No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

On Monday, February 4, 2019 at 10:08:58 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

1. That's beautiful
2. I'm glad it's not my house

I expect our rain chain will have a nice ice formation on it
by Wednesday.

Cindy Hamilton

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:01:14 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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.

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. So I'm okay on that, but once when the house was
14 years old or so, the non-flexible metal line to the powder room
toilet broke. I hadn't done anything to it, or rocked the toilet or
anything.

Fortunately, so to speak, I was only out for 3 hours. Water sprayed
around the powder room, poured through the floor into the basement, but
only damaged the boxes on the basement floor. The sump pump sump is in
the same corner of the house, but it has a vinyl lip around it, at least
3/8" high. I've put a few holes in it but I suspect water won't
actually make it through the holes. Maybe I should try harder and cut
part of it off altogether.

Made the vinyl? (not ceramic) tiles in the bathroom and hall come very
loose, but I avoided pushing them sideways and they seemed to harden up
again after a few days!

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -

It's good that he has a friend. I once had to call a friend to come
overm, turn on my computer, start Team Viewer, and tell me its code, so
I could email myself my email outbox (which contained my list of things
to do and where to do them etc. and my most recent phone list). (I'd
brought the .mbx file but the wrong .toc file.) But this only took him
15 minutes, he didn't have to do all that work that you did.

Clare Snyder posted for all of us...



On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

Could have rented it out as a swimming pool. 8~(

--
Tekkie

On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?

--
Ever notice the shortage of "armed law-abiding citizen€� victim tragedy
stories in the news?

On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off. Happens.

On 2019-02-04 4:49 p.m., Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

my main is hard to turn completely off

On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is a
major pain, so we live with it.

On Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:24:52 -0500, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:01:14 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

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

So I'm okay on that, but once when the house was
14 years old or so, the non-flexible metal line to the powder room
toilet broke. I hadn't done anything to it, or rocked the toilet or
anything.

Fortunately, so to speak, I was only out for 3 hours. Water sprayed
around the powder room, poured through the floor into the basement, but
only damaged the boxes on the basement floor.

Happened in my younger brother's 2 story house with finished
basement. Upstairs bathroom. Less than 3 hours. Over $60,000 damage.

The sump pump sump is in
the same corner of the house, but it has a vinyl lip around it, at least
3/8" high. I've put a few holes in it but I suspect water won't
actually make it through the holes. Maybe I should try harder and cut
part of it off altogether.

Made the vinyl? (not ceramic) tiles in the bathroom and hall come very
loose, but I avoided pushing them sideways and they seemed to harden up
again after a few days!

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -

It's good that he has a friend. I once had to call a friend to come
overm, turn on my computer, start Team Viewer, and tell me its code, so
I could email myself my email outbox (which contained my list of things
to do and where to do them etc. and my most recent phone list). (I'd
brought the .mbx file but the wrong .toc file.) But this only took him
15 minutes, he didn't have to do all that work that you did.



The day before he went in for hip surgery this spring he had a water
leak through the kitchen ceiling. Plaster. He had me come over and
open the ceiling to locate the leak. It was above an island cupboard
so I had to remove it too. Found out the copper sewer stack had
corroded through and had been leaking for quite some time. The damage
was extensive. The restoration company the insurance company uses was
not anxious for the job and gave him a 4 month target. The plumber
fixed the stack (after I also opened the bedroom wall upstairs to gain
access to the piping)

I ended up spending about 3 weeks tearing out the saturated plaster
ceiling, replacing it with 2 layers of drywall to match the thickness,
and building some new cupboards - then sanding and refinishing all the
rest of the cabinets. The insurance company gave him a cash settlement
that covered the entire renovation including buying him a nice new
table saw.
The original kitchen (like the rest of the house) appeared to have
been built by a relatively competent barn bulder - - - -

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 14:26:11 -0500, Tekkie® wrote:

Clare Snyder posted for all of us...



On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

Could have rented it out as a swimming pool. 8~(
Just plugging the floor drain would have had water running out the
cellar windows or flooding the main floor. Thankfully the drain DID
work - and was within 6 feet of the pipe drain.

