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McCheese

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HVAC died this morning, meaning no heat. Earliest repair appointment we could get was tomorrow afternoon. Temps are going to drop down to low 20s or high teens tonight. We have a baby so we are going to spend the night with friends.

My question: to avoid pipes freezing, is it better to drop all the faucets in the house all night, or shut off the main water and drain the faucets before we leave?
 
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Hateyou

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HVAC died this morning, meaning no heat. Earliest repair appointment we could get was tomorrow afternoon. Temps are going to drop down to low 20s or high teens tonight. We have a baby so we are going to spend the night with friends.

My question: to avoid pipes freezing, is it better to drop all the faucets in the house all night, or shut off the main water and drain the faucets before we leave?
I’d just have them dripping. Open up your cabinets containing pipes to help with ambient air keeping them warmer too. One night in the 20s your house interior shouldn’t get into freezing temps unless you have really bad insulation and heat loss. You could also run some small heaters nearby any pipes that are on outside walls. Anything that is further interior you shouldn’t have any problems with.
 
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BrutulTM

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HVAC died this morning, meaning no heat. Earliest repair appointment we could get was tomorrow afternoon. Temps are going to drop down to low 20s or high teens tonight. We have a baby so we are going to spend the night with friends.

My question: to avoid pipes freezing, is it better to drop all the faucets in the house all night, or shut off the main water and drain the faucets before we leave?
Your pipes aren't going to freeze in one day at those temperatures. You could leave the faucets dripping if you want but you aren't going to have a problem if you have any insulation at all in your house.
 
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LachiusTZ

Rogue Deathwalker Box
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Looks like I'm going to have our water line dug up.

Water pressure went to complete shit, checked the line in and water is nasty as hell (have a whole house filter, can't tell anything at the faucet).

Fuck
 
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Lanx

Oye Ve
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Do you cover everything in the room and wrap all fixtures and mask off the windows? I'm seriously curious if that's doable and saves you time.

I can't imagine spraying a 10x10 bedroom and a fine mist of paint dots *not* settling on everything. IANAPainter, thoug, hso YMMV
my first time i did, then when i got more confident and went to other rooms i just used a spray shield

i'm not saying you can or should be this fast, but a nice aluminum (you can of course use cardboard, but it's floppy and you don't get nice clean lines) shield, you could be done with a room in no time and use a nice brush to cut in to more precise areas (which is really just the moulding cuz you'll tape off the outlets anyway, it's easier to remove the cover and tape it up)
 
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Lanx

Oye Ve
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dryer no heat, either fuse or heating element is blown, no time to check, just bought both will replace when return.

idk why this would have happened, theres no lint in the trap, i vacuum it out and theres no lint on the exhaust, i saw a nice video on repair and most likely there is a bunch of lint inside (didn't buy dryer came w/ the house)
heat element came in
followed this exact guide took 1hr (honestly i spent more time vacuuming up all the fucking lint inside the machine, my dyson was empty when i started and it's near full), can't complain about this almost new free dryer tho, now clothes coming out super hot, either from new element or a cleaning and even removing the drum wasn't bad, just kinda hairy trying to get it back to re align
 

Thaloc

Molten Core Raider
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How do I know I want an arrestor?

When my washing machine switches off, it makes a loud noise in the pipes(this is prior to the water softener installation)

Thats water hammer, you'll want to have one of the above arrestors or an expansion tank installed. If you already have an expansion tank it's probably water logged and needs replaced.
 
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The_Black_Log Foler

Stock Pals Senior Vice President
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Maybe a dumb question but here it goes. I’m looking at landscaping around my ole cabin I own. Not sure what the plan is for it yet. Obviously would need sprinklers and Id like French drains as well..

Ideally I guess you would have all this done by one person? I’d like to out in sprinklers and French drains first but is that a bad idea if you have nfc where/what your landscaping will be?
 

Hateyou

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Usually the landscapers do the drains too. When we had a concrete pad put it the drains were part of the landscaping conversation.

The sprinkler system companies around here pretty much just specialize in that though. That’s probably a separate conversation with a different company after the landscaping is all in.
 
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lurker

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Got my water softener replaced recently. What was originally copper is now partially PEX. I think the previous install depended upon the rigidity of the copper. When the valve opens and water flows out of the softener(into the house), that pipe gets a bit wobbly for a few seconds. What would be the best way to secure an insulated pipe for all(or I guess vertical) directions of motion?

Please ignore the water damage on the ceiling tile, it's looked like that since we moved in and hasn't changed. It's the pipe on the right and the horizontal part is about 6 inches away from the joist.
This might be the easiest way to install a hammer arrestor.

LINK to Lowes

It will just screw on between your bib and hose.
 
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BrutulTM

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Not sure I have the tools or knowledge for installing that. I'll admit I get anxious in this area because I know I don't know enough. Like until an hour ago, the concept of a water arrestor was completely foreign to me.
If you use the shark bite version don't be scared of installing it yourself. The only tool you will need is a tubing cutter. You could use a hacksaw or a sawsall but it's worth picking up a cutter for $15 at any hardware store. You literally just jam the pipe into the sharkbite connector, make sure it goes all the way in, and you're done.

This is what you need if you're cutting a copper pipe.

b59db7c6-fb8b-4a73-b400-a12636c36723



Or maybe this version if it's tight quarters.

eea08f44-2230-4397-875b-5fbe157b1339



If it's PVC or Pex those cutters will still work but something like this would be better...

e5643fb6-b5bc-4421-91ef-d63d59b1b00c


 
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Deathwing

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I'm pretty sure I should still anchor the output from the water softener regardless.

