Texas deep freeze carnage thread

[davidg 4038]

39 minutes ago, XYZ said:

I’m pretty sure that you are not gonna get a bill in the thousands. If the power company passes the cost down to you, it will be crazy high price for only a few days, not the whole month.

Y’all don’t remember a year or so ago when griddy had just came out and there was a event that temporarily caused wholesale prices to jump way up. There were people on here that got charged big bills because they didn’t realize it and shut off their A/Cs during the spikes. 
 

if you sign up for a energy plan that variable or wholesale rate in Tx you better be smart enough to track the rate and take action to eliminate your usage during spike.  I mean griddy sent alerts to theirs customers telling prices were going to spike and the change to another company.  

[Anastasis 23485]

22 minutes ago, Lobo said:

If the costs are that ridiculous; I’m guessing Texans can band together and just not fucking pay.  All I ever hear from the Governor is how Texans can band together and accomplish anything.  How about financially crippling electric and gas entities?  
 

if we can cripple the NYSE, I’m pretty sure I can fuck up Texas Gas Service for a month.  

How about we pay with scalps. 

[dcbc 14509]

8 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

How about we pay with scalps. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by dcbc

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

4 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

What’s the point of being team no drip?  Is there some sort of hazard that happens from dripping?  Explain it like I’m a 5 year old, I’m one of the dumbest people on here about anything involving being handy, taking care of shit etc. I’ve been dripping basically bc I was told to, but I’m not smart enough to understand why dripping might be a bad idea. 
thanks, I will hang up and listen. 

i live in a cold-weather environment and am not aware of anyone that drips their outside spigots during a hard freeze. when winter comes, you wrap them up and leave them alone for the winter.

that's probably not helpful, and am genuinely curious what folks are hearing about running outside spigots during a hard freeze.

[Armybrat 40911]

5 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

i live in a cold-weather environment and am not aware of anyone that drips their outside spigots during a hard freeze. when winter comes, you wrap them up and leave them alone for the winter.

that's probably not helpful, and am genuinely curious what folks are hearing about running outside spigots during a hard freeze.

I never have dripped my outside hose bib faucets. All the indoor faucets are slow dripping.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Armybrat

[B00M 6463]

45 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

So I need to put boiling water thru my gutters?  Wasn’t on my list of to do’s this week goddammit. 

How will you do that? Watching YouTube you need a shit ton of hot water to put a dent in these dams. I don't think I have the fittings necessary to connect a hose to hot water in the house and get it outside. And my roof is crazy so the dams are deep as fuck. This looks like it would take all day even IF I can physically do it. 

[J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. 1084]

Anyone else melting snow for toilet water use?

[troph 24906]

2 minutes ago, J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. said:

Anyone else melting snow for toilet water use?

yes but surly 1% is using pool water.

[Podrick's Magic Cock 191]

1 minute ago, J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. said:

Anyone else melting snow for toilet water use?

I'm starting to collect snow for toilet flushing because my filled tub is getting low.  I haven't seen any updates on when the water will be turned back on down in SW Austin.  I'm planning on it being out until this weekend. 

[XYZ 2154]

56 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

Good instructions.

With zero water pressure, is cutting off at supply/street the consensus action to take at this point?  Pros?  Cons?

Yes, in my opinion. The pros are that you can open your faucets and allow the pipes to drain as much as possible. The only con that I can think of is that when service is restored, you won’t know it.

[RollLeft 5045]

25 minutes ago, troph said:

yes but surly 1% is using pool water.

and heating it!!! lol.

[XYZ 2154]

32 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

i live in a cold-weather environment and am not aware of anyone that drips their outside spigots during a hard freeze. when winter comes, you wrap them up and leave them alone for the winter.

that's probably not helpful, and am genuinely curious what folks are hearing about running outside spigots during a hard freeze.

