topic Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes in Community Chat

Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:32:44 GMT

The last frozen pipe topic I found was from 2014. I didn't know if I could bring it back up. So here's a new one.

It's all gone as I feared here in central TX. I mentioned before that we're not prepared for such snow and ice events, nor are our homes. It proved true.

I did everything to prepare, as did my friends and neighbors, but those who I have been able to contact, since there are cell service issues, too, also have pipes frozen.

Of course this leaves us all worrying about what to expect when they finally thaw out. I'm hoping a frozen pipe doesn't mean you are destined to have a broken pipe, but I'm worried.

I have 4-6" of snow, with drifts against my back fence almost 2-3' tall. No activity in my hood, with everyone locked in the snow. It's gorgeous, but I'd rather never see it again. Not here, not like this.

One positive is that I have maintained power, while so many areas of TX, and my city, too, have been without, since early when the deep freeze and snow hit. They are miserable, with some, no doubt, in danger.

On a lighter note, I let my dog out for his morning potty and he was befuddled by the snow. He's a big boy, at 98 lbs, but was having trouble walking in it. He didn't know what to do. He thought he wasn't supposed to potty in the snow, looking for his grass. It took a lot of coaxing before he finally relented.

A long and unpleasant night. I hope everyone here who has had to deal with these weather events are safe and secure. It's not over yet.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Icegoddess — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:39:45 GMT

Can you turn the water off at the cutoff outside? At least as the pipes unfreeze you won't have as much water damage in the house.

Curious how you know your pipes are frozen? Can you see the breaks in them? I thought most people didn't discover they had frozen pipes until they thawed and the resulting flooding.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

millieshops — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:41:18 GMT

@BlueFinch. I hope you get lucky. I owned an old old NY house which had a pipe that frozen whenever temp fell below 20 and the wind blew from the west. Fortunately it never burst, but I did always “buy” more heat on those days and drip the bathroom water, both at the suggestion of the contractor I called the first winter I was in that house. He said that would be cheaper than any fix he could devise.

I have seen the mess a frozen pipe can do, so my fingers are crossed for you and your neighbors.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Lipstickdiva — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:43:12 GMT

I'm sorry you are having these issues. I live in Ohio so I'm no stranger to snow and we get our fair share of ice but it's not often that we have an inch plus of just ice. Snow and freezing yes. A few years back we went for days with below zero temps and I know many people ended up with frozen pipes if they were on an outside wall.

We are supposed to get anywhere from 10-12" of snow later today and throughout the night. I have a dog and she isn't a big fan of snow. We got a big snowstorm in Christmas day and the snow had blown up against my patio door. I ended up having to push her out the door to get her to do her business. If there is any type of snow on the deck, even if it's only an inch, she thinks that's where she can go to the bathroom.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

CelticCrafter — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:54:12 GMT

@Icegoddess wrote:
Can you turn the water off at the cutoff outside? At least as the pipes unfreeze you won't have as much water damage in the house.

Curious how you know your pipes are frozen? Can you see the breaks in them? I thought most people didn't discover they had frozen pipes until they thawed and the resulting flooding.

@Icegoddess You turn the faucet on and nothing comes out.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Kachina624 — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:01:54 GMT

@Icegoddess wrote:
Can you turn the water off at the cutoff outside? At least as the pipes unfreeze you won't have as much water damage in the house.

Curious how you know your pipes are frozen? Can you see the breaks in them? I thought most people didn't discover they had frozen pipes until they thawed and the resulting flooding.

@Icegoddess. You know they're frozen when you turn the water on and nothing comes out. Frozen pipes don't always burst; you discover that when they thaw. Since houses in Texas have pipes in the ceiling, this can cause immeasurable damage.

There are not enough workers to repair all the damaged homes so after these incidents, the state is besieged with outside carpet baggers and scammers who supposedly decend on the state to repair pipes and damaged dry wall but take people's money and run. The attorney general has his hands full. Texans should be very careful in hiring repairers.

There is usually a water shut off somewhere in the house. Mine is under a bathroom sink. Shutting it off at the meter requires a special tool. It's wise to shut it off.

@BlueFinch. What part of Texas are you in?

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:00:31 GMT

@Icegoddess Yes, I will be able to turn the water off, if when it begins thawing, I detect a leak. Luckily, I'm grounded at home, so I can keep an eye on it.

For me, it's only in my kitchen, where the sink and plumbing faces an outside wall. No water will come out of that faucet, not even a drip. My BR's, and everything else, are running as usual. Some of my friends/neighbors have several pipes affected.

Everything looks okay, under my sink, but of course I can only see the plumbing coming out of the wall. We'll have a hard freeze again tonight, so it's gonna be challenging.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:13:54 GMT

@Kachina624 I'm West, just on the outskirts of San Antonio, in a little non-incorporated city.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Carmie — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:16:20 GMT

Just a friendly reminder. If your pipes are already frozen, make sure your water taps are not left open.

