The Coffee House

[terri42 13]

Hosers, our weather pattern has stabilized somewhat. The massive front that brought all the snow and high winds has moved out, thankfully. We still have some uncomfortably high gusts out there, but not nearly as bad as they were over the last 2 days.

For all my hand-wringing, we never lost power or even had the lights flicker. I did laundry and a bunch of cooking in advance of the expected power outage, so today we'll just be enjoying the food and catching up on some NFL playoff action. (Go Lions!)

We ended up with about 5 inches of snow. Our Eco snowblower has been the STUFF! Easily cut through snow and some icy stuff underneath. Our model has 2 batteries on it, and they easily lasted for two complete rounds of doing the driveway, the sidewalk, and the walkway to the porch. Hubby did this all yesterday when there was still a chance of more snow, and we did get another 1-2" overnight, so he went over the same areas and then decided to bring in the batteries for a recharge. He said it was easy as pie.

Our high temperature today is 12F, give or take, and we'll be close to 0F for next 3-4 days. The sun has been shining all day and that's really helping with the roads, too. Happy Sunday!

 

[smoke665]

don't think this looks right.

Someone didn't know you don't let the faucet drip AND use a cover.

@terri Missing the south yet?

 

[jeffashman17 2]

Uh oh.....!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that is just a seal or something that shrank. The faucet is a no-freeze, but we'll see. Plumber can't assess until it thaws.

 

[smoke665]

keeping my fingers crossed that is just a seal or something that shrank. The

Sorry Jeff, didn't realize it was yours. LOL All of our exterior faucets are "supposedly" no-freeze, but since the house was built we've had two freeze and split. Now I just cover them, isn't worth the hassle if they freeze. I use 2" wide pipe wrap insulation around the faucet then the Styrofoam covers over that.

 

[SquarePeg44 6]

We have separate shut off valves for each spigot We turn off the water to each but leave the faucet open to fully drain them and then put the covers on once they run dry. Hopefully any water that accumulates in there will drip out instead of freezing.

One year I forgot to turn one of them off and it did freeze annd thaw a few times so we ended up with a leaky spigot that had to be fixed but was relatively minor. We have a finished basement so the exterior pipes don’t really freeze unless it’s well below 0°F.

Bigger worry here is a clogged downspout creating an ice dam that causes a leaky roof.

 

[cgw124 150]

We have separate shut off valves for each spigot We turn off the water to each but leave the faucet open to fully drain them and then put the covers on once they run dry. Hopefully any water that accumulates in there will drip out instead of freezing.

One year I forgot to turn one of them off and it did freeze annd thaw a few times so we ended up with a leaky spigot that had to be fixed but was relatively minor. We have a finished basement so the exterior pipes don’t really freeze unless it’s well below 0°F.

Bigger worry here is a clogged downspout creating an ice dam that causes a leaky roof.

Big problem at the family ruin is ice damming in eavestroughs and on roof edges. Replaced what seemed miles of ice-melting cables in eavestroughs, inside downspouts, on roof edges and in flashed valleys on roof surfaces. Seems to be working but past damage is still there. No big honking icicles so far but 1840s houses need all the love they can get!

 

[SquarePeg44 6]

Big problem at the family ruin is ice damming in eavestroughs and on roof edges. Replaced what seemed miles of ice-melting cables in eavestroughs, inside downspouts, on roof edges and in flashed valleys on roof surfaces. Seems to be working but past damage is still there. No big honking icicles so far but 1840s houses need all the love they can get!

My city is known for Victorian homes and ice dam management is a big part of ownership! My house, on the other hand, is a 1955 ranch with the mid mod low ceilings and gas heat. I sometimes wish for an old Victorian with all those high ceilings and beautiful old stained glass windows and so many nooks and mouldings… then winter comes and the ice dam talks begin and the heating bills arrive and I am content.

 

[cgw124 150]

My city is known for Victorian homes and ice dam management is a big part of ownership! My house, on the other hand, is a 1955 ranch with the mid mod low ceilings and gas heat. I sometimes wish for an old Victorian with all those high ceilings and beautiful old stained glass windows and so many nooks and mouldings… then winter comes and the ice dam talks begin and the heating bills arrive and I am content.

Yup. Love our crew's mid-century bungalow that's lovely. Still, the ruin and its gardens have great charm, drafts notwithstanding...

 

[CherylL1]

Today was -4 with a windchill of -20s. The pups went out a few times and hurried right back inside. The bird feeders were active. Glad we filled them up the other day. There are power outages in the area, small clusters and one small town.

 

[cgw124 150]

Today was -4 with a windchill of -20s. The pups went out a few times and hurried right back inside. The bird feeders were active. Glad we filled them up the other day. There are power outages in the area, small clusters and one small town.

Sounds rough. Friends outside Belleville, Ontario who have Scottish Deerhounds said their pooches strolled out briefly for relief then dashed back indoors. Horrid windchill today. The extreme cold here outs anyone who needed a new car battery!

 

[snowbear123 55]

We had snow today. It was only about a dozen flakes, but it was snow.

 

[SquarePeg44 6]

Same.

 

[vintagesnaps]

By the time it got colder the rain was done. Going to be a cold week!

We have a lot of flakes... oh, you mean the weather, not the traffic... Let's all hop in our cars and drive like maniacs, that't the usual response in the city (where I worked) to all weather conditions.

 

[smoke665]

@vintagesnaps In the south they're notorious for not braking for a light until the very last second. Its like they believe the light gods are going to look favorably on them and change it to green just when they need it. When it snows, they end up slidding through the intersection. So even though you have a green light you have to proceed with caution and watch both ways to make sure everyone's actually stopped.

 

[snowbear123 55]

We got a dusting last night.