Is it better to use an expansion tank(I think that's what my heating system has) or water arrestor? If the latter, a lot of the reviews and guides are based at the appliance instead of a more centralized location. Is this because arrestors work better the closer they are to the valve that is shutting off? Or because, like me, a lot of people don't like/want to cut pipe and just screwing in an arrestor at the appliance is more fool proof? Or do arrestors have a load limit and installing one centrally isn't always feasible?
 

lurker

Vyemm Raider
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I'm pretty sure I should still anchor the output from the water softener regardless.

Is it better to use an expansion tank(I think that's what my heating system has) or water arrestor? If the latter, a lot of the reviews and guides are based at the appliance instead of a more centralized location. Is this because arrestors work better the closer they are to the valve that is shutting off? Or because, like me, a lot of people don't like/want to cut pipe and just screwing in an arrestor at the appliance is more fool proof? Or do arrestors have a load limit and installing one centrally isn't always feasible?
An expansion tank and a hammer arrestor serve two different purposes. The expansion tank gives the expanding hot water room to expand because there is most likely a check valve on the city water supply to prevent you from back feeding and you can burst a rigid pipe or your water heater if the expanding water has no place to go. A hammer arrestor absorbs the shock induced by a rapidly opening valve like on a washing machine.
 
Last edited:
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whoo

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my first time i did, then when i got more confident and went to other rooms i just used a spray shield

i'm not saying you can or should be this fast, but a nice aluminum (you can of course use cardboard, but it's floppy and you don't get nice clean lines) shield, you could be done with a room in no time and use a nice brush to cut in to more precise areas (which is really just the moulding cuz you'll tape off the outlets anyway, it's easier to remove the cover and tape it up)
What spray system do you use?
 

Lanx

Oye Ve
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What spray system do you use?
i use a graco magnum
1678e0291b610a4cdcf48209dd3d623a.png


the more expensive models like the x5 offer more quality of life for a pro painter like it's tall and has a direct feed into a 1gallon bucket or the x7 is super tall so it can direct feed into a 5 gallon bucket.
 
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The_Black_Log Foler

Stock Pals Senior Vice President
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If you use the shark bite version don't be scared of installing it yourself. The only tool you will need is a tubing cutter. You could use a hacksaw or a sawsall but it's worth picking up a cutter for $15 at any hardware store. You literally just jam the pipe into the sharkbite connector, make sure it goes all the way in, and you're done.

This is what you need if you're cutting a copper pipe.

b59db7c6-fb8b-4a73-b400-a12636c36723



Or maybe this version if it's tight quarters.

eea08f44-2230-4397-875b-5fbe157b1339



If it's PVC or Pex those cutters will still work but something like this would be better...

e5643fb6-b5bc-4421-91ef-d63d59b1b00c


Deathwing Deathwing these tools are awesome. I just used this rigid one to cut galvanized stainless pipe for a shelving project. Highly recommend.

 

The_Black_Log Foler

Stock Pals Senior Vice President
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So my cabin is concrete block then transitions to wood for roof. I’d like to prep it to have someone paint it as I don’t trust a painter to do all the work to restore the wood prior to painting

Abatron woodepox seemed like an ideal solution so grabbed some.


Requires a clean surface - I.e. sand off old paint etc. Thing is it’ll take me maybe a few weeks to finish making this wood not look like shit so some painting can just come in and paint it. I’d like to sand the wood but would it be a bad idea to piecewise this project to where I have sanded wood exposed to the elements over weeks time before painting?

DE01645C-F279-4043-A0C8-79546D75FD0B.jpeg
 

Fucker

Log Wizard
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So my cabin is concrete block then transitions to wood for roof. I’d like to prep it to have someone paint it as I don’t trust a painter to do all the work to restore the wood prior to painting

Abatron woodepox seemed like an ideal solution so grabbed some.


Requires a clean surface - I.e. sand off old paint etc. Thing is it’ll take me maybe a few weeks to finish making this wood not look like shit so some painting can just come in and paint it. I’d like to sand the wood but would it be a bad idea to piecewise this project to where I have sanded wood exposed to the elements over weeks time before painting?

View attachment 391453
Funny how your house and cabin have the same bricks painted in the same color. I guess Miguel did that?
 

Hateyou

Not Great, Not Terrible
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So my cabin is concrete block then transitions to wood for roof. I’d like to prep it to have someone paint it as I don’t trust a painter to do all the work to restore the wood prior to painting

Abatron woodepox seemed like an ideal solution so grabbed some.


Requires a clean surface - I.e. sand off old paint etc. Thing is it’ll take me maybe a few weeks to finish making this wood not look like shit so some painting can just come in and paint it. I’d like to sand the wood but would it be a bad idea to piecewise this project to where I have sanded wood exposed to the elements over weeks time before painting?

View attachment 391453
Just pressure wash each section the day before you paint?
 

The_Black_Log Foler

Stock Pals Senior Vice President
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Just pressure wash each section the day before you paint?
Sorry for the confusion but what would that solve? Plus wouldn’t pressure washing just possibly damage the wood I’m trying to fix (gouges etc)

edit Hateyou Hateyou I think I understand now. Looks like you’d pressure wash then fix any gouges and stuff in wood. So ideally this isn’t the kind of project you span out over a month or two..