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 18:15:41 -0500, Wade Garrett
wrote:

On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?
The shutoff valve was defective and did not fully shut off -
obviously.

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 16:58:07 -0700, % wrote:

On 2019-02-04 4:49 p.m., Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.* Happens.

my main is hard to turn completely off
In houses over 20 years old most are. This one was about 50.

When the city came to change my water meter they couldn't shut mine
off fully so they had to turn it off at the street. While they were
wating for the crew to come and shut it off I ran out to Home Despot
and bough a new 1/4 turn valve, grabbed my acetylene torch, and as
soon as the meter was out I quickly swapped ot the valve. Only held up
the city guy for about 10 minutes, Now it shuts off again , and should
for the next 30 years or more.

On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

Ahh, never thought of that...

--
Say what you will about The South, but no one retires and moves up north€¦

On Monday, February 4, 2019 at 6:49:18 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off. Happens.

But supposedly he also left a low drain point in the system open. If
it was flowing that much, you'd think it would be obvious that the valve
was not fully closed, unless he just closed the main, opened the drain
and left. Total amateur hour.

On 2/4/19 10:15 PM, wrote:
On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is a
major pain, so we live with it.

My street shutoff is right at the water meter located just below ground
level at the edge of my property in a compartment covered with a metal
plate- sorta like a small sewer cover.

The shutoff is just a rectangular spud easily turned the required 90
degrees with a big adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. An easy DIY
operation.

--
"Sir, were surrounded".
"Good, then we can attack in any direction".
- Lt. General Lewis "Chesty" Puller

On 2/5/2019 8:13 AM, Wade Garrett wrote:

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is
a major pain, so we live with it.

My street shutoff is right at the water meter located just below ground
level at the edge of my property in a compartment covered with a metal
plate- sorta like a small sewer cover.

The shutoff is just a rectangular spud easily turned the required 90
degrees with a big adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. An easy DIY
operation.


Evidently you live in a warm climate. Up north the vale was usually at
least 48" down. At my last house, I have a rough idea where it was, but
it was under the lawn, buried many years ago. Just finding the access
would be a problem.

writes:

On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is
a major pain, so we live with it.

I once had a quote for $2500 US to shut off water at the street to
replace the main valve.

I happened to already have a replacement valve.

I put a block of dry ice on the line just before the valve and replaced
the valve for a total cost of $5 for the dry ice. With the water
actively leaking from the valve, the dry ice froze the line shut in
a few seconds.

--
Dan Espen

On Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 8:13:47 AM UTC-5, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 10:15 PM, wrote:
On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is a
major pain, so we live with it.

My street shutoff is right at the water meter located just below ground
level at the edge of my property in a compartment covered with a metal
plate- sorta like a small sewer cover.

The shutoff is just a rectangular spud easily turned the required 90
degrees with a big adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. An easy DIY
operation.

--
"Sir, were surrounded".
"Good, then we can attack in any direction".
- Lt. General Lewis "Chesty" Puller

There isn't another one inside the house? There should be. Don't know
where you live, but if you have an emergency at 3AM, it's usually better
to have a valve you know in the basement, instead of finding the one
at the street, especially if it's 15F out and under 2ft of frozen snow.
Even in temperate climates I think it's a good idea, obvious places in
the house where the water service enters are where people will look first.

On 2/5/19 9:07 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/5/2019 8:13 AM, Wade Garrett wrote:

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will
fill the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve
is a major pain, so we live with it.

My street shutoff is right at the water meter located just below
ground level at the edge of my property in a compartment covered with
a metal plate- sorta like a small sewer cover.

The shutoff is just a rectangular spud easily turned the required 90
degrees with a big adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. An easy DIY
operation.


Evidently you live in a warm climate.Â* Up north the vale was usually at
least 48" down.Â* At my last house, I have a rough idea where it was, but
it was under the lawn, buried many years ago.Â* Just finding the access
would be a problem.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Born and raised up north- but been living in
the deep south for 45 years!

On Tue, 5 Feb 2019 09:07:33 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 2/5/2019 8:13 AM, Wade Garrett wrote:

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is
a major pain, so we live with it.

