Texas deep freeze carnage thread

[CHIEF 5057]

1 hour ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll wait until noon which should be a full 24 hours above freezing before slowly opening the spigots. My challenge will be detecting any leaks since one spigot is located in brick & the other in hardiplank. If I don't see obvious water leaking through the interior walls (brick's opposite wall is sheetrock to front office, hard is sheetrock to garage) I guess I'm just trying to determine if the flow is too low as an indicator of a leak.

If you can find someone with access to a FLIR camera, the thermal image is accurate to .5 degrees, and it will detect a leak through the wall. We have a friend that works for a home builder, he brought one home and has been going through homes in our neighborhood to check for leaks, but it's like trying to dip out the ocean with a Dixie cup. But he can go through a house in 5-10 minutes. If you bought one, you could pay for it a hundred times over.

CHIEF

Edited February 21, 2021 by CHIEF

[horn4life 3753]

1 hour ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll wait until noon which should be a full 24 hours above freezing before slowly opening the spigots. My challenge will be detecting any leaks since one spigot is located in brick & the other in hardiplank. If I don't see obvious water leaking through the interior walls (brick's opposite wall is sheetrock to front office, hard is sheetrock to garage) I guess I'm just trying to determine if the flow is too low as an indicator of a leak.

Until the flow is back up I would only do shorter term pipe tests.  IF you have a two story house, it's likely that you may not be able to pressurize the second story to the point of having any chance of finding a leak

[Enchubben 5509]

Should/can I try to fix thus myself or just call a plumber/irrigation guy? Part impossible to find?

[boilerhorn 1334]

5 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

Should/can I try to fix thus myself or just call a plumber/irrigation guy? Part impossible to find?

What does it feed below?  And how easy is it to connect/disconnect below?

Based on your comments about calling an irrigation guy, it sound like it feeds your irrigation system.  If so, I'd consider capping and solving later.

However, you might be forced to do what available parts allow you to do.  I was in HD and Lowes yesterday (78750) and they are entirely picked over for caps.  Some have ball valves; some don't.

[Enchubben 5509]

4 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

What does it feed below?  And how easy is it to connect/disconnect below?

Based on your comments about calling an irrigation guy, it sound like it feeds your irrigation system.  If so, I'd consider capping and solving later.

However, you might be forced to do what available parts allow you to do.  I was in HD and Lowes yesterday (78750) and they are entirely picked over for caps.  Some have ball valves; some don't.

The pipe goes into the ground, it’s the water supply to sprinklers. The bell/assembly looks fine above it and with that valve closed, no issue with leaking so far.

[FizzleFish 137]

9 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

The pipe goes into the ground, it’s the water supply to sprinklers. The bell/assembly looks fine above it and with that valve closed, no issue with leaking so far.

I’ve now seen this a few times. What is this? I mean I know thru the comments it’s for irrigation but what’s it called. I’ve had several homes with irrigation and never seen this. Building a home now and working in some stuff I learned this week. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by FizzleFish
Spelling

[GhostOfTomJoad 9302]

21 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Until the flow is back up I would only do shorter term pipe tests.  IF you have a two story house, it's likely that you may not be able to pressurize the second story to the point of having any chance of finding a leak

Well it looks like we pretty much won the lotto this go 'round. Two story house in CP and we've been showering (all full baths are on 2nd floor) all week with no drop in water pressure. This morning I cleaned up the asian jasmine that surrounds our water meter/street shut offs, cleaned out 6" of packed mud/dirt so I could get to the owner's shut off spigot (although I've got the valve tool to shut off on the City's side as well), took off the bib covers and all of the extra towels I'd wrapped them with, then gently cracked the spigots open. Both began trickling immediately. I just let them trickle for 5-10 seconds & did a visual inspection of the pipes. Everything looks good so far. I'll keep an eye on everything for the next few days, but damn do I feel like we dodged a bullet. I sincerely feel for those of you who are dealing with much more severe troubles. Other than re-hanging a fence gate & needing to have some broken (not cleanly; still attached to the trees) live oak limbs trimmed we're in good shape. Which makes me feel guilty as shit.

One thing that may have helped with our outdoor spigots--and I'll damn sure do again in the future--is that in addition to the covers and towels (one wrapped around the pipe & inside the cover, another bigger towel around the outside of the cover, duct taped, then covered in a ziploc bag & taped again), I built wind breaks using large, outdoor plastic tubs that I use for firewood and charcoal storage. I put patio furniture cushions over the wrapped spigots & then pushed those big tubs up tight against the cushions to hold them in place. Since the spigot on the front of the is on a north wall I wanted to do everything I could to block the wind from hitting it. It seems to have worked.