You say that people wrap them up. What I don’t understand is: what is the point of wrapping them up? I mean, if it stays below freezing for days (or in your case for the whole winter), then the faucet itself and the water inside will get cold no matter what you wrap them with. So what’s the point?

[gmr548 16616]

If the costs are that ridiculous; I’m guessing Texans can band together and just not fucking pay.  All I ever hear from the Governor is how Texans can band together and accomplish anything.  How about financially crippling electric and gas entities?  
 
if we can cripple the NYSE, I’m pretty sure I can fuck up Texas Gas Service for a month.  

This. We’re on a fixed rate plan, but there’s a fucking zero percent chance we’d be paying such a bill if we weren’t.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

4 minutes ago, XYZ said:

You say that people wrap them up. What I don’t understand is: what is the point of wrapping them up? I mean, if it stays below freezing for days (or in your case for the whole winter), then the faucet itself and the water inside will get cold no matter what you wrap them with. So what’s the point?

i have no clue. 

[drt 640]

I’m thinking that snow on top of ice weighted limbs is going to fuck some trees. This sucks. 

[XYZ 2154]

46 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

What’s the point of being team no drip?  Is there some sort of hazard that happens from dripping?  Explain it like I’m a 5 year old, I’m one of the dumbest people on here about anything involving being handy, taking care of shit etc. I’ve been dripping basically bc I was told to, but I’m not smart enough to understand why dripping might be a bad idea. 
thanks, I will hang up and listen. 

For us in the souf where it freezes for a few days (if at all), you can’t convince me that dripping the hell out of your faucets (especially the exterior ones) is a bad idea. For people in the north I kind of understand. For one, they would have to drip their faucets all winter long.

[Gatorubet 30313]

And by the way, if you have some type of analysis instead of snarky comments it would be helpful to share it.

[boilerhorn 1399]

17 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Yes, in my opinion. The pros are that you can open your faucets and allow the pipes to drain as much as possible. The only con that I can think of is that when service is restored, you won’t know it.

Makes sense.  This was my thought, too, but wanted some confirmation.  What about gas water heaters?  Turn off?  Drain?  Drain will be hard, as they are in attic...

 

[SizzleChest 8284]

1 minute ago, XYZ said:

For us in the souf where it freezes for a few days (if at all), you can’t convince me that dripping the hell out of your faucets (especially the exterior ones) is a bad idea. For people in the north I kind of understand. For one, they would have to drip their faucets all winter long.

It has to do with residential construction as well.  Just about every home above a certain latitude has a basement, which means you can get airflow, i.e. heat, to the copper lines that run in the ceiling of a basement.  Even if the basement is finished, the airflow is there.  The farther above ground you place these lines and the farther these pipes are away from radiant heated airflow sources on the interior, the more risk you assume with your pipes and outdoor spigots freezing.

[dcar00 14365]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

If the costs are that ridiculous; I’m guessing Texans can band together and just not fucking pay.  All I ever hear from the Governor is how Texans can band together and accomplish anything.  How about financially crippling electric and gas entities?  
 

if we can cripple the NYSE, I’m pretty sure I can fuck up Texas Gas Service for a month.  

Maybe I can deduct it from my property taxes...

[ZB'Tejas 593]

If the costs are that ridiculous; I’m guessing Texans can band together and just not fucking pay.  All I ever hear from the Governor is how Texans can band together and accomplish anything.  How about financially crippling electric and gas entities?  
 
if we can cripple the NYSE, I’m pretty sure I can fuck up Texas Gas Service for a month.  

It’s like /wsb versus Wall Street all over again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deadshank 24653]

7 minutes ago, SizzleChest said:

It has to do with residential construction as well.  Just about every home above a certain latitude has a basement, which means you can get airflow, i.e. heat, to the copper lines that run in the ceiling of a basement.  Even if the basement is finished, the airflow is there.  The farther above ground you place these lines and the farther these pipes are away from radiant heated airflow sources on the interior, the more risk you assume with your pipes and outdoor spigots freezing.