My street shutoff is right at the water meter located just below ground
level at the edge of my property in a compartment covered with a metal
plate- sorta like a small sewer cover.

The shutoff is just a rectangular spud easily turned the required 90
degrees with a big adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. An easy DIY
operation.


Evidently you live in a warm climate. Up north the vale was usually at
least 48" down. At my last house, I have a rough idea where it was, but
it was under the lawn, buried many years ago. Just finding the access
would be a problem.
Mine is about 5 feet down and is a "hydrant" - it opens a drain toi
the house side whenthe valve is shut off. It has a telescopic
handlethat comes up to street level - it is in my lawn and the top is
somewhere between 2 inches and a foot below sod level (it drops over
the years) I know where it is within a foot or so. The water crew
comes with a metaldetector to l,ocate it and a round "core shovel" to
remove the sod to get to it (and usually they jack it back to surface
hight with a jack and chain)

On 2/5/19 9:10 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 8:13:47 AM UTC-5, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 10:15 PM, wrote:
On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is a
major pain, so we live with it.

My street shutoff is right at the water meter located just below ground
level at the edge of my property in a compartment covered with a metal
plate- sorta like a small sewer cover.

The shutoff is just a rectangular spud easily turned the required 90
degrees with a big adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. An easy DIY
operation.

--
"Sir, were surrounded".
"Good, then we can attack in any direction".
- Lt. General Lewis "Chesty" Puller

There isn't another one inside the house? There should be. Don't know
where you live, but if you have an emergency at 3AM, it's usually better
to have a valve you know in the basement, instead of finding the one
at the street, especially if it's 15F out and under 2ft of frozen snow.
Even in temperate climates I think it's a good idea, obvious places in
the house where the water service enters are where people will look first.



Yes, there is. But what happens when it does not completely close after
years of not being operated. It leaks.

On 2/5/19 9:08 AM, Dan Espen wrote:
writes:

On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is
a major pain, so we live with it.

I once had a quote for $2500 US to shut off water at the street to
replace the main valve.

I happened to already have a replacement valve.

I put a block of dry ice on the line just before the valve and replaced
the valve for a total cost of $5 for the dry ice. With the water
actively leaking from the valve, the dry ice froze the line shut in
a few seconds.


What length of pipe were you able to cover with the dry ice ? Our valve
is very close to the wall where main enters the basement.

On 2/5/19 8:07 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

[snip]

Evidently you live in a warm climate.Â* Up north the vale was usually at
least 48" down.Â* At my last house, I have a rough idea where it was, but
it was under the lawn, buried many years ago.Â* Just finding the access
would be a problem.

At my first house, I didn't know I had a water shutoff until it started
leaking and I had a soggy front yard.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"We do not want holy books, but true ones; not sacred writings, but
sensible writings." [Lemuel K. Washburn, _Is The Bible Worth Reading And
Other Essays_]

On 2/4/2019 11:57 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:24:52 -0500, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:01:14 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

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

So I'm okay on that, but once when the house was
14 years old or so, the non-flexible metal line to the powder room
toilet broke. I hadn't done anything to it, or rocked the toilet or
anything.

Fortunately, so to speak, I was only out for 3 hours. Water sprayed
around the powder room, poured through the floor into the basement, but
only damaged the boxes on the basement floor.

Happened in my younger brother's 2 story house with finished
basement. Upstairs bathroom. Less than 3 hours. Over $60,000 damage.

The sump pump sump is in
the same corner of the house, but it has a vinyl lip around it, at least
3/8" high. I've put a few holes in it but I suspect water won't
actually make it through the holes. Maybe I should try harder and cut
part of it off altogether.

Made the vinyl? (not ceramic) tiles in the bathroom and hall come very
loose, but I avoided pushing them sideways and they seemed to harden up
again after a few days!

He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home. There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -

It's good that he has a friend. I once had to call a friend to come
overm, turn on my computer, start Team Viewer, and tell me its code, so
I could email myself my email outbox (which contained my list of things
to do and where to do them etc. and my most recent phone list). (I'd
brought the .mbx file but the wrong .toc file.) But this only took him
15 minutes, he didn't have to do all that work that you did.



