Texas deep freeze carnage thread

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

13 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.

I would go find one now. When I got out in the Heights a couple of hours ago, I saw at least 2 stations open. You could also look at Centerpoint outage map to at least understand if power is on in the general area are in.

[Player 4575]

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 used 2 of these on hose bibs that I couldn’t really insulate very well because the styrofoam covers wouldn’t mount flush against the wall.

The freeze misers worked like a charm.

[B00M 6414]

1 hour ago, LABEVO said:

im going to be destroying south austin mom's piping 

It's already blown out

[TexasEd 8066]

4 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.

It looks like a capped stub or maybe an anti-knock end.  I think you found a/the leak.

[Continental Op 3934]

6 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

So if all my shit is dripping and will turn on full blast, should I be mostly safe from bursting?

[XYZ 2154]

Yeah, fuck this “boil water notice”.

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

at 8:30 this morning... exactly 54 hours without power... the main pipe in my master bath exploded... in the ceiling ( which I did NOT expect), took about 10 mins to open up the water main location and get it to shut off... came back to about 2 full inches of water in the master bath and leaking into my master bedroom carpet...  spent 45 mins bailing water back into the tub....

and then at almost 11  the power came back on...  so I guess thank goodness for small favors.

 

house was at 51 when the power came back on,  back to 62 now. with 63 being the cutoff for now.

[C-Man 27194]

Just got a call from a client who lives at the Museum Tower in downtown Dallas. Somebody who was renovating a unit turned off their heat and the fire sprinkler system in their unit froze and burst. It's started a chain reaction of other unit's sprinklers triggering. A half-dozen or more units with standing water in them. My client's haven't aren't effected ... yet. These will be substantial claims.

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

 
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

same. got the boil water notice and have real low pressure.

[troph 24781]

ok so if we have no water (pressure gone, pipes drained, faucets open (upstairs/downstairs/outside), should we turn off the main so that when pressure returns it doesn't smack through ice pockets in the pipes where residual water was that later froze?  does that make sense?  turn off the main or just wait for pressure to return?  faucets are open btw and we have power.

[davidg 4036]

It still snowing/sleeting in Tyler and I haven’t gotten out of the house yet but after call a couple of local hardware stores checking on some plumbing parts and seeing posts on here, I did a preemptive Amazon order just to make sure I would have some parts on hand when I get back to Houston.  1/2 and 3/4 copper and pex fittings and pipe are probably gonna be in short supply in the Tx DIY retail market for the near future.

[lockport 55]

Water pipes have been frozen since Sunday evening. I went down to the street to shut off the main but the valve is buried under several inches of frozen dirt/rocks and I can't get to it. Never experienced frozen pipes before so I have all of the faucets open and fingers crossed my house doesn't explode when things begin to thaw. Been melting snow so we have water to run the toilets. I'm thankful we haven't lost power so far. 

[davidg 4036]

I would be chipping and digging until I uncovered it and turned it off.   Shovel, hammer, axe, crowbar, whatever until I had access to it.  If you have a busted pipe when it thaws ( like mine did) you need to be able to shut off quickly.  

[bolverk 29656]

15 minutes ago, troph said:

ok so if we have no water (pressure gone, pipes drained, faucets open (upstairs/downstairs/outside), should we turn off the main so that when pressure returns it doesn't smack through ice pockets in the pipes where residual water was that later froze?  does that make sense?  turn off the main or just wait for pressure to return?  faucets are open btw and we have power.

This is exactly my situation. Just to stay on the safe side, I'd turn off the water at the main line now since we've still got three more nights of hard freezes. When water comes back, you'll can always just go out there and turn it back on. Besides, you're not going to have water anyway. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

5 hours ago, South Austin said:

So a leak in the slab? Wondering why I’m not seeing any moisture in the walls.

Haven’t finished thread to see if you figured it out but had this yesterday on hose bib. Broke at a 90.  I just found the proper cap at a little hardware store in Katy.  But was able to rig it up yesterday with a water hose out to driveway, hose clamps, and the end set on “mist” setting.  It’s held up for last 24 hours.  Putting end cap on now.  

[Gatorubet 30185]

Good news! That is a Happy Gremlin Egg.

Bad news! You got it wet.

[Jshep34 2308]

Kind of what we did. Shut off main valve to house Sunday. Opened faucets through house and cabintes. I dont plan on turning anything back on till Saturday, hopefully with a plumber on site.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[troph 24781]

12 minutes ago, bolverk said:

This is exactly my situation. Just to stay on the safe side, I'd turn off the water at the main line now since we've still got three more nights of hard freezes. When water comes back, you'll can always just go out there and turn it back on. Besides, you're not going to have water anyway. 

that's what I think we are going to do.