[atomheartbevo 89361]

5 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Still I’m glad for the first time in 4 days I don’t have to dread the feeling of a turd forming.  

Every time I had to shit, the numbers went through my head on how many buckets of snow I needed to refill the tub with and/or melt to replace the tank full of water.

[TwiceHorn 31184]

8 minutes ago, FizzleFish said:

I’ve now seen this a few times. What is this? I mean I know thru the comments it’s for irrigation but what’s it called. I’ve had several homes with irrigation and never seen this. Building a home now and working in some stuff I learned this week. 

Backflow preventer.  Kind of a recent code requirement of environmental origin.

[boilerhorn 1334]

11 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

The pipe goes into the ground, it’s the water supply to sprinklers. The bell/assembly looks fine above it and with that valve closed, no issue with leaking so far.

Good that it does not leak when closed.

How it is connected below (under the wrap) is what will dictate the complexity of a DIY fix.  Looks like a common threaded ball valve at the top, but it does not show how it is connected below.  In my experience, *Most* irrigation repair is easy to DIY, esp. the above-ground stuff. 

If you are not comfortable w/ that kind of thing, ask your irrigation guy to fix.  He likely has parts and will be more affordable than a plumber (IMO).  You'll be lower on his list, as water is not pouring out of your system.

[Paco 1923]

If the unit is in the attic, it guarantees hot water pressure to the entire house. If it's on the ground floor, you could have pressure issues in the rooms furthest from it.

Nope, it's to save space, that's it.

[Storm the Field 5270]

Made it through relatively unscathed, couple of plumbing issues but nothing catastrophic. 

Had a small crack in a valve on the water supply line to my tankless water heater that needs to be replaced. Luckily it was dripping straight into the drain pan, so nothing got wet. Additionally, there's a small leak coming from somewhere under the tub in the upstairs guest bathroom. Only an issue when you try to run it. Will require a little sheetrock to be cut out of the ceiling of the closet below it.

Luckily my house is only 3 months old and our builder is having the plumbing sub-contractor come out tomorrow to fix everything. They're so busy they're only accepting calls for houses where they've installed in the past 2 years. Water to the house is shut off until then, but fortunately the garage apartment is on a separate line, so we have access to a full bathroom and a dishwasher. Laundry really starting to pile up though.

[Guest Lobo]

^

Thanks for the reminder.  Water back on late Saturday. Been compulsively checking the city meter to see that it doesn't move unless something is on.  however, a slight crack in the Water Heater piping or recirculating pump wouldn't register unless you stared at it for an hour.  I have sensors on the main drain pan but not the little one (never thought I'd need it).  I need to go check it in the attic a few times and go hunt down another sensor because when regular pressure comes back from City of Austin, a slight crack could still reveal itself.  Pos rep.

[luke duke 6379]

Homeland Security, and 60 years worth of presidents have deemed agriculture a critical Infrastructure for the US, and a matter of National Security. We are the "bread basket" of the World. If money were to become worthless, food is the main barter item that the US has in abundance. I also hate the idea of subsidies, but you can't let good cropland go fallow, and become overgrown, it would take too long to make it productive in a national emergency. It is a necessary evil.
CHIEF

I don’t necessarily disagree with this, but those farmers and their neighbors are probably the first ones to argue against socialized anything, except their subsidies. And their Medicare. And their social security. [/NoCR]

[luke duke 6379]

Both my tankless are fucked. Tenants didn't leave the hot running like I asked. 

Tenants are assholes. They probably didn’t do it because they were cheap. Next time offer them a rent reduction if there are no issues post-thaw.

[El Diablo 4232]

4 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Go to Sprouts. All staples, water. 25 minutes to checkout but a lot shorter than heb. 

Got clued in that HEB opened at 8 (unannounced) so breezed thru. Got the essentials I needed and will make another run Thursday or Friday early to check the shelves. Hoping things start rolling in by then. 

[luke duke 6379]

I think my tankless hot water heater has bit the dust. Good news is I have water in the house, my whole home filtration system had one filter crack (small one) but the tankless is kaput.
Have calls into multiple plumbers but they are swamped. Can only imagine what the charge for a new one is going to be.

You may want to order one now. They’re probably going to be in short supply for a while.

Should/can I try to fix thus myself or just call a plumber/irrigation guy? Part impossible to find?

I’d fix it myself if you can isolate water flow and unthread the valve.

Nope, it's to save space, that's it.

This. That’s an extra closet in the hallway, which has value.

