On Tue, 05 Feb 2019 23:28:17 -0500, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 04 Feb 2019 23:57:52 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:


I've dont that for the last 2 trips. I open the laundry sink to drain
the water, and I put RV antifreeze in the traps of the toilets, sinks,
shower, and tub.

And I turn off the furnace.

Do that here and you'll come home to cracked plaster and likely
foundation too. His furnace gets set to just below 50F

Wow. Where do you guys live?

Suffice it to say it was -22C for the last 2 weeks and +11C
yesterday. It WILL drop to at least -12 before the end of the week.

By March 1 in Baltimore there is little chance, iirc and I might not, of
getting weather much below freezing.

By Feb 21 when I'm leaving this year, the odds are higher. I hope sheet
rock doesn't crack like the plaster you refer to. .

Cracking would be due to shifting due to frost buckling. In dry
areas it's not a problem, but a name like "springdale drive" might
give you a hint. Shutting off sump pumps and heat during the winter is
foolishness

I don't drain the water heater so if it ever did get below freezing and
stay that way for a long time, I guess that would burst, then thaw, and
put lots of water on the floor. But I think the 7 foot below-grade
basement and its foundation would probably would never get below 32.

When it's -30c (-22f) for days on end with 2 feet of foundation above
ground on about half of the house, it's not a case of IF it will
freeze, but how soon.

This year I'm leaving 10 days earlier, Feb 21, so much greater chance of
freezeing weather in Baltmore.

He checked his jan water bill on line and found he had a $2000+ water
bill - OH ****!!!!

Wow.

I know my valve works.

His did the yrar before too - and every year for the last 10

Dang. Well, I still will know mine works because I turn on the
basement sink to drain the water out of the system and if the valve were
leaking it would come out that faucet. I'll admit this is one of the
last things I do, so in honor of your scarey story, I'll do it 10
minutes earlier to make sure the water isn't even dripping.

Which was the mistake he made. In a big 2 storey house, shut it off
and drain AT LEAST an hour before leaving - and the laundry tub still
leaves about 3 feet of vertical between the tap and the watermain
shut-off

I split my water bill evenly with 350 other families, and if any of us
were to have a leak or other great use of water, it gets split 350 ways.
They may have installed individual water meters, but they've never paid
someone to read them, so we just split it. Other people have bigger
families, and might even water their lawns, but that's the way it is.