Saturday, December 29, 2007

Your Pipes Suffer 2d6 of Frost Damage

Wyoming is windy. VERY windy. When you combine that wind with cold, you get enough chilling power to penatrate fiberglass insulation and freeze your pipes. Thankfully, only the pipes leading to the bathtub faucet are frozen, so I decided to wait it out. The next day, I can get a shower when it warms up enough to thaw out the pipes. In the winter, you can get away with longer intervals between showers.
Anyway, last night I'm settled in for a quiet evening when I hear *clunk-WOOOOSHHHHH!* So I go to my bathroom and see water gushing from the facuet. I figure that I just didn't turn off the faucet when I was fiddling last night. No, both valves are in the Off posistion. And there's still water. That won't stop flowing. Hmm.
I look around for the turn off valve for the water, but I don't see it. I do find single shut off valves for every other water fixture, just not the one that's gushing. I eventally call the landlord who sends over his son, who finds the main valve (open a hatch in the floor, crawl ten feet under the house, and turn the red handle. Watch out for trolls).
Tomorrow, I should have full plumbing functionality, or at latest Monday. We shall see...

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