Tell that to my BIL in Pittsburgh.

[BayouBill 835]

1 hour ago, RollLeft said:

Lift the lid of your toilet and put the opening of a 13 gallon trash bag around the lid.  It fits perfectly.  Replace and repeat.   

This is the perfect summary of this past week.

[Captainant 27769]

4 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

Maybe I can deduct it from my property taxes...

Tfw SALT deductions were significantly reduced by the TCJA, bummer. 

[dcar00 14365]

12 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

Makes sense.  This was my thought, too, but wanted some confirmation.  What about gas water heaters?  Turn off?  Drain?  Drain will be hard, as they are in attic...

 

If they are in the attic and u can do it by getting a hose to the outside or a tub I think I might drain. Mine is in garage.

Csb My old house the builder screwed up and didnt have a roof line high enough to put one large tank in attic so he put 2 stubby ones. Spent 13 years in the house thinking great i have double the chance of a water heater destroying my walls and floors. 

[dcar00 14365]

6 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Tfw SALT deductions were significantly reduced by the TCJA, bummer. 

Huh?

[troph 24906]

36 minutes ago, XYZ said:

You say that people wrap them up. What I don’t understand is: what is the point of wrapping them up? I mean, if it stays below freezing for days (or in your case for the whole winter), then the faucet itself and the water inside will get cold no matter what you wrap them with. So what’s the point?

I think in cold weather locations they have different set ups, our pipes aren't protected, can't be heated, etc. ours froze and only the hairdryer and dripping the faucets worked.

[horn4life 3783]

Well fuck looks like hot water line with gas water heater is fucked.  I am getting gas at my burners but the heater was cold and I realized that the pipes go into an outdoor wall.  I am wondering DID the gas heater somehow cutoff as a safety feature?  Seems like I am going to be unfortunately be in the photo presenting mode in the next few days when the thaw out comes.

 

Oh well off for 5 more gallons of gasoline for the generator, which hopefully will get us to the other side of this shit in our trailer.  I am SOOOooooooooooo fucking glad I bought all the shit to be self contained on PINS even though we did not make it down.  My desire for a well insulated travel trailer has made everything bearable so far.  But I am worried about what a bunch of water might end up doing to a house full of half inch plank hardwoods.... 

[boilerhorn 1399]

12 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

If they are in the attic and u can do it by getting a hose to the outside or a tub I think I might drain. Mine is in garage.

Csb My old house the builder screwed up and didnt have a roof line high enough to put one large tank in attic so he put 2 stubby ones. Spent 13 years in the house thinking great i have double the chance of a water heater destroying my walls and floors. 

Same here.  2 in series in the attic.  My roof line is high enough, but a 100 gal likely would not fit up the stairs to attic.  That's my theory

[Biff Tannen 45738]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

If the costs are that ridiculous; I’m guessing Texans can band together and just not fucking pay.  All I ever hear from the Governor is how Texans can band together and accomplish anything.  How about financially crippling electric and gas entities?  
 

if we can cripple the NYSE, I’m pretty sure I can fuck up Texas Gas Service for a month.  

But they CONTROL THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION

[troph 24906]

fuck. 

friends came over for warmth and respite after days without power.  they waited days because of their dogs and watching their home.  they didn't ask to bring their dogs to us (older boxers) instead left them with friends down the street with power. I don't get that part but ok.  anyway, after a great time, getting warmed up, drinking our shitty back up coffee and loving it, they went home to pick up the dogs to find one of them had passed away in the night.  old age, existing heart condition most likely.

fuck, this, shit.

I hate all of this.

Edited February 18, 2021 by troph

[Celery Man 20996]

Just heard about an older person who fell getting a flashlight and wasn't able to get back up, didn't make it on the floor with no blankets. This is awful, there's going to be a lot of gruesome stuff when things thaw. What a disaster.