[DCA_HORN 725]

Nope, it's to save space, that's it.

Saves space but really it's because most of the year here, the attic is much hotter than the rest of the house and saves a bit on the heating cost.

[BradInATX 9208]

Y'all think I can save this cactus?


rip in peace

[Judge Roybeanbag 11796]

3 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Y'all think I can save this cactus?


rip in peace

Go throw that shit someplace else and it will probably sprout.  

 

5 minutes ago, DCA_HORN said:

1 hour ago, Paco said:

Nope, it's to save space, that's it.

Saves space but really it's because most of the year here, the attic is much hotter than the rest of the house and saves a bit on the heating cost.

Yeah but the minimum $5000 in damage it causes when something breaks and it floods offsets any savings.

[immamac 42492]

33 minutes ago, luke duke said:

 

Tenants are assholes. They probably didn’t do it because they were cheap. Next time offer them a rent reduction if there are no issues post-thaw.

 

They are the ones with no hot water not me. 

[Enchubben 5509]

9 minutes ago, luke duke said:

 

You may want to order one now. They’re probably going to be in short supply for a while.



I’d fix it myself if you can isolate water flow and unthread the valve.



This. That’s an extra closet in the hallway, which has value.

 

When you say isolate the water flow, I’m assuming you mean turn the water main off at the street right? I don’t know that there is another place to do that. 

[deadshank 24651]

14 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Y'all think I can save this cactus?


rip in peace

More like RIP in pieces

[atomheartbevo 89361]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

I need to go check it in the attic a few times and go hunt down another sensor because when regular pressure comes back from City of Austin, a slight crack could still reveal itself.  Pos rep.

I think we have higher-than normal pressure right now, which actually concerned me a bit.

[atomheartbevo 89361]

1 hour ago, luke duke said:

Tenants are assholes. They probably didn’t do it because they were cheap. Next time offer them a rent reduction if there are no issues post-thaw.

Or they are young and don't know better.  We have friends who are working out-of-state, and renting out their condo to a young couple, and I'm helping said friends when the tenants have problems that I can fix.  

It took me a couple of times talking to the couple before it finally sunk in that this was going to be some serious shit.  I know they were thinking of me like this early on:

But the condo two doors down from them got some serious water damage because the condo three doors down fucked around and found out.

[GringoSalado 1651]

22 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

It’s fun and embarrassing to realize how little I know about household shit thru this past week. 

Reading this thread makes me feel like a Handyman savant. But I'm sure whatever disaster '21 has in store for me will involve something I'm incompetent at (lots of possibilities).

[TwiceHorn 31184]

1 hour ago, luke duke said:

 

You may want to order one now. They’re probably going to be in short supply for a while.



I’d fix it myself if you can isolate water flow and unthread the valve.



This. That’s an extra closet in the hallway, which has value.

 

Especially now that everyone wants the biggest house that will fit on a given lot.  Aaand cities have begun to restrict how much of the lot can be covered.  Ain't nobody giving up a whole closet for better positioning of WH.

[B00M 6278]

2 hours ago, FizzleFish said:

I’ve now seen this a few times. What is this? I mean I know thru the comments it’s for irrigation but what’s it called. I’ve had several homes with irrigation and never seen this. Building a home now and working in some stuff I learned this week. 

You may have had it and not known. Mine is underground beneath a cover near the main water valve at the street. 

[ABSR 5289]

16 hours ago, EfficientlyCorrectly said:

That is not the reason the hot water heater is in the attic. I have owned several houses and all the water heaters have been in the basement, There has never been a water pressure problem in any of the houses. Nearly all of the United States and Canada where homes are built with basements have their water heaters in the basement.
I have to say, putting a water heater in the attic is just plain STUPID. This is done because a builder wants to save money. It is how you do it when you want to do it on the CHEAP! It's incredibly foolish to do such a thing. If a leak occurs you get water damage. A good builder who actually cares about the future of the house would never put a hot water heater in the attic. It is STUPID.

It is likely you can count the number of houses in Texas that have basements on one hand or close to it.   Slab is standard here so attic is where hot water heater goes.

[The Ace of Aces 5106]

I’d never buy a house with a water heater in the attic. Epically dumb move just to save a little floor space. That’s a bigger turn off than a house sans garage and an all-electric house, and those a no gos as well 

[hookemATL 11596]

22 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

I’d never buy a house with a water heater in the attic. Epically dumb move just to save a little floor space. That’s a bigger turn off than a house sans garage and an all-electric house, and those a no gos as well 

Friend of a friends house in Sunset Valley got through most of the storm ok but yesterday the water heater IN THEIR ATTIC sprung a leak and gave all the floors below the full length. Epic water damage. I still can’t grasp the logic of having one in an elevated part of a home. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11796]

31 minutes ago, ABSR said:

It is likely you can count the number of houses in Texas that have basements on one hand or close to it.   Slab is standard here so attic garage  is where hot water heater should go. 

