May as well start now

[frustratedearthmother]

Hmmm, good question. My question is how hard it would be to replace the heat tape if it craters on ya???

There's nothing wrong with some good 'filler'! It makes pleasant reading on a rainy afternoon too. Personally, I journal because it does give me the opportunity to go back and check things like breeding dates if I forget to write it on the calendar, or when I put together the new shed, or any myriad of other things that I occasionally want to go back and read.... besides the fact that you can glean lots of good information from other folks journals!

 

[moolie]

No idea on the heat tape, sorry Hopefully the pipe insulation helps

On the public journal thing", I think each person has different reasons for keeping one. I think it's sad that you got a "why bother" post on your very first page, how discouraging and negative. I personally like reading these journals and seeing where other people are at, being able to ask questions and interact with people on a more "personal" online level than just regular threads where there is a question followed by a few answers and comments and then it drops off the page. These journals are more of an ongoing discussion. It helps me really "get to know people here on SS". For me, my journal here keeps me on track with what I'm doing--a bit of accountability. Start a project and let everyone know, then keep everyone up to date on it. And it reminds me where I've been, what I've learned along the way. Works for me

 

[Wannabefree]

I like journalling just to be able to go back and track my progress, both SS and personal progress. If we ever stop growing...we might as well get to dying IMO So I like to see that my crazy is fading, it's encouraging!

Sorry about the pipe issues this morning, that's always a royal pain :/ I can SO relate to the "creature of habit" comment too! I have done that almost every time we lose water here

 

[Denim Deb]

I hear ya on the habit! Don't know how many times I've tried to turn on lights or the TV during a power outage.

 

[~gd]

Maybe the point is to just get a hey there or chin up it's going to work out for you response . Or possibly some info on how to avoid the whole thing. I live in the high desert so dripping water all night is such a waste. I have never started a journal for anything so something new won't hurt. Filler perhaps but more importantly for me it's that feeling of friendship or kinship that I get when I read the journals.

It's funny how we are all creatures of habit, I started making breakfast and turned on the sink to wash up and no water, yep I knew that! but problem solved I had stocked up on baby wipes 9 months ago at 88 cents a pkg for a what if situation ( I don't have any babies around) because I read posts on SS.

Now would be a good time to ask the question. We will have to take off the siding on the house to try and fix once and for all our freezing problem. We have used the pipe insulator ( I think that what you call the stuff) grey foam that covers the pipe and the regular fiberglass batting but that didn't work. What about heat tape wrapping the pipe inside a wall is it safe?

It is very common in this area where cellars are almost never found and pipes are run through walls and under floors usually the pipes are not wrapped with heat tape, it is applied straight under the pipe and covered with foam and/or fiberglass. I have never heard of any problems with the tape. Some people armor the tape against rodemts since they like to chew. The stuff we use has a built in thermostat that turns on at about 40F and off at 50F AT THE PIPES. some of the fancy rigs have a tiny LED that comes on when they are on. Power failure is the biggest problem. They advise to open a tap and the tape will start melting the ice when the power returns.~gd

 

[Corn Woman]

Well we bought the heat tape and turns out that it will not work for our application, darn it anyway. Second round with the plumber this am because there was another broken line, the hot water. As it turns out we had the cold on long enough to fill every large kettle and canner in the house to boil water so DH could get a bath. I filled the tub with the frigid water about half way and boiled and packed water upstairs (don't know what got into me). Turns out the ice was the only thing holding back the next waterfall. I had a feeling it was split as well and mentioned it to the plumber before he left last night. The good news is he said if that was the case he won't charge for a service call if he had to come back but only if I called him that day, talk about speed dial. Last night was -13 and our high for today is 7. I swear if the hens eggs don't freeze as soon as they lay them it will be a miracle. I believe now is a good time to learn how to do my own plumbing repairs because I could have saved $225.61

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm lucky in that hubby knows how to do plumbing repairs. And, I want to learn. W/the water we have here, we get pin holes in the pipes at times. We plan on replacing all the copper pipes this year, then we won't have that problem.

 

[Wannabefree]

I self taught plumbing repairs...along with car repairs, and pretty much anything repairs over the years. There ARE distinct advantages to being too poor to afford the pros

 

[moolie]

Sorry to hear about your pipe troubles, and the plumber bill. We've always done our own repairs (and renovations when we've changed sinks/taps etc.) and learned everything we know by studying the plumbing systems in our house with the help of various library/used book shop books.

Every big box hardware store has books that teach the basics, and once people are done with them they either donate them to the library or sell them at the used book shop for way less than original price.

I'm sure if we were starting out now it would be all about youtube and the internet (which is how hubs learned how to replace a part in our vehicle last year) rather than books, but we like books

 

[Corn Woman]

It really pays to learn how to DIY. DH finally decided on 2 types on insulation on the pipes and spray foam in that area of the wall plus the fiberglass batting so everything is put back for now and holding. This spring we have to replace 3 windows on the back of the house so when the siding comes off we will re-insulate the entire east side. Has anyone here ever used the soy based spray in insulation and if so are you happy with the results? I'm open to other suggestions as well.