Coldpocolypse: Hard Freeze Predicted for Houston, Upcoming Monday and Tuesday

[Bill]

Temps in the low 20's predicted. :shiver:

It was in the low 70's yesterday. Crap. Maybe it's time to turn on the heaters, just to make sure they still work.

Also, I'll need to stock up on milk, bread, and toilet paper, as is tradition.

[Rodnok1]

Let the great bread run commence...

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Rodnok1

Let the great bread run commence...

I think in Texas it's considered acceptable to substitute tortillas for the bread, so there's that......

[Vandelay Industries]

Make sure to leave your car windows open.

[Jughead]

[Rodnok1]

That picture from Raleigh by Angus Barn I believe.

Talk about a cluster that day. Now even the mention winter weather and total chaos ensues and everything is shut down.

[Budman]

The house we had in Clear Lake had the water heater in the unheated attic.

I remember after a cold snap there were a lot of flooded houses. Best to keep the faucets open. YMMV.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Budman

The house we had in Clear Lake had the water heater in the unheated attic.

I remember after a cold snap there were a lot of flooded houses. Best to keep the faucets open. YMMV.

My house is the same.....most two story houses have the water heater in the attic here. I turn the water off at the meter and at the house cut off, open all the taps and leave some open. I have several 5 gallon water containers I fill up for drinking, cooking, and washing dishes, as well as the kitchen garbage can, which I use if necessary to flush the toilets. Usually, it get above freezing during the day, so the water just needs to be shut off at night.

Helps to pee out in the back yard, saving the water in the toilet tank for, well, yeah, for that......

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Temps in the low 20's predicted. :shiver:

It was in the low 70's yesterday. Crap. Maybe it's time to turn on the heaters, just to make sure they still work.

Also, I'll need to stock up on milk, bread, and toilet paper, as is tradition.

And batteries. DON'T FORGET BATTERIES.

Only the low 20s? It was +16 here a couple weeks ago. ZZzzzz.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Budman

The house we had in Clear Lake had the water heater in the unheated attic.

I remember after a cold snap there were a lot of flooded houses. Best to keep the faucets open. YMMV.

FWIW, lesson learned the hard way:

First winter in this house, 1982-83. I was worried about the kitchen faucet freezing the first sub-zero night, so I left it dripping.

The incoming water didn't freeze, but the drain did. The drip-drip into the drain pipes got cold enough to start freezing and it just kept building up until the drain was blocked.

Under normal use of a kitchen sink that doesn't happen, and hasn't since.

But it all depends on how your plumbing system is laid out.

[slewfoot]

We drip hot water here.

[Bill]

The other strategy I have used, somewhat more labor intensive, is to wake up every 2 or 3 hours, and flush all the toilets and run all the taps. Turns out, simply turning off the water and opening the taps makes for getting a better night's sleep.

[slewfoot]

Maybe go get some covers for the outdoor faucets? It'll help. Lowes, or HD

[ratflinger]

Supposed to get to 19 here in San Antonio. This weekend I'll put heat tape on the chicken waterers. All the outside water lines are set up so that I can shut them off and then blow them out.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

The other strategy I have used, somewhat more labor intensive, is to wake up every 2 or 3 hours, and flush all the toilets and run all the taps. Turns out, simply turning off the water and opening the taps makes for getting a better night's sleep.

I'm an admitted self-taught expert on frozen pipes. When I bought this cabin in 1981 it had no plumbing and only a crawl space under it.

So I had to run all plumbing along the baseboards, in the heated areas. In the following years I had several frozen pipes in various places. I addressed the cold spots and was fine for years. But about 5 years ago it froze under my bathroom sink vanity where it had never happened before.

It took a while to pinpoint it.

FWIW, dill baniels: shutting the water supply off and opening the faucets will NOT drain the lines. The pressure will be off, and some water may drain by gravity through open fixtures, but most of it will likely still be in the lines.

Having said all that, being 20 or so shouldn't be a problem for a day or so for plumbing in heated areas. For me, it can be a problem during a 1-2 week cold spell when it's well below zero for a few nights and only gets +10 or less during the day.

[Onebadcad]

It has dipped into the mid to low 70s here the past three weeks on two occassions, I am hoping that is the last of our winter weather!!

[slewfoot]

Shoot , that's not bad,, pack a lunch, take a day trip and go look for Yaddy's billboard.

[Stangkiller]

Going through the prep here. At least I have a stand by generator this time so hopefully we’ll be heated no matter what. All three pipes that burst in 2021 were all uninsulated in the attic above the blown in insulation. (Even though i had shut off at the main and drained what i could). Ive since removed the blown in and spray foamed the house and garage apartment. Im getting more mulch installed this week for our plants, I may cover a few but after 2021 we specifically selected freeze tolerant plants.

I modified the sprinkler BFP to be removed and take inside. My water filters are outside though, so i wrap in moving blankets. I will eventually build an insulated box to cover the filters. The pool equipment will be fine wrapped and covered in blankets as long as we dont lose power. I hope to eventually build an insulated box for the pool equipment too.

Shit this is a pain in the ass.

I was out of town last December for the last hard freeze so i had drained the system and shut off at the main. Im going to attempt to leave the water on this time, the only pipe I'm really worried about is a 3/4” copper pipe in the breezeway and two outdoor faucets i cannot shut off/drain

The real threat to watch for is will we come above freezing on Tuesday, as of right now we will.

[Onebadcad]

Looks damn cold, I would take a flight to FLL or MIA, then make the call for hookers and blow:

Fri 12 Sunny/Wind 59° / 37° NW 24 mph

Sat 13 Mostly Sunny 65° / 44° S 14 mph

Sun 14 Partly Cloudy 57° / 40° E 15 mph

Mon 15 AM Showers 44° / 20° N 18 mph

Tue 16 Mostly Sunny 36° /22° NNW 17 mph

Wed 17 Mostly Sunny 48° / 41° SE 13 mph

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by slewfoot

Maybe go get some covers for the outdoor faucets? It'll help. Lowes, or HD

Unless it's on an outside, uninsulated wall. No heat source makes these things worthless.

This year I bout a 3 foot long powered wrap for the inlet to the house. Wrap the heater around the pipe from the ground to the house and plug it in.

20 bucks for peace of mind.