A flip to that is me going down to Houston during our cold season and getting off the plane. The humidity almost made me feel sick because I was acclimated to this cold weather. It's like I broke out in a cold sweat.
***Official 2021 Weather Thread***
- Thread starter ClonesTwenty1
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I understand the infrastructure not being built to withstand these temps down in Texas so that would suck. I do have a question for those down there that are more familiar with homes built there. My wife has a cousin who was posting on FB about their neighbors having water pipes burst and flooding their basements and trying to figure out why. Do they run the water lines into the house above ground? Are they bursting inside the home and if so why? I would assume that insulation is as important down there to keep the heat out as it is here to keep the cold out. What is it they do differently down there that makes it easier for pipes to burst? That would suck to deal with
Mine were ran in my attic when I lived in TX. Came in through my uninsulated garage. No insulation around them and not PEX at the time.
Others run under the floor in a pier and beam foundation.
Hose bibs on the outside of the house are usually not the frost protected version.
25F here with light sleet and freezing mist off and on all day. A nice light glaze of ice on everything. Latest forecast calls for 0.1" ice accumulation and 6-8" of snow at my location. Insane.
Then we have the brutally cold temperatures (Oh I know, it's colder in Iowa, but still) and another winter storm to deal with Wed/Thurs.
Then we have the brutally cold temperatures (Oh I know, it's colder in Iowa, but still) and another winter storm to deal with Wed/Thurs.
Not good. However I did notice by next weekend it's 60's and 70's.
I believe most of Texas is also in a geologic setting which makes basements expensive snd uncommon. So, you don’t have underground utilities going right into the basement. At best, they come from the ground, through a slab or uninsulated space under the house before entering the heated space.
Not sure of your location, but it sounds hazardous down there. Wondering if the UT WBB team was able to make the return trip home from Waco?
Glad you've found your landing spot. Ideally if could I'd be in Iowa May to November then Arizona. No way I'm living in AZ in that heat. It's the same as sub zero. Moved both my daughters 3 times in July in Phoenix. It was 140 in the back of the U Haul. How a 55 year old slightly overweight dad survived is a miracle.
I have a ranch style house on a concrete slab, but I'd be really worried about modular or mobile homes or any house with a crawl space underneath. Also, some homes are plumbed through the attic.
I had a pipe burst under my slab a couple years ago and the fix was to run pex through the attic instead of tear up the slab. So I need to pay special attention to those lines.
I had a pipe burst under my slab a couple years ago and the fix was to run pex through the attic instead of tear up the slab. So I need to pay special attention to those lines.
With PEX the water in the line will freeze....but the pipe won't burst it will expand. So you may lose your water service but when it thaws you should be okay. The claim is any certain spot on PEX will expand and contract multiple time before it bursts.
I know for a fact it will do it at least one time because a few years ago we lost power in one of our investment homes during a cold snap....and nothing happened. Took a small propane tank, one plumbers use to sweat line, ran it about 12 inches away from the pipe and kept moving it back and forth to just warm it up. You could here the ice in the line cracking and about after 15 minutes of just warming up the pipes we had water.
In Plano they are restricting thermostats (keep below 70˚) , and telling people to limit usage if lighting/electronics. They're afraid that the power grid is going to fail. When we lived down there I remember it getting down into the 20's a couple of times. Our home' heating system was not made for 0˚ nights. LOL!!!
Didn't have a basement in Dallas. We put the little covers over our outdoor faucets. That was about it. Homes were built to deal with heat, not cold. I remember my biggest fear was our foundation cracking in the summer, and tornados.
Looks like they've peaked and leveled out on energy usage tonight. See how it goes tomorrow night when it colder.
This is also why in many areas if you have lines you think could freeze, having a faucet dripping water helps. People think its because it keeps water running which prevents it from freezing, but its more about relieving pressure in the pipes if they do freeze- most bursts happen when some ice freezes and expands, leaving nowhere for things to go since water doesnt really compress. Having an open faucet, even a little bit, lets pressure be relieved through that.
You know they're in unchartered territory when the weather guy doesn't know "frost bite" is actually one word.
