Winter and Pipes

In the middle of January I came up during a stretch of days with temperatures frequently in the single digits at night.  I had trouble with the cold water in the kitchen sink, both bathroom sinks and both toilets.

In the case of the kitchen sink I thawed it by placing a space heater under there for a few minutes.  The hot water in the downstairs sink was persuaded to run by blowing a hair dryer down into the hole in the floor where the pipe descends.  The others sort of came around on their own.

The temperatures that appear to be the problem are teens or colder, multiple days in a row.   It hasn't been quite that cold for so long since then, and I have not had trouble again, but I have also:

• Blocked the excess space in the hole that the kitchen sink drain uses to pass into the basement - it was cut too wide, allowing both cold air and, judging from the scratch marks in the wood, mice.  I also insulated the cold water pipes in the sink cabinet.

• Partially blocked some of the vents in the basement that allow cold air to flow in so freely - I used roughly-cut cardboard pieces so air still comes in - they are not sealed.

• Insulated nearly all of the hot water pipes in the basement.  Not all because not all are easily accessible.  I don't know if this will ever prevent freezing but it will take those pipes longer to cool after use and increase efficiency.

• Re-sealed some of the insulation around the cold water pipes in the basement where they ascend into the kitchen.  They had not been well-applied.

Additional Precautions

I routinely run the water a bit in each faucet and then turn the water off at night.  On very cold nights, I turn the water off AND run the cold water out of all of the faucets after doing so.  

On very, very cold nights, or if I won't be here when very cold weather is forecasted, I've done the above and also drained excess water out of the cold water system via a valve in the basement (the one without black insulation).  It never fully stops coming out because I think there is a link to the hot water system, so I stop when it slows down.  This technique will fill a bucket halfway (if you've already run the faucets out of water).

Use the thermometer hanging near the de-humidifier as a guide.  If it's 33 degrees expect problems.  If it's 36 degrees or above it should be fine based on past observations, and none of these precautions should be necessary.

Temperatures in the basement change fairly slowly and are fairly uniform.  I tested this by temporarily placing a 2nd thermometer near the fuse box - over several days it always displayed the same temperature as the one near the de-humidifier.

One night of single digits will not likely bring the temperature in the basement from, say, 40 degrees to 32.  Observations have been informal but I've never seen it vary more than 4 degrees in one day.   

The plumber, Louis Ludivico, has said that getting as much water as possible out of the system is good when there is danger, but that even with the precautions outlined above, if the furnaces fail there WILL be frozen, and possibly damaged pipes.

Freeze Alarm

I purchased an inexpensive freeze alarm (Control Products Model # FA-B-CCA).  It is attached to the phone line in the kitchen and lives on top of the shelf near the oil lamps.  If the temperature drops below 45 degrees it will call me.  I would then call Paul and/or drive up.

Additional Notes

- The kitchen sink pipes don't descend directly under the sink.  They travel down into the sink cabinet, then along the baseboards through a hole in on the right side of the cabinet, around the corner behind the hot water heater, along the back wall a bit and then descend.
- The bathroom toilet downstairs is connected to the hot water supply.
- I typically keep the thermostats set to no lower than 55.  If there will be temps in the 30's or 40's I may set it to 52 for short periods to save propane.  I may set it lower still as late winter temperatures rise.
- As of late January 2013, the large propane tank is full, which should be enough fuel to last through spring and hopefully, summer.
- The garden faucet froze.  We thawed it using a hairdryer on the metal pipe.  We removed as much water from the line as we could and closed the dedicated valve in the basement.  The water line from the basement to the faucet itself is PVC or some other kind of plastic.  Char thinks it's too deep in the ground to freeze.  We'll see in Spring.
- I have only used the valves for the garden faucet and cold water system.  The cold and hot water systems are joined in a way I don't understand and I'm afraid to mess with the hot water system because of implications to the hot water heater.  When I drain the cold I stop when the strong flow diminishes and the water gets warmer.

Cold Water Pipes Under Kitchen Sink Insulated

Hole Around Kitchen Sink Drain "Sealed"

Cold and Hot water Pipes in Basement.  Hot water pipes have the black insulation.

Pipes where they ascend into kitchen near hot water heater

Freeze Alarm

1) Valve for the line leading to garden faucet.
2) Valve for the cold water system.
3) Valve for the hot water system.

