ

XYZ 2154

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

10 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Water went completely out here in SW Austin a couple of hours ago. A good ol' boy redneck by the name of "Buddy" was out on the block helping all our neighbors turn off the water at the street so that when pressure comes back on, our pipes all don't burst since we can't drip/stream any longer. You might look into doing the same since we're going to have three more nights of hard freezes.

After reading your post I checked my faucets and my pressure is very low. I’m in Oak Hill. I’m on standby for operation drain the house

Edited by XYZ
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31495

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, htown85 said:

Is there a website that will tell me what gas stations in Houston are operating?  Getting harder to charge the phone in a car running out of gas.

Google app or maps will show you what's nearby and you can call.  The app purports to show whether things are open, and that's usually accurate, but not in these times, methinks.

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utee94

utee94 15832

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, troph said:

what are the roads looking like, chance we have to get out on southwest parkway, 71 and 620.

620 up here in NW Austin is decent. Plenty of cars on the road melting it.  Even non-4WD vehicles doing okay, I didn't see a single wreck or off-the-road type issue.

 

 

Edited by utee94
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bolverk

bolverk 29684

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, htown85 said:

Is there a website that will tell me what gas stations in Houston are operating?  Getting harder to charge the phone in a car running out of gas.

 

9 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Google app or maps will show you what's nearby and you can call.  The app purports to show whether things are open, and that's usually accurate, but not in these times, methinks.

If you click on the pin on google maps, the stores will typically show how busy they are. I'm about to run for a supply pick up at a place where google says "Busier than normal." It's the only one that's open that I feel comfortable driving to. HEB, the Circle K, and the 7-11 I would typically go to are all closed.

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BrazilHorn

BrazilHorn 6612

Posted
Posted

Tree limb fell on front of house doing minor damage to gutter (i can probably bang out). I sawed the branch into smaller chunks and drug them into yard. 
All pipes frozen even ones I had running. I opened all up full throttle and then turned off main at street. 
I have one more large branch laying on house that’ll probably go but knock on wood shouldn’t do too much damage. 
Shitshow. 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18014

Posted
Posted
Because gas plumbing and gas appliances are expensive. 


One thing no one seems to know is that many gas appliances get a huge rebate from your local gas company. You just have to fill out the form on their website and attach a receipt. For example, in austin the rebate is $650 for a tankless or high efficiency tank water heater. The gas dryer rebate is like $400.
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utee94

utee94 15832

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, BrazilHorn said:

Tree limb fell on front of house doing minor damage to gutter (i can probably bang out). I sawed the branch into smaller chunks and drug them into yard. 
All pipes frozen even ones I had running. I opened all up full throttle and then turned off main at street. 
I have one more large branch laying on house that’ll probably go but knock on wood shouldn’t do too much damage. 
Shitshow. 

PM South Austin's mom.

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