WEATHER My all night freezing vigil

F

FireDance

TB Fanatic
Henry Bowman said:
Good advice.
Doc try this with a few lamps with 100w bulbs and it should do the trick.

Hope it warms up for you.
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This is what my grandmother would do. Worked like a charm. Twas in N Alabama and she could use a single bulb in a spot that might freeze. But you add some more and I’m sure it would work anywhere.
 
Z

zeker

Has No Life - Lives on TB
db cooper said:
So now my least favorite plugged line story. A tenant complained of a plugged sewer line and insisted it was the trailercourt lines and not hers. My first questions always had to do with what was flushed down the toilet, such as diapers, women's sanitary thingys, etc. She said she has never flushed anything like that. So I low crawl under her trailer over to where her sewer line plugs into the ground connector. I nudged the line and it popped off. Out came gallons of raw sewage including several of her bloody white mice and brown trout, of which were laying next to my face. I was in a puddle of sewer soup on my belly and simply could not get away fast enough. Talk about stink, talk about being pissed off.
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reminds me of my younger/NIAVE yrs.

I rented a small house with a full basement.

one weekend we had a cpl stay for the weekend.

in the morning we all did breakfast, showers, bathroom visits and dishes.

after the dishes I noticed the sink wasnt draining.

it was a cold weekend so I called the landlord and asked if the septic tank mite be full.

he siad "go down the basement and 'slightly' unscrew the big valve on the outflow pipe.

Apparently I missed the word 'slightly'

I unscrewed it all the way..

lord almighty.

all the shyt and dishwater etc came flying outta that pipe.

as I was trying desperatly to screw it back in.

I was covered, head to toe.

not to mention the antique dining room set I had stored down there.

the wimminz had gone to town, and when they came back and took 1 look at me.

they all started laughing.

I was not amused.

the landlord came over and uncovered the lid to the septic.

he took 1 look and said "you cant put full dill pickles down the toilet"

I had flushed a jar of them and they stuck rite at the lip of the outlet to the tank.

cold weather froze them there.

when you mentioned drips freezing 1 ata time,

I have a house on stilts also.

my kitchen sink pipe just goes to a buried barrel

it always froze in really cold weather.

I had the habit of bringing in the chickens frozen water dish

and letting it thaw in the sink.

the ice thawed slowly, and the drips would go down the pipe and, as you pointed out, freeze.

now any time I put a little water down the drain,

I follow it with a cup or 2 of hot water.
 
Z

zeker

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Griz3752 said:
I can attest to how well this works. I rented a house on 40 acres for a few years when I worked in Prince Albert SK (look it up on a map; that's real winter. Not as cold, as long as some other places but, it was enough.)

The heat tapes are a one-and-done proposition but, depending on usage, have a life cycle. I added 3 incubator bulbs in key areas (corners) and never had a problem.
Click to expand...

if you want to know about saskatchewan, check out.... Quick Dick Mcdick... youtube channel.

this dude would fit rite in here.
 
K

KFhunter

Veteran Member
Doc1 said:
Soooo... here it is 03h15 and 23 degrees and I'm still sitting up on an all night weather vigil. Why, you might ask. Because of our pipes.

It's supposed to get down to 20 or lower a bit later and I have to keep the wood stove fed , the propane heater going and the water running so our pipes don't freeze. The pipes are the really big deal. I have to keep the water running to avoid the pipes freezing and splitting, but I have to do it slowly to avoid overflowing our septic system. It's a bit of a balancing act and since there are various water outlets throughout the place I have to monitor all of them.

The good news is that our house was built on piers so I can access most of the piping rather easily for repairs - I rebuilt and re-plumbed the entire house when we bought this place - but that's also the bad news since the elevated structure does little to keep the pipes warm. Nearly all of the piping is insulated, but it's all exposed and the insulation only helps to a limited degree. Keeping the house warm actually does help warm the pipes a bit as it provides a small layer of somewhat warm air immediately beneath the structure.

I'm not complaining, mind you but am only sharing a little slice of one of the less glamorous aspects of homestead life as I sit here living on coffee, watching an old World War II movie and minding the dogs who might want to go outside to do their business.

DW is sleeping in a nice warm bedroom and she sweetly offered to stay up for part of the night. I told her I'd wake her up at 03h00 so she could stand part of the water pipe watch ... but I lied. Since she beat her cancer years ago she's been easily fatigued and I'll let her sleep all night.

Best
Doc
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Can you hang tarps or skirt around the piers then stick a heater in the middle?

How tall are these piers?
 
33dInd

33dInd

Veteran Member
So
I have a reoccurring pipe freeze
North facing wall
Mud room
Washing machine and sink and water heater and water pressure tank
Freezes every year when we have a blue northern blow in
So I moved to fix it
Removed the Sheetrock behind the washer and dryer to insulate the pecan pipe
They were already insulated and they were fed from underneath
They are in six inches of concrete.
this year I put straw bales against the north wall
Still froze up
Have not a clue where cold air is getting to them

rest of house is fine
 
Marie

Marie

Veteran Member
We used heat tape at the old place but had to surround the perimeter with hay bales. Heat tape wasn't enough.
We have heat tape on a hydrant in the pasture insulated in foam and cloth. It froze solid several times last year. Heat tape is good for alot of places but not a cure all
 
Griz3752

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
zeker said:
if you want to know about saskatchewan, check out.... Quick Dick Mcdick... youtube channel.

this dude would fit rite in here.
Click to expand...
It's no warmer where you live; depending on how close you are to big water, it could be worse than PA
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
33dInd said:
So
I have a reoccurring pipe freeze
North facing wall
Mud room
Washing machine and sink and water heater and water pressure tank
Freezes every year when we have a blue northern blow in
So I moved to fix it
Removed the Sheetrock behind the washer and dryer to insulate the pecan pipe
They were already insulated and they were fed from underneath
They are in six inches of concrete.
this year I put straw bales against the north wall
Still froze up
Have not a clue where cold air is getting to them

rest of house is fine
Click to expand...

May be freezing in the slab.
 
W

winston

Contributing Member
db cooper said:
Having lived in a trailer house most of my life I can relate to the freezing pipes. Our current home is a troublewide on piers. We started heating exclusively with wood and my bathroom water lines froze. The lines are this pex stuff which does not burst when frozen. What was learned is that the propane furnace needs to be running at night, this puts heat into the floor which keeps the water lines from freezing. It also means one of us does not have to get up in the middle of the night to rebank the stove.

I recommend anyone with perpetual freezing lines to convert the typically freezing ones to pex. At least then when they freeze you will not have to go through the miserable job of fixing them, most likely in a puddle of water, in the middle of the winter.

I used to run a trailer court, and learned a lot. Dripping faucets will plug a sewer line where temps get to zero or colder. The theory is the drip slowly goes down the sewer pipes to the coldest spot and freezes. The next drip comes along and freezes. This process continues until the line is plugged with ice.

So now my least favorite plugged line story. A tenant complained of a plugged sewer line and insisted it was the trailercourt lines and not hers. My first questions always had to do with what was flushed down the toilet, such as diapers, women's sanitary thingys, etc. She said she has never flushed anything like that. So I low crawl under her trailer over to where her sewer line plugs into the ground connector. I nudged the line and it popped off. Out came gallons of raw sewage including several of her bloody white mice and brown trout, of which were laying next to my face. I was in a puddle of sewer soup on my belly and simply could not get away fast enough. Talk about stink, talk about being pissed off.
Click to expand...
no good ever comes from going under a mobile home - at least that's my experience
 
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