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Shed Break-In

At some point during November or December 2012 during a period when we weren't around, someone broke into the shed by prying the hasp off the wall.  Nothing appeared to be missing but I filed a report with Officer Rosario of the Sandisfield Police Department and I re-attached the hasp.  No evidence of an attempt to enter the house or barn was seen.

FYI, the Sandisfield Police Department is a part-time department.  If they are not on duty the State Police out of Lee typically back them up.

Shed Hasp Pried Up

EDIT: Paul noticed some time in January that closure on the barn door to the right of the double door was also damaged.  When I was able to get here to see it myself, it was clear that it had also been tampered with.  In this case, the wood supporting the hardware had been hacked away, making entry into the barn possible.  I assume this was done at the same time as the shed but there's no way to know for sure.  Back when the shed was broken into and we inspected the house and barn, I may have only looked at the barn doors I always use.  I have repaired it.

FYI, the lock currently on there is a little tricky.  The key must not be all the way in to open it.

Damaged

Repaired

Hurricane Sandy

We passed the hurricane at the house and, at one point, noticed black things flying by the windows in the long room.  We went outside to see roof shingles on the long room roof being lifted up and torn off by the wind.  I went up and hammered down shingles to prevent further loss.

In December, Paul brought over a roofer, Charlie, who did a temporary fix designed to hold until Spring.  He has indicated that he would not want to do just a patch, but that whole side of the roof.  He charged $125 (EDIT: Bill received 2-6-13 and will be paid by Arnold or Char).

Arrived 10/19/12 late in the evening after an absence of five weeks.  All in order in the house itself.

Downed Trees
Two of the apple trees directly across from the front door of the house are down.  It looks like one loosened, probably because of wet ground, and then fell on other one, forcing it down as well.

10/21/12

10/21/12

10/21/12

Also on this trip Char cleared more of the garden and in general cleaned it up to prepare it for winter.  I had the chansaw sharpened and harvested more firewood.  I took a couple boxes of old chemicals, fuels, etc., from the barn to one of the regularly scheduled collection events at the Great Barrington Recycling Center.  Information on where and when these events are held can be found at in the "events" section of cetonline.org.  I also took some old chemicals from the pantry.

We found evidence of mice on this trip so I'll be putting down some traps in the kitchen.

I came up on Friday the 31st and the chain across the driveway was not how I left it and Paul, who mowed for a bit today (9/12), said it wasn't him.  All okay with the house.


Quarry Hill Farm Visit
On Saturday, we went to an open house at Quarry Hill Farm, where they train and sell beautiful Arabian horses.  I had taken a picture (below) of their pasture and sent it to them, and they replied with an invitation to their event, which was a lot of fun.

Pasture at Quarry Hill Farm, Lakeville, CT

Young Arabian at Quarry Hill

Char at Quarry Hill Farm - 9-7-12

Solveig Visit
Solveig, Olive and Olive's friends are coming up this weekend (9/14).  It should be a lovely weekend!

Winter Visits
I have arranged with Paul for he and/or Catherine to make regular visits to the house over the winter, including coming inside to clean up mousetraps, etc., and that they can bill for it.  I've told him I'd let him know when we close the house.

Happy Labor Day!

Char's two week vacation here is coming to a close and she is sad. 

Sebastian sent Carl up with a load of stuff to store.  Char consolidated the plastic bins from this and prior shipments and we put them in the basement on the pallets.  The more fragile boxes live in the small, back bedroom downstairs. 

Char also spent some time recently cleaning the basement with the shop vac.

Bear

We have heard about bears up here and I caught a glimpse of one last season.  Recently, one has started to hang out in the yard and near the posts at the driveway, where there are apples he likes.  He was far less scared than we thought bears should be, feeding on apples even when the Propane man was here with his loud truck.  Charlyne also almost ran into him at night when we were going for a moonlight canoe.  He hadn't run away even when we were talking loudly near him.

When we first saw him his left front paw was clearly hurt and he rarely put weight on it.  We called the town game warden, who instructed us to call another agency.  No one seemed interested in the bear so we scare it off whenever we see it.  We don't want it getting used to people.

Injured, apple-loving bear - 8/12

Propane
We recently purchased 400 gallons of propane from Ormsbee Propane.