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Mia


Kate Spade

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I'm an Instant Pioneer - help!
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Omg. I think someone needs to send search and rescue (male and hot, pls.) to my house. It has snowed over a foot (an inch of snow is normally a huge deal), my power went out at 2am last night and stayed off until noon so the house is freezing, the water is also off, I don't know if the pipes are frozen or if it has something to do with the power/water pump. So I can't wash dishes, have a shower etc. - I had to pee in the forest (tmi sorry)!! There is no public transport or snowplow here and the cab service has been shut down for the past two days, so I am trapped. No one is going out on the roads in their cars, it's just people and dogs on the roads.


Last night a huge chunk of tree (they are coated with ice and pieces are falling off all over the place) nearly fell on me when I walked my dogs, instead it got a power line and the shower of sparks nearly hit my bigger dog (who promptly freaked out and refused to do her business for the rest of the walk).


Does anyone know anything about frozen water pipes?


Ahhhh! I admit I am actually a bit scared.



-- Edited by Mia at 18:48, 2005-01-08

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cc


Marc Jacobs

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holy shit, mia! that's terrible!

i don't know anything about plumbing or house issues, but you might want to turn off the water in case the pipes are frozen. one year a pipe froze in my parent's country house and when we arrived for the weekend, half the house was completely flooded and the ceilings had caved in because the pipe burst. so now my parents always turn the water off before they leave for the weekend.

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Mia


Kate Spade

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cc - do you know anything about *how* to turn the water off? I took a candle down to the crawlspace and found the water tank but there are a couple of taps...and a gauge. I don't know what to do. How will I know if I am turning it off and not just further on?


Damn. This was fun for 5 mins but now it just sucks.



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honey


Gucci

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omg that is crazy.  i don't know anything about un-freezing water pipes, but i think when it gets really cold you're supposed to leave one tap dripping to prevent the pipes from freezing. but i could be totally wrong. anyway, if i see any hot guys i'll tell them in your direction.

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cc


Marc Jacobs

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crap, i don't know how to turn the water off. i was raised in an apartment so i have little house experience. do you have a neighbor that you could call? or your dad? or someone else that could try to talk you through it. i always call my dad when i need this sort of help.

i found a web site that says:
To determine where a water shut-off valve is, locate the outside water line that leads to the residence. The water line usually flows directly from the water meter to a location inside the residence. Likely places for the water turn-off valve include internal pipes running against exterior walls or where water service enters a home through the foundation.
http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/publicworks/depts/utilities/maintenance/frozenpipes.htm

http://www.prepare.org/basic/frozen.htm
http://www.muswell-hill.com/foxandco/pages/cold_weather_advice.htm

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luckylily


Gucci

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Shit Mia!  I don't know how to answer any of your questions so I'll just try to send warmer weather vibes to you and the pups!

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Gucci

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dude are you ok?


we had so much snow it made a drift against our front door and my neighbor can to dig us out. Ugh I hate winter.



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Escrime


Kate Spade

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I hope you figured out how to turn the water off!


Snow was cool for the first year I lived up North.  It's not so cool anymore.  I hate it.


As soon as our snow lets up, I'll go round up some hot sailors to rescue you. 



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Ally S


Kate Spade

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Actually Honey is right, if your pipes are frozen you should leave faucets on a trikle so that the pressure does not build up in the pipes.


It would be fine to turn the pipes off before they were frozen since the water pressure would not be building up in them, but now the water pressure is there behind the frozen water.


Anyway, I hope things are better for you and that electricity and other utilities come on soon.


Stay warm, snug and safe!


 



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~Ally~
halleybird


Hermes

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How scary! Hope everything's OK with you and your dogs...I like Escrime's idea about the hot rescuers though. If the sailors can't make it, how about some hot firemen?



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Mia


Kate Spade

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Hi everyone. Well, I lost power last night after my last post and have spent the last 24 hours freezing in the dark with no water. Wow, it sucked a LOT more than I thought it would. I am about to embark upon major clean-up operations as the house is covered in bits of wood and leaves (I hauled in a bunch of wood from my yard to light a fire) and there is not a single clean dish, dog or person in this place right now.


The pipes weren't frozen - I called the plumber and he said I needed to go hold the pump switch in the 'on' position for a few seconds to let the tank refill (apparently the power outages caused loss of water pressure) and that seems to have worked. The first water that came out was black - is that bad?


God. What a nightmare. Was this on CBC Brazen Canadian? Is the rest of Canada laughing at us because we finally get a taste of winter and can't deal with it AT ALL?


Thank you all for posting your advice and everything. I am happy to be warm and well lit as of now. But you could still send those rescuers...!



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D


Hermes

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That really sucks, Mia! I have no idea why your water came out black - maybe what you did worked up some sediment in the tank - it came out clear after you ran it for a while, right?


Last winter I had 7 days with out electricity/heat, and the daytime highs were 18-20 - at least we had hot water (gas) but no heat because the thermostat runs on electricity. I spent many hours huddled in front of the fireplace listening to a battery operated radio... at least we were able to go and hang out at night at a nearby tavern that had electricity - I don't think you had that luxury though... Anyway, I know how it feels, and it REALLY REALLY sucks! Makes you realize how much we take electricity for granted...


 



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