I'm back at work today. Schools are all still closed.

 

Yesterday at 6am temperature was +3 with wind chill of -25. Today at 6am temperature was -3 with wind chill of -19. Still not certain what made yesterday too cold to come to work but today not too cold.

At least it should start getting a tad warmer today.

 

But ya, it's still insane out there. The door to our apt was legit frozen shut this morning

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by Rowand44

Just shoveled some snow outside for about two minues, it gets hard to breathe. But I think it has warmed up to the negative single digits, woohoo!

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by LittleHurt05

The car actually started, but I couldn't get out of my driveway.

yesterday when I left work, my car thankfully started, and my crappy 1994 toyota camry assisted in jump starting 3 cars that were all less than 3 years old. I found that humorous.

 

Every car had super corroded batteries too.

The older part of my first floor just cant get above 56 degrees, its the only part that still uses radiators.

The older part of my first floor just cant get above 56 degrees, its the only part that still uses radiators.

Yeah, you should look into those Dyson heat/cool fans next black friday. They'll go on sale for $100 off. You can pick up a few of them.

It was 5 degrees on my walk in to work today. 5 degrees has never felt so great.

Anyone have experience with frozen pipes? What can I do?

Anyone have experience with frozen pipes? What can I do?

 

Can you get to them? Running a space heater close to them works.

some background on what's causing this record weather

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_North_Am...an_polar_vortex

 

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by StrangeSox

Can you get to them? Running a space heater close to them works.

No, the frozen ones run up the exterior wall in my house, and that whole stack is frozen (upstairs bathroom, kitchen sink).

 

Not really in favor of ripping up walls.

No, the frozen ones run up the exterior wall in my house, and that whole stack is frozen (upstairs bathroom, kitchen sink).

 

Not really in favor of ripping up walls.

short of cranking the heat and hoping that the ambient temperature rises enough, I don't know that there's anything you can do without cutting some holes.

short of cranking the heat and hoping that the ambient temperature rises enough, I don't know that there's anything you can do without cutting some holes.

So just wait it out and hope nothing bursts?

 

Never dealt with this before.

You need to evaluate the potential costs of something bursting versus patching some drywall. FWIW the week before we closed on our house, the pipes burst, and it did $17k worth of damage. This is in a smaller house.

 

Might be safest to call a plumber or something here.

You need to evaluate the potential costs of something bursting versus patching some drywall. FWIW the week before we closed on our house, the pipes burst, and it did $17k worth of damage. This is in a smaller house.

 

Might be safest to call a plumber or something here.

Damn. Going to investigate the stack now. Found the access panel to the main valve shut off which is good

 

Damn. Going to investigate the stack now. Found the access panel to the main valve shut off which is good

I should add that about $5-6k of that was replacing the furnace that went out and caused the problems in the first place, but still, $10k and having a lot of your house torn up or patching some drywall and painting.

short of cranking the heat and hoping that the ambient temperature rises enough, I don't know that there's anything you can do without cutting some holes.

 

You can even try warming the walls themselves. But yeah, not a whole lot... Open up the faucets, heat the pipes where ever you can.

You can even try warming the walls themselves. But yeah, not a whole lot... Open up the faucets, heat the pipes where ever you can.

Infrared heaters would probably be better for that if you have access to them.

Damn. Going to investigate the stack now. Found the access panel to the main valve shut off which is good

 

Pipes normally burst between the freeze and the faucet due to water pressure, not ice pressure. If the faucets are open they probably won't burst, but I don't know the condition of the pipes in an old house.

 

Regardless, you should get some one to open the wall and make sure the pipe is insulated to prevent this from happening again. Yeah it's expensive, but worth it.

Pipes normally burst between the freeze and the faucet due to water pressure, not ice pressure. If the faucets are open they probably won't burst, but I don't know the condition of the pipes in an old house.

 

Regardless, you should get some one to open the wall and make sure the pipe is insulated to prevent this from happening again. Yeah it's expensive, but worth it.

Yeah its just one stack and I am sure its the extreme cold but its weird its only effecting the one that doesnt have an access panel.

 

I opened the faucets and I have the main water shut off ready to go if something goes wrong.

 

The funny thing is its in the newer part of my house (1996-2000). Almost all of the old plumbing including radiator pipes have been replaced in the last 10 years or so.

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by RockRaines

some background on what's causing this record weather

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_North_Am...an_polar_vortex

Here is (I'd hope) a more readable/accessible version.

Escaped Prisoner In Kentucky Turns Himself In Rather Than Freeze In The Cold Outside - - http://t.co/... http://t.co/4S9Eaj6JGt...

— @Breaking911

14 degrees here now. Going to put shorts on when I get home.

A whole bunch of people threw boiling water into the air to watch it freeze and burned themselves.

A whole bunch of people threw boiling water into the air to watch it freeze and burned themselves.

Even my 12 year old boy got it right when he tried. I weep for humanity. This is why I don't trust people to get anything right,.