[rpspeed 1363]

Lake O the Pines

[lockport 55]

22 minutes ago, davidg said:

I would be chipping and digging until I uncovered it and turned it off.   Shovel, hammer, axe, crowbar, whatever until I had access to it.  If you have a busted pipe when it thaws ( like mine did) you need to be able to shut off quickly.  

Yeah, I'm gonna get back out there and give it another shot tomorrow. 

[MadTrapper 152]

For those like myself with busted pipes, those SharkBite couplings were a god send because they work on copper, pvc, and pex. Apparently I've been under a rock because I was unfamiliar with them until today. Very easy to work with and able to patch a couple leaks to get water back on-line.

[Anastasis 23463]

1 hour ago, bolverk said:

we're going to have three more nights of hard freezes.

This is all fuck. 

[BrazilHorn 6586]

Passing this on

Friend of our family's an ER doc at an urgent care type facility. They just got shut down for water, power etc)

St. David's South Austin has lost heat/water.

Just a mess.

[troph 24781]

water shut off.  I'm one lucky bitch. power hasn't gone off and water shut off value was right there, even the snow had melted on top of the cover.  took two chicks and 3 minutes, finished almost as quick as you guys.  jesus must love me.

Edited February 17, 2021 by troph

[davidg 4036]

4 minutes ago, MadTrapper said:

For those like myself with busted pipes, those SharkBite couplings were a god send because they work on copper, pvc, and pex. Apparently I've been under a rock because I was unfamiliar with them until today. Very easy to work with and able to patch a couple leaks to get water back on-line.

Yes they are very easy to work with.  If your lines are copper, you might consider getting parts to establish ground across the tees and unions.  Per the installation instruction “Sharkbite Universal fitting are not an electrically conductive fitting”

[Bigpoppapump 529]

6 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

Passing this on

Friend of our family's an ER doc at an urgent care type facility. They just got shut down for water, power etc)

St. David's South Austin has lost heat/water.

Just a mess.

Got a buddy working at st davids as well, told me he's about to shit in a bag.

[Updawg 2266]

Team water cutoff here. No pressure so point leaving the city valve open

Should I turn off the water valve for the feed next to the water heater

[TexArcher 37770]

Stupid question amnesty:

Anyone have any idea on a realistic expectation for water restoration?  Sat?  Early next week?  Worse?

[Ten Bears 2480]

 

2 hours ago, The Royal We said:

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. 

#teamdrip and didn't know it.

48 minutes ago, davidg said:

I would be chipping and digging until I uncovered it and turned it off.   Shovel, hammer, axe, crowbar, whatever until I had access to it.  If you have a busted pipe when it thaws ( like mine did) you need to be able to shut off quickly.  

^^^ a million times this

[bluto 4914]

Stupid question amnesty:
Anyone have any idea on a realistic expectation for water restoration?  Sat?  Early next week?  Worse?

Damn good ?, no expert here but have to think if it’s bc of busted pipes then might be a while... plus more busted pipes as it thaws

[gsoda3 3248]

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

My neighbor has two he's been using on his exposed north and west walls since Thursday night. So far so good.

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.

Apparently they're twice as efficient as gas heaters. But they have the same limitation as AC units in temp delta affecting efficiency where the colder it is the less heat they can pull out of the air.

[Post Oak 20208]

51 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Good news! That is a Happy Gremlin Egg.

Bad news! You got it wet.

Don't stick your dick in that

[TexArcher 37770]

2 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

Don't stick your dick in that

New motto?

[TwiceHorn 31440]

1 hour ago, troph said:

ok so if we have no water (pressure gone, pipes drained, faucets open (upstairs/downstairs/outside), should we turn off the main so that when pressure returns it doesn't smack through ice pockets in the pipes where residual water was that later froze?  does that make sense?  turn off the main or just wait for pressure to return?  faucets are open btw and we have power.

I don't think water main pressure hitting obstructions like an ice plug is going to bust anything.

The problem is when water is trapped between something solid, like that end cap, and an expanding/forming plug of ice. That 10% reduction in volume from the freezing ice (already frozen doesn't count) and the resulting increase in hydrostatic pressure is what gets you.

I am gonna guess you are safe to just leave stuff open until pressure returns.

[TwiceHorn 31440]

16 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

My neighbor has two he's been using on his exposed north and west walls since Thursday night. So far so good. Apparently they're twice as efficient as gas heaters. But they have the same limitation as AC units in temp delta affecting efficiency where the colder it is the less heat they can pull out of the air.