[RollLeft 5045]

I know a guy..

[UncleSonny 6573]

Cross posted from the football board, druceleroy is Drew Kelson. Think he lives in the Houston area but not positive. Just awful. 

[dcar00 14365]

11 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

Same here.  2 in series in the attic.  My roof line is high enough, but a 100 gal likely would not fit up the stairs to attic.  That's my theory

Hmm maybe. By code they have have a certain size based on sq footage. He probably screwed up like mine did or 2 smaller are cheaper than one bigger🙂. Profit!

[Nivek 16986]

13 hours ago, TexArcher said:

I'm at about 10 hours with no water and no heat and I'm about ready to burn down the Capitol and warm myself with its smoldering ashes.  I can only imagine how fucking pissed you must be.

But I guess I'll be to that point by middle of Saturday.

This is some bullshit.

I heard that my in-laws, in their 70's in Atlanta,Texas (which took 9 inches of snow for the first round and about 7 for the second round) still have all their utilities functioning just fine.   77018 (Oak Forest) is getting some low pressure water now.   We started using the front spicket to get toilet water, but now it seems to be working on its own.  Yeah, I don't have to kill anymore people!

[Sandman 3412]

I discovered water in my garage, coming from around my shitty old garage fridge. I figured the cold has finally killed it and it was thawing out. But then I heard the dripping water. A pipe had busted (I thought). This was late last night, so the wife called a 24hr plumber, they said they'd be here this morning. Well, it turns out the wife had talked to the answering service and they overbooked for this morning. They'll be here today but we don't know when.

I decided to clear out the part of the garage to give them access. It turns out that it wasn't a busted pipe in the wall. The filter for the icemaker had ruptured. I was able to shut of the water and we're ok for now. I think I'll have to replace some drywall, though.

[DaysOff 7974]

So what's up with this energy spot price? I am on CPS, so it looks like they have some kind of variable model, but there is no way they expect middle class families to manage a several thousand dollar electric bill, right? This appears to be ERCOT's massive mistake, so no way should Texas citizens have to pay the bulk of it out of their pocket directly.

So you're saying I should turnoff auto bill pay?

[LABEVO 928]

checked my water meter while having multiple faucets open at full blast. cold works fine but hot comes out at a trickle. worried there is an issue but the water meter was going at a normal speed. 

turn the shut off values on hot water heater to be safe for now. once it warms up then will try it again. 

[TwiceHorn 31536]

1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

What’s the point of being team no drip?  Is there some sort of hazard that happens from dripping?  Explain it like I’m a 5 year old, I’m one of the dumbest people on here about anything involving being handy, taking care of shit etc. I’ve been dripping basically bc I was told to, but I’m not smart enough to understand why dripping might be a bad idea. 
thanks, I will hang up and listen. 

It's pretty hard to drip and insulate simultaneously, although I guess it's theoretically possible depending on how far your spigots stick out.  For me, anyway, it was a mutually exclusive choice.

Mine barely do, on a stone veneer wall, so there isn't much "purchase" for insulation.  I started with a cloth wrapped around, wadded up newspaper, and covered in a plastic bag.  I discovered that one of my spigots drips very slowly and thus soaked most of that shit.  I moved to a cardboard box wedged against the wall with a shovel.  Spigot still froze.

I gave up on insulating and went to a small stream, which has stayed fine throughout.  One drips into a narrow "flower bed" running along our driveway and whatever ice block/sheet is forming is in that bed rather than all over the driveway.  I have another that drips into our gravel side yard, so no big deal.  But depending on where your spigot is, you could get a nice little pond to skate on.

[gmr548 16616]

fuck. 
friends came over for warmth and respite after days without power.  they waited days because of their dogs and watching their home.  they didn't ask to bring their dogs to us (older boxers) instead left them with friends down the street with power. I don't get that part but ok.  anyway, after a great time, getting warmed up, drinking our shitty back up coffee and loving it, they went home to pick up the dogs to find one of them had passed away in the night.  old age, existing heart condition most likely.
fuck, this, shit.
I hate all of this.