The day before he went in for hip surgery this spring he had a water
leak through the kitchen ceiling. Plaster. He had me come over and
open the ceiling to locate the leak. It was above an island cupboard
so I had to remove it too. Found out the copper sewer stack had
corroded through and had been leaking for quite some time. The damage
was extensive. The restoration company the insurance company uses was
not anxious for the job and gave him a 4 month target. The plumber
fixed the stack (after I also opened the bedroom wall upstairs to gain
access to the piping)

I ended up spending about 3 weeks tearing out the saturated plaster
ceiling, replacing it with 2 layers of drywall to match the thickness,
and building some new cupboards - then sanding and refinishing all the
rest of the cabinets. The insurance company gave him a cash settlement
that covered the entire renovation including buying him a nice new
table saw.
The original kitchen (like the rest of the house) appeared to have
been built by a relatively competent barn bulder - - - -


We watch a neighbors house when he leaves for the winter. Previously he
drained his pipes, put antifreeze into the drains etc but left furnace
at 50 degrees. Now he turns everything off starting last winter and
everything was fine. I would imagine in an old home there might be less
resistance to freezing.

writes:

R On 2/5/19 9:08 AM, Dan Espen wrote:
writes:

On 2/4/19 6:49 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/4/2019 6:15 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 2/4/19 1:01 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 12:06:10 -0500, wrote:

On 2/4/19 10:46 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 4 Feb 2019 10:08:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

No idea where this was or what happened but sure looks good

https://imgur.com/gallery/gscva38

Never go away from home for more than a couple days.


ISTM the house was unoccupied (too clean, nothing on counters)

Â* A friend who goes to Texas every winter drains his pipes and shuts
off the water before leaving. Last year he did as usual. Shut off the
main shutoff, open the upstairs bathroom tap,and open the "drain"
valve at the bottom of the system. He put a bucket under the drain and
left for Texas right after christmas.

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

Â* He called me and had me check in the basement. Thankfully the floor
drain worked. He had just "finished" the laundry room with Dri-Cor and
carpet tiles The tiles were saturated but very little damage. Running
the wet vac for a few hours and the de-humidifier for a weekgot it all
dried out - I worked the main shutoff until it finally sealed and he
had a new valve installed when he got back home.Â* There was enough
water went through his celar drain to fill his pool numerous times - -
-

How could he have used any water if the main was shut off?


Easy. He closed the vale but it did not shut off.Â* Happens.

We have this problem with our main valve. If we need to work on the
lines, we put a 5 gal bucket under the drain valve. The drip will fill
the bucket in about 30 minutes.

Getting the city to shut line at street so we can replace the valve is
a major pain, so we live with it.

I once had a quote for $2500 US to shut off water at the street to
replace the main valve.

I happened to already have a replacement valve.

I put a block of dry ice on the line just before the valve and replaced
the valve for a total cost of $5 for the dry ice. With the water
actively leaking from the valve, the dry ice froze the line shut in
a few seconds.


What length of pipe were you able to cover with the dry ice ? Our
valve is very close to the wall where main enters the basement.

I had about 2 inches of pipe between the wall and the valve.
Just enough to lay the block on the pipe. Not a big block
maybe like a brick.

I didn't think it mattered much if water in the valve froze,
I was going to take it apart anyway, as long as the water froze
in the pipe too, I was good. So, even less clearance might be
okay.

The water was leaking out of the valve at a pretty good rate.
I was impressed at how the dry ice just reached out and said,
"you're solid near me".

--
Dan Espen

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?

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. .

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.

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.

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.

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.

On 02/05/2019 09:28 PM, micky wrote:
Wow. Where do you guys live?

Not below the Mason-Dixon line, that's for sure.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 05 Feb 2019 23:46:01 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:


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

Okay, you've convinced me. I've been doing it at the last minute
because I wanted a toilet to use until the last minute, but with tank
toilets (and not flushometers) draining the pipes really has nothing to
do with the antifreeze, except for the drain the basement sink, where
the pipes drain.

I can separate the two things, drain the pipes earlier, leave a toilet
not yet flushed, and flush it at the last minute and add the antifreeze.