Thursday, January 18, 2018

frozen pipes

I work in plumbing, so hopefully we will be able to get this straightened out after a bit... we'll have to see if any pipes broke or if it is just frozen.  It is the first time it has happened this year - and it was COLD COLD last night.  It is forecasted to get over freezing today, just barely ...  I will see if I can get Grandma on the phone and take Esme's sled and bottles up there to fill up for the interim.  Mark says we have several frozen bottles in our freezer we can take out, and we have two non-potable bottles in the bathroom for emergencies like this.  This comes after we've been snowed-in for a week, and little girl has drank all of her Kool-Aid in the fridge (without telling us she was out) and all the juices in the cabinet etc etc.. I wish she had told me last night so I could have filled her bottles and made drinks then.. but you never expect this sort of thing, just have to prepare as best you can.

//Update
Four hours later we took a milkhouse heater out to the wellhouse.  It was a bit worrisome as the tank showed 0 pressure.  After the heater worked for a while it showed 80 pressure.. which both are odd, it is supposed to be 40-60.  But the main water is back on and we are now unfreezing some of the lesser pipes inside the house that freeze alongside the outside wall.

It was so strange this morning I thought it was just those lesser pipes - but not only did they not work, but then turning on the shower (on an inside wall) the water pressure ran out.  So, the hot water lines were frozen?  Then filling up the dog water dish in the hallway (center of the house) and that pressure ran out.  WHAT?  The main line never freezes.  Sure enough, that was it.

I'm glad Mark reminded me to unplug the water heater after all of that.. we didn't need more piled on top and it had lost half of its tank and wasn't getting any more cold water - so it could have ruined an element left on in that condition.

Filled up all of the drink bottles for Esme - 4 2 liters.  And then we filled up all of the pitchers standing around.  Hopefully we don't have any more surprises in store.

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