Just heard about an older person who fell getting a flashlight and wasn't able to get back up, didn't make it on the floor with no blankets. This is awful, there's going to be a lot of gruesome stuff when things thaw. What a disaster.

What you people have to understand is that this senior citizen and this dog were honored to sacrifice themselves to ensure Texas could avoid federal oversight of its power grid, and to make sure energy companies generate maximum profits.

Condolences to your friends, troph. Infuriating.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

It's pretty hard to drip and insulate simultaneously, although I guess it's theoretically possible depending on how far your spigots stick out.  For me, anyway, it was a mutually exclusive choice.

Mine barely do, on a stone veneer wall, so there isn't much "purchase" for insulation.  I started with a cloth wrapped around, wadded up newspaper, and covered in a plastic bag.  I discovered that one of my spigots drips very slowly and thus soaked most of that shit.  I moved to a cardboard box wedged against the wall with a shovel.  Spigot still froze.

I gave up on insulating and went to a small stream, which has stayed fine throughout.  One drips into a narrow "flower bed" running along our driveway and whatever ice block/sheet is forming is in that bed rather than all over the driveway.  I have another that drips into our gravel side yard, so no big deal.  But depending on where your spigot is, you could get a nice little pond to skate on.

This was partially our reason for being Team No Drip. We have plenty of room for covers, and double boxed them plus the bags of mulch and leaves. We also have good insulation for the most part, and that toilet line on the northern exposure was the first time anything in our house had even sniffed at the cold; the shop light merely being in the area warmed it up enough to unseal any issue. It was mostly the power being off. The riskiest spigot is along the garage wall, and if left on a continuous drip would form an ice pool in my neighbor's yard. Not great. When we hit the warmer temps, if we have a break, then I'll admit it was the wrong strategy. Then will likely rip out the wall there and add more insulation and a frost free bib.

 

[TexasEd 8077]

2 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

i live in a cold-weather environment and am not aware of anyone that drips their outside spigots during a hard freeze. when winter comes, you wrap them up and leave them alone for the winter.

that's probably not helpful, and am genuinely curious what folks are hearing about running outside spigots during a hard freeze.

Because those colder environments have better insulation for the pipes and usually have a way to drain (winterize) them so they don't have any water in them anyway.  In Virginia we had a cutoff to the outdoor bibs that we shut off in October and then opened the bibs to drain the water.  Did not turn it back on until spring.

For normal winter spells here in the Austin area you cover the pipes and no problem.  For this deep freeze and extended event I had to convert my wrapped pipes to drip after they froze hard after 2 days.  I thawed them out with a heat gun (15 minutes) and then set them to drip.  No problem in 3 days of drip.

Edited February 18, 2021 by TexasEd

[RollLeft 5045]

15 hours ago, Eastwood said:

So what's up with this energy spot price? I am on CPS, so it looks like they have some kind of variable model, but there is no way they expect middle class families to manage a several thousand dollar electric bill, right? This appears to be ERCOT's massive mistake, so no way should Texas citizens have to pay the bulk of it out of their pocket directly.

Buddy of mine sent me this...he uses Griddy.  That membership is really paying off!

[SimonBolivar 10959]

My branch apparently decided to run our water through the roof. Well that burst and now I have water everywhere. Luckily it didn't quite make it up to the lowest safety deposit box.

[TwiceHorn 31536]

Welp, I did what I was dreading and "dug out" my water shutfoff valve.

My irrigation valve was turned 90 degrees toward the bottom of the hole and I think was actually touching some dirt, and, as mentioned, broke off in my hand.  Turned that way, it was pretty hard to get a wrench or channel lock on it.