Back in the 70's our pipes froze. We had double sinks in the bathroom and both faucets were left open. When the water pipes thawed, the water rushed out of them into the sink and down the drain. Unfortunally, the sewer drains were still frozen outside and the water could not go through.

The sewer pipes backed up. I came home to sewer water that backed up into the bathtub and over flowed onto my floors in the bathroom and bedrooms. To say this as nicely as possible...everything that was flushed into my toilet saturated my floors.

The stink was awful and many things were ruined...I had to replace my carpets and lots of things in my bedroom closet had to be pitched out..

I would suggest to buy heat tapes and wrap the pipes so they don't freeze. They are a good investment.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Kachina624 — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:18:59 GMT

@BlueFinch. I spent 30+ years in Houston, 7 years in Midland and several months in San Antonio in the USAF. Also in Amarillo for training.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:39:15 GMT

@Carmie OH MY GOSH, you've described a nightmare. I thank you for sharing your experience and I'll pass it on. I've never even heard of heat tapes before. I have to check it out.

I'm hoping this is one of those rare events that doesn't repeat again for years, once we get through this cycle. But, I'm going to be investigating things I can do to be better prepared.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

LindaSal — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:43:53 GMT

@BlueFinch If you have heat in your house keep your cupboard doors open to let some warmth get under there. If you own a portable heater put that facing the outside wall plumbing. As others stated try to shut off the water. Fingers crossed for you.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:45:13 GMT

@Kachina624 Yes, I remember some of your past comments. I consider you an honorary Texan. My dad was career AF (32 years), stationed for years at Kelly/Lackland, so the bases are some of my old haunts, too.

I'm sure you found SA to be your favorite over Midland, Houston, or Amarillo . It's mine over those choices, for sure.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

fthunt — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:47:53 GMT

Up here in Northeast we use hairdryers to apply heat to area of frozen pipes. Not directly ON the pipe but around the area.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Icegoddess — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:48:18 GMT

@BlueFinch, if it's just at the one sink, you should be able to turn the water off using the knobs on the lines coming into the sink.

I'm in the path of some of that in N AL. We're expecting an ice storm this evening. I'm a little mad at hubby for insisnting on going out in this weather, currently rain, to meet his friend for lunch. Mainly I'm mad because he took my pickup truck instead of his car because his battery is dead. Also, his friend really shouldn't be out in this either as he has a lot of health problems and, by my husband's description, his driving skills are not the best, and my husband's driving scares me sometimes.

It's currently 34 outside, but the temp has already dropped 2 degrees i the last hourr. We are supposed to get down into the teens tonight. But, at least it won't last as long as it has in TX. We're supposed to be back up to 50 on Wednesday.

@Kachina624, everybody really should have one of those tools for cutting the water off at the meter, but I think you can also use a wrench. I have cutoffs at each sink and toilet, but those are just for those lines. There's actually a seprate one for each line coming into the sinks.

We have a legal show on Sunday nights after the news and last night's topic was Weather and the law. Something the lawyer mentioned was that it's important to mitigate the damage once it has occurred or insurance might not completely cover it. So, it's on the homeowner to turn that water off once the damage starts happening.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Kachina624 — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:48:42 GMT

@BlueFinch. I liked Midland a lot. Might have stayed there if summers weren't so hot. Very nice place to live.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:53:01 GMT

@LindaSal Yes, I have central heat and I've thankfully maintained power. So, I left cupboard doors open under all sinks as soon as the temps began dropping here, hoping the heated air would help. I also wrapped pipes outside like I was in the frozen tundra, to no avail.

I don't have a portable heater, but a friend had some success just with a hair dryer. I'm watching it closely and will turn the water off if I sense a pipe break. I'm waiting to see how some of my neighbors do, too.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

Kachina624 — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:53:19 GMT

@Icegoddess. There should be a central water shut off somewhere in the house. I didn't know i had one until a plumber showed it to me.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:54:55 GMT

@fthunt Yes, I just had someone tell me the hairdryer trick. I'm gonna give it a try.

Re: Tx weather event, frozen pipes

BlueFinch — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:05:57 GMT

@Icegoddess Yes, I have a curb key to cut off all the water, if necessary, plus I know I can cut off individual faucets under cabinets. I just hope none of those things have to happen.

I get your comment, and worries, about your DH and his friend. I don't get what men are thinking sometimes.

My brother took off from his home in Austin yesterday, for a short trip to the grocery store. He had no problem going there, but coming back, he didn't realize he'd have to navigate an icy incline, one that hadn't been a problem going down previously. He couldn't get traction to get up it.

He had to leave his truck and started walking home in the frigid weather carrying grocery bags. Thankfully, a neighbor saw him and picked him up in his Jeep for a ride home, but he had to leave his truck behind. My brother's comment: 'Man, that was really stupid.'