Fixed it.  

[mdmost 42775]

Turns out it wasn't the hose to my washing machine that cracked and was leaking water everywhere but actually the water valve assembly inside the machine that had a small crack. Put the new cold water hose on and turned the water on a bit to be met with water spraying out again. Took the metal backing off and saw where the crack was. The assembly is a plastic piece where the water hoses connect on the back of the washer. The assembly also has 4 prongs that connect to the different water temperature regulators (hot, cold, tap cold) and the power supply. So I have that on order from Amazon since all the local parts places are closed today. $50 as compared to a brand new washer isn't bad. 

[Guest Lobo]

^

Good catch.  Even with high-end washers, the valve assembly is often done on the cheap. That was another thing that worried me yesterday because our inlet valve and where the supply hoses, etc. all that faces a Northern wall that gets really freakin' cold.  Usually it's nice and toasty because the dryer vent is right next door, but with no power we tried to insulate it outside and inside as best we could with pillows/cushions.  Thankfully no cracking once I flushed it.  But then...we haven't done a full load of laundry yet due to the water notice and just trying to be good neighbors for those behind us with no water yet.  

How long is your anticipated delivery on that?  We likely have different models but curious if there's a run on those right now.  I may try to proactively order

[Anastasis 23375]

Well. Looks like we didn’t come out totally unscathed. PVC piping feeding the back flow preventer is toasted in two spots. I turned off the feed but apparently it did not drain. 

[dcar00 14023]

water came back this morning.  followed the redbud plumbing advice for restart.  telltale ran while outdoor spigot was flowing.  shut it off and telltale stopped.  not counting chickens yet but it looks like I dodged the bullet in the house.  the back shed with sink has some water on floor but it might just be melt.  no big deal there.  big thing is it appears the pool pump and plumbing survived as well.

team no drip outside/drip inside/shutoff when water went away.

pretty lucky if this holds.  thank you gas fireplace.

[wd40 1976]

2 hours ago, ABSR said:

It is likely you can count the number of houses in Texas that have basements on one hand or close to it.   Slab is standard here so attic is where hot water heater goes.

 

19 hours ago, EfficientlyCorrectly said:

That is not the reason the hot water heater is in the attic. I have owned several houses and all the water heaters have been in the basement, There has never been a water pressure problem in any of the houses. Nearly all of the United States and Canada where homes are built with basements have their water heaters in the basement.
I have to say, putting a water heater in the attic is just plain STUPID. This is done because a builder wants to save money. It is how you do it when you want to do it on the CHEAP! It's incredibly foolish to do such a thing. If a leak occurs you get water damage. A good builder who actually cares about the future of the house would never put a hot water heater in the attic. It is STUPID.

is it that hard?  is it really that fucking hard?  jfc on a popsicle stick.

/trivial shit

[washparkhorn 9931]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Well. Looks like we didn’t come out totally unscathed. PVC piping feeding the back flow preventer is toasted in two spots. I turned off the feed but apparently it did not drain. 

Blow > Drain

[Message Board User 12389]

6 hours ago, Enchubben said:

The pipe goes into the ground, it’s the water supply to sprinklers. The bell/assembly looks fine above it and with that valve closed, no issue with leaking so far.

Rule of thumb for me is if I feel comfortable, I do it myself. 

But if that's not the case here, it'd be a few hundred bucks for a sprinkler guy to fix the backflow preventer.

[Updawg 2260]

Back on for me. So far so good.

Team no drop outside, drip inside. Completely off after pressure drop, Water heater on low

I have some shark bite fittings coming if anyone needs them. Should be arriving this week hopefully

[Nueces River Rat 5528]

On 2/20/2021 at 10:30 AM, SquishMitten said:

Never had to file an insurance claim before. My contractor can’t make it over until early next week so I won’t have estimates until then. Do I need to file ASAP to get my place in line? Or do they not really start processing a claim until you have repair estimates first?

You have to do your best to mitigate the damage, per most insurance policy language.   That means trying a temp fix or shutting off the water and leaving it off until a pro can look at it , if a temp fix won’t work.   Same with cleanup of water in order to keep the damage a minimum. BUT based on the severity and scope of this event  from Brownsville to Dalhart, it might be hard for some companies to get picky on the mitigation part.  I mean good luck find wet/dry vacs for one.   Same goes for PVC in some areas.    And  many polices will not actually pay for the damaged pipe and labor to fix it .   They will pay for the resulting damage.  

