Andy44
owner: Oil Creek Astronautix
For the last week or so much of the continental US has been in a cold snap with some areas getting the deep freeze treatment. Here in the DC area the temperatures have been dipping into the single digits (F) at night, and staying below freezing during daylight hours. I visited the Potomac River bank today to find the river frozen over; there were people walking on the surface trying to play hockey in 19degF and bitter cold wind.
All good as far as I'm concerned, I generally love the cold, although when it's this cold I have to take measures to make sure the pipes don't freeze in my house. Crank up the heater higher than usual, and let the water drip in key places to keep it moving.
Unfortunately for one of my neighbors, they didn't follow this routine. They appear to have left on a trip some days ago without turning off the water or taking any other precautions. The other night walking past their house I noticed there was a glacier of ice on the walk about 2 inches thick leading back up the steps to their front door. Looked a little closer with a flashlight and there was water dripping out of the siding across the entire front of the house. Big thick icicles have formed underneath the living room bay window. Peering around at the back of the house, there are icicles hanging from the sliding glass door at the same level, leading into the kitchen. The windows have ice formed inside them on the window sills, and are all frosted up.
So their living room, kitchen, downstairs finished basement, and possibly parts of the upstairs bedroom level, are all completely ruined, and these poor souls don't even know this is waiting for them when they return home!
Somebody called the water company, who apparently turned off the water main and left a note on the front door, so at least the bleeding has stopped, but that is going to be, I'm guessing, tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the house itself, not to mention how much of their furniture and other belongings are totally trashed as well. And, of course, they will have to find a place to live in the meantime, since the house will be uninhabitable until at least some of the water damage is repaired. What an awful thing to see.
All good as far as I'm concerned, I generally love the cold, although when it's this cold I have to take measures to make sure the pipes don't freeze in my house. Crank up the heater higher than usual, and let the water drip in key places to keep it moving.
Unfortunately for one of my neighbors, they didn't follow this routine. They appear to have left on a trip some days ago without turning off the water or taking any other precautions. The other night walking past their house I noticed there was a glacier of ice on the walk about 2 inches thick leading back up the steps to their front door. Looked a little closer with a flashlight and there was water dripping out of the siding across the entire front of the house. Big thick icicles have formed underneath the living room bay window. Peering around at the back of the house, there are icicles hanging from the sliding glass door at the same level, leading into the kitchen. The windows have ice formed inside them on the window sills, and are all frosted up.
So their living room, kitchen, downstairs finished basement, and possibly parts of the upstairs bedroom level, are all completely ruined, and these poor souls don't even know this is waiting for them when they return home!
Somebody called the water company, who apparently turned off the water main and left a note on the front door, so at least the bleeding has stopped, but that is going to be, I'm guessing, tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the house itself, not to mention how much of their furniture and other belongings are totally trashed as well. And, of course, they will have to find a place to live in the meantime, since the house will be uninhabitable until at least some of the water damage is repaired. What an awful thing to see.
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