Yeah, an electric resistance heater is really efficient  in that 1W in is close to 1W out in heat.  Burning natural gas is not quite as efficient.  But, it doesn't use that 1W of electricity.

[CooterBrown 18004]

For those like myself with busted pipes, those SharkBite couplings were a god send because they work on copper, pvc, and pex. Apparently I've been under a rock because I was unfamiliar with them until today. Very easy to work with and able to patch a couple leaks to get water back on-line.

That’s what I used to fix my busted pipe. Took longer to cut the pipe than to install it.

[CooterBrown 18004]

Lowe’s on Shoal Creek is open if you need something. Like 5 bad ass employees showed up and opened the store. It’s weird in there with just the minimal security lights on to conserve electricity but I was grateful I could grab what I needed to fix a pipe.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[dcbc 14465]

1 hour ago, C-Man said:

Just got a call from a client who lives at the Museum Tower in downtown Dallas. Somebody who was renovating a unit turned off their heat and the fire sprinkler system in their unit froze and burst. It's started a chain reaction of other unit's sprinklers triggering. A half-dozen or more units with standing water in them. My client's haven't aren't effected ... yet. These will be substantial claims.

As another one of your clients, I'm here to report no power loss and still have water.  Taking great care of the place.  I look forward to my discount.

[Updawg 2266]

You better knock on wood after throwing out a jinx like that

[gmr548 16576]

Luck ran out on power in Oak Forest. We live a couple blocks from a fire station so that had been keeping us on, we assume. Hopefully power is rolling to those who have been out the longest and not a sign of a worsening power failure

[dcbc 14465]

1 hour ago, troph said:

took two chicks and 3 minutes

Go on . . . .

 

I kid. I kid.  Glad you got it shut down.  I'm going to have to wake my very elderly neighbor to get the neighborhood shutoff tool if/when mine goes down.

Edited February 17, 2021 by dcbc

[Nivek 16923]

77018 power restored!  maybe water will come back someday.

[Nivek 16923]

2 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

Luck ran out on power in Oak Forest. We live a couple blocks from a fire station so that had been keeping us on, we assume. Hopefully power is rolling to those who have been out the longest and not a sign of a worsening power failure

I am not sure why ours went down last night at 2 AM.  But it just kicked on about 30 minutes ago.   57 degrees in house sucked. 

[dcbc 14465]

23 minutes ago, dcbc said:

As another one of your clients, I'm here to report no power loss and still have water.  Taking great care of the place.  I look forward to my discount.

I know.  Hell of a price to pay for a laugh, I'll admit.

On the other side of things, if anyone in the Tyler area needs water and has a way to come get it (no 4wd here, sadly), I can fill a cooler or two, hopefully for a little bit longer.

Edited February 17, 2021 by dcbc

[dcar00 14157]

1 hour ago, lockport said:

Yeah, I'm gonna get back out there and give it another shot tomorrow. 

not sure if this was stated but you can probably get the manhole cover off at the curb with a large screwdriver and shut off on the city side until you get your customer valve accessible.  just use a channel lock wrench.

[lockport 55]

3 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

not sure if this was stated but you can probably get the manhole cover off at the curb with a large screwdriver and shut off on the city side until you get your customer valve accessible.  just use a channel lock wrench.

Yeah that's what I was trying to do. As far as I'm aware that's where the shutoff valve is, I don't see one inside the house. I've never had to shut it off before. 

[dcbc 14465]

3 minutes ago, lockport said:

Yeah that's what I was trying to do. As far as I'm aware that's where the shutoff valve is, I don't see one inside the house. I've never had to shut it off before. 

Ours is in the flowerbed just outside of our front door. 

[Godzillatron 292]

I don't think water main pressure hitting obstructions like an ice plug is going to bust anything.
The problem is when water is trapped between something solid, like that end cap, and an expanding/forming plug of ice. That 10% reduction in volume from the freezing ice (already frozen doesn't count) and the resulting increase in hydrostatic pressure is what gets you.
I am gonna guess you are safe to just leave stuff open until pressure returns.

My WCID advising leaving street gate open and having fixtures open in house for pressure relief as they bring system back online in areas that lost service. Suspect this protects their equipment more than your house.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1678]

I live in Atascocita. We lost power early Monday morning at 2am and lost it for about 35 hours. We then had it back for 5 hours or so, and have been rotating on/off every 2-3 hours ever since. Temps inside the house on Tuesday morning were hovering around 44°. I have a lot of beer, a lot of whiskey, but am running a little low on sanity. Hopefully we can all get back to whatever the Covid normal is pretty soon.