quote:

This faucet, to my knowledge, has always leaked, albeit very minor. So there is a chance the ice buildup is from it dripping during this and creating a waterfall like mound of ice underneath it.

That sounds like you have ice created from the drip, it may not be frozen inside. Nonetheless get that it's a risk for flooding the house.

Perhaps you can get the plumber to install a shutoff for that valve and replace the head, most likely the rubber seals inside have failed.

quote:

I realize we are in hard times but people need gasoline, they need food, we must solider on. Plumbing, hvac, whatever the problem is, answer the phone. Tell folks the truth, it's going to be 2 weeks or whatever. I deal with crisis in my career all the time and tell people the truth in harsh times. There is a wait, and a line, and I will get to you as things get fixed. To just go offline, well I'd be fired.

God help everyone in TX. I foresee thousands of people succumbing to evil business practices and predatory pricing to get basic things fixed to resume normal life.

Well pardner don't cha know that's just Capitalism at it's finest, at least that's the normal response... Gouging isn't capitalism, but welcome to the party, it's part of disasters, we have laws against it in FL and hotlines to report retailers who are doing it, marking up a generator to double it's normal price.

In the future I venture more TX residents will be prepared, things like this tend to change the way people think about seasonal weather changes ie Ice Storms and Hurricanes...

Most of that activity you list is the same thing here at hurricane time... Grocery, Costco, Home Desperate, all take big hits early.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

This faucet, to my knowledge, has always leaked, albeit very minor. So there is a chance the ice buildup is from it dripping during this and creating a waterfall like mound of ice underneath it.

That sounds like you have ice created from the drip, it may not be frozen inside. Nonetheless get that it's a risk for flooding the house.

Perhaps you can get the plumber to install a shutoff for that valve and replace the head, most likely the rubber seals inside have failed.

quote:

I realize we are in hard times but people need gasoline, they need food, we must solider on. Plumbing, hvac, whatever the problem is, answer the phone. Tell folks the truth, it's going to be 2 weeks or whatever. I deal with crisis in my career all the time and tell people the truth in harsh times. There is a wait, and a line, and I will get to you as things get fixed. To just go offline, well I'd be fired.

God help everyone in TX. I foresee thousands of people succumbing to evil business practices and predatory pricing to get basic things fixed to resume normal life.

Well pardner don't cha know that's just Capitalism at it's finest, at least that's the normal response... Gouging isn't capitalism, but welcome to the party, it's part of disasters, we have laws against it in FL and hotlines to report retailers who are doing it, marking up a generator to double it's normal price.

In the future I venture more TX residents will be prepared, things like this tend to change the way people think about seasonal weather changes ie Ice Storms and Hurricanes...

Most of that activity you list is the same thing here at hurricane time... Grocery, Costco, Home Desperate, all take big hits early.

I'm going to put a space heater next to it and warm it up. It's 31 degrees here and should get above freezing within 2 hours. The cover is frozen in place so unless I physically break it with a hammer it ain't moving. So space heater, see if I can get the cover off. Then mo' space heater until I can crack the faucet open. I'm praying I can get water flowing from it and then it can drip until I can have it replaced with a frost proof faucet. Same for the other one on the other side of the house.

Yes going forward I'm done with this shit. I'll get a whole home generator and figure out all the breakers to cut. People panic here when ice or snow hits. They act like 2 days of this weather is a blizzard that will last for weeks on end. Groceries is what it is, they panic buy, empty bread isle, eggs, milk, etc, then have to throw it all away. It's pathetic. House stuff is on me, we've just never had to deal with this before. Changes will be made. I only need one time of dealing with something very unusual to force change, even if it costs me money.

quote:

Well as someone who's never lived in an area where the threat of pipes freezing would be a concern...

My cousin who lives in Napa, CA thought that.....went away for the weekend only to come back to a slew of broken pipes that froze because the heat was off.

The pros don't use heat to thaw frozen pipes. They use a method of sending a current down the pipes. Similar to a battery charger.

Unless you can get to the actual frozen section a heat gun is useless and many times the blockage is inaccessible inside a wall.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
Try to get the valve open . I used a blowdryer twice in the last two days to thaw an outdoor faucet . You have to tread lightly with any kind of torch .

This. Used it the last (very last) time I was in Georgia. Now I put form covers on the faucets.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Think I have gotten lucky so far. The main faucet I was worried about, I've left alone. I've let it thaw over the weekend, just turned it on and it's flowing water. So it had to be just a leaky faucet. The foam cover was firmly against the brick. I've scheduled a plumber visit for mid March to replace both of my exterior faucets with frost proof versions. There is some white powdery substance on the back of the spigot. I'm not messing with it until the plumber comes out. If I am lucky they will not have to remove brick or sheet rock to perform the work.

If I am lucky on my pool equipment it's just a leaky back wash valve and a Polaris house that needs to be replaced. My palms in the back are also looking beat to fuck, and am hoping they come back.

Remodeling the house this year and definitely putting anything else like an inverter and generator on the menu. It only takes me once to correct shit like this. We had a 5 year drought, that I had to redo all landscape to tolerate due to water restrictions. Then we had epic rain and flooding, and again I had to engineer for those conditions putting in in-ground boxes for rain catchment, and also installing elaborate pvc runs underneath the yard to carry out all the roof water and high build up areas, out to the curb or alley. Now this. I've got one single spot in my suburban neighborhood home where I can put in a small tornado shelter, think very very small closet, so that will be next at some point. Pain in the ass but live and learn.

Just talked to my brother from another mother who lives near Richland Springs. Sub-zero one night, power outage, pipes froze, but everyone is OK.

They threw up a hail mary and called Home Depot (Brownwood) and wouldnt you know it someone had just returned a 10,000 W Dewalt genny that they didnt like!! Hell yeah!

Power is back on now but lots of plumbing to fix, which he can do once he gets all the parts ordered. I offered to ship him a bunch of pex but he had already placed the order w Grainger.

All good.