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It’s the thaw that will get you

6 Comments

  1. Texas Guy 12/27/2021

    So sorry, UO Matters!! That does not look like much fun.

  2. cruel irony duck 12/27/2021

    Put some fans on it, and for weeks. Even when it looks dry, it’s not.

    • uomatters Post author | 12/27/2021

      Thanks. An hour with a shop vac and now it’s just damp. Why does the building code let you put a washing machine in a room without a drain? Gonna drill a 3″ hole in the middle for drainage, rip out the carpet and glue in some “luxury vinyl” flooring. I swear that’s a thing.

  3. Dogmatic Ratios 12/28/2021

    Just curious: how exactly did the thaw attack your washing machine?

    • uomatters Post author | 12/28/2021

      We’re on well water, with a pressure tank to reduce pump cycling. The water inlet to the house and the pressure tank valve both froze. I put up heaters, and the house inlet thawed first. The pump then kicked on. Its high psi is normally buffered by the pressure tank, but of course that was now frozen shut. So the pressure relief valve on the water heater tripped (no problem, it vents under the house). However, in the other bathroom/laundry, someone had added a bit of ordinary garden house to extend the braided steel washer hose to the valve when they installed the washer. Bad idea. While I was watching the water heater this hose burst. I cut the pump breaker as soon as we noticed, but just then the pressure tank valve thawed and the water kept coming until it emptied. And to think I used to laugh at people who keep their washer on the front porch.

      • Andy Stahl 12/29/2021

        Ahh, the joys of country living! Never again. First experience with frozen well house was on Bainbridge Island with 0 F temps. Power went out, of course, which killed the pump house trouble light, which burst every PVC pipe. Replacing PVC in zero degree weather sucks. Worse was the 300′ trench dug by hand to relocate the pressure tank under the house where low temps were easier to mitigate. I love EWEB!

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