[TheForge] OT frozen pipes

Sat Jan 3 18:48:33 EST 2009

Many builders seem to be scoundrels.  The things I have seen and the 
stories I have heard... I would not trust a builder to the door, 
particularly on a stick-built house.  There was a development going up 
in NJ and the HVAC guys were doing their thing.  This one yo-yo 
discovered a flaw in the design.  Instead of speaking with his foreman 
(unless he did...) to have an alteration made that was sensible, the 
dopus sawed away 11 inches of a 2x12 stairway header, leaving about 1/2 
inch and put his ducting there!  I have no doubt that the stairway has 
since collapsed.  Stuff like this goes on all the time.  A house across 
the street from mine when I was in high school had the ENTIRE front 
simply fall off one evening.  It was a bit curious to me at the time but 
I'm sure our neighbor was none too pleased.  Many builders need to be 
hawked big time if you don't want crazy things done to your new home.

GRAF wrote:
> Making things worse some builders cheat and use type M on water lines. L 
> or K will serve much longer.
> 
> Mike Graf
> 
> Peter Hirst wrote:
>> What's eating your copper is acidic water:  can be treated with a 
>> filter tank.  A little pricey, but sometjhimes you can pick them up 
>> cheap to free from people switching over to municipal water from a 
>> well.  except for slight acid (my copper is just beginning to develop 
>> pinholes after 35 years) my well water is the best, and i wouldn't 
>> trade it for anything.  So I picked up a filter and will replace the 
>> copper piece by piece with good solid used stuff as I acquire it.  