[Enchubben 5509]

36 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Rule of thumb for me is if I feel comfortable, I do it myself. 

But if that's not the case here, it'd be a few hundred bucks for a sprinkler guy to fix the backflow preventer.

And that’s exactly what I’ve been quoted; 200.  I probably would do it myself but I made two stops to find parts with no luck.  Probably worth it to just have them replace the whole assembly.

[ChickenSandwich 9797]

36 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

 And  many polices will not actually pay for the damaged pipe and labor to fix it .   They will pay for the resulting damage.  

This is normally the case for a wear and tear or age break, but asked to friend who is an adjuster and he confirmed with supervisor 

“an ice break situation was sudden and accidental and there was no way for people without power to mitigate the risk so the pipe itself is also covered. 
*Unless something negligent was done like leave the house for a month without turning off the water *

 

FWIW

[Nueces River Rat 5528]

5 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Or they are young and don't know better.  We have friends who are working out-of-state, and renting out their condo to a young couple, and I'm helping said friends when the tenants have problems that I can fix.  

It took me a couple of times talking to the couple before it finally sunk in that this was going to be some serious shit.  I know they were thinking of me like this early on:

But the condo two doors down from them got some serious water damage because the condo three doors down fucked around and found out.

It’s the same drill we have with hurricanes here on coast.  Because the Corpus area hadn’t been severely impacted by one since 1970, when Harvey visited in 2017 you had some that were content nothing would happen here. I blame it mostly on those who don’t heed the warnings, but I do blame the government officials to some extent.  Ever since Katrina, they don’t want to be the next one to screw things up.  So now whenever a storm in the early stages in the models looks like Texas might be in the strike zone, they react as if it’s a certain.   Then When it goes to Louisiana or Mexico, they get scorned for crying wolf and then we get back to square one with “they said the last one was coming here or would be this strong, and it was nothing.”

[washparkhorn 9931]

3 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

This is normally the case for a wear and tear or age break, but asked to friend who is an adjuster and he confirmed with supervisor 

“an ice break situation was sudden and accidental and there was no way for people without power to mitigate the risk so the pipe itself is also covered. 
*Unless something negligent was done like leave the house for a month without turning off the water *

 

FWIW

Read your policy.

Watch out for time deadlines to report and to repair.   

Cross your t's and dot your i's. 

Don't give them an opportunity to deny - because many will deny if given the opportunity. Good luck all. 

[Nueces River Rat 5528]

3 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

This is normally the case for a wear and tear or age break, but asked to friend who is an adjuster and he confirmed with supervisor 

“an ice break situation was sudden and accidental and there was no way for people without power to mitigate the risk so the pipe itself is also covered. 
*Unless something negligent was done like leave the house for a month without turning off the water *

 

FWIW

This is true.  Some policies also have limited water damage endorsements and that causes confusion too.  

[lockport 55]

Was able to cap off the busted pipe outside and turned the water line back on a few hours ago. Good pressure and all faucets running. Checking for leaks and don't see/hear any. I think I'm in the clear. Really lucky to get out of this with no busted pipes. Hope everyone is doing ok.

[4th&Five 41457]

I haven’t heard of a single leak in our neighborhood. PEX ftmfw!

[Bill Lumbergh 7168]

Ok, we were almost in the 70s here today, so I can safely say any thawing that needed to happen should be done by now.

With that done, I've got a pretty strange situation going on with plumbing, curious if anyone here has any ideas.

I was able to run water the entire way through the freeze, hot and cold from all faucets.

Now that everything is done, every faucet in the house seems to have returned to normal...except two.

In the master bath, the tub and shower are right next to each other, along an exterior wall.

The shower has hot and cold water fine, the pressure just seems a bit low. The pressure everywhere else in the house seems normal.

The tub is more confusing. The cold comes on with great pressure and really cold. The hot comes on what seems like 50% pressure, and never gets hot. I've run it for an hour, it doesn't get hot. That's while the shower right next to it does get hot.

We have no signs of any leaking or damage anywhere, but something obviously seems off here. Any ideas? I'm planning to call a plumber if it stays like this, but guessing that since my situation isn't dire I won't be able to get one for weeks.

[wd40 1976]

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

I haven’t heard of a single leak in our neighborhood. PEX ftmfw!

who's gonna tell him about PEX Herpes?