This one should be easier to turn, including with a wrench or pliers, but it just screams "I'm going to break when you touch me," doesn't it?

Furk.  Hope I don't need it.

[Ten Bears 2483]

13 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Here is what I did and plan to do.  I don't know if it is right or wrong, but it is what makes sense to me.  I usually shut off my water at the owner side valve when I leave on extended vacations, so taking a similar approach here with the caveat that I shut down on the city's side of the meter this time, and I usually fire everything up without looking the place over for leaks and checking if the meter suggests a leak. 

1. Before opening the city valve, I am going to close the valve on my side of the meter.  Only reason for this is that it is a ball valve that I can more easily gradually open compared to the meter valve.  If I did not have access to the valve on my side I would not have a problem just opening the meter valve slowly.

2. Open exterior faucets and a few of the main faucets and tubs inside. 

3. Slowly open valve about 1/4 and then 1/2 turn, visually check flow to exterior faucets, but leave them running. Bleed air out of all remaining indoor faucets, and then close all indoor faucets. Check hot and cold side independently when bleeding out air. 

4. Open valve rest of way.  Close exterior faucets.

5.  Another round at bleeding interior faucets of any remaining air, give the system a few minutes to stabilize (fill toilets, hot water tanks, etc.)

6. Pray.

7. Once system stabilizes and all faucets are closed and hot water tanks are full, check the meter to see if ANY flow is coming through for sign of potential leak. Check known pipe locations for any signs of water leaks. Recheck meter for any flow.  If meter is turning at all with no obvious open faucet, could signal a leak. 

 

 

Probably a bit OCD, but that's what makes sense to me in this specific case.    

This is exactly what I would do in that situation.

2 hours ago, B00M said:

How will you do that? Watching YouTube you need a shit ton of hot water to put a dent in these dams. I don't think I have the fittings necessary to connect a hose to hot water in the house and get it outside. And my roof is crazy so the dams are deep as fuck. This looks like it would take all day even IF I can physically do it. 

If your hot water hose bib for your washing machine hasn't froze, you can hook up a garden hose to it without special fittings.  

I had luck thawing out my remaining frozen outside hose bib by taking my dryer vent off and running the dryer in my garage for an hour on high.  It raised the temp in the garage 10 degrees.  Do NOT do this inside your house though unless you want to asphyxiate, which might sound pretty good for some of you though right now.. .

[boilerhorn 1399]

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, I did what I was dreading and "dug out" my water shutfoff valve.

My irrigation valve was turned 90 degrees toward the bottom of the hole and I think was actually touching some dirt, and, as mentioned, broke off in my hand.  Turned that way, it was pretty hard to get a wrench or channel lock on it.

This one should be easier to turn, including with a wrench or pliers, but it just screams "I'm going to break when you touch me," doesn't it?

Furk.  Hope I don't need it.

If you cannot get that to move, you might consider going upstream a bit further and turning off the city/water utility valve.  I've had to do that many times.  Good luck!

[TwiceHorn 31536]

Hahaha holy fuck.

I just heard this big drizzle and drip onto the floor somewhere near the kitchen.  Ummmm, what the fuck.

So I go looking around.  I took some WD40 out to the shut off valve and drenched it, and then set it in the snow.  I didn't bother to knock the snow off it when I came in the house and I think there was a good bit in the concave bottom of the can.  I set it on the kitchen counter where it melted and drizzled onto the floor.

 

[po elvis 2076]

16 hours ago, Eastwood said:

So what's up with this energy spot price? I am on CPS, so it looks like they have some kind of variable model, but there is no way they expect middle class families to manage a several thousand dollar electric bill, right? This appears to be ERCOT's massive mistake, so no way should Texas citizens have to pay the bulk of it out of their pocket directly.

if there is a way to charge people that are not conserving right now an exorbitant rate, i am all for it. people that are setting their thermostats at 62 get a normal rate. people with their thermostats over 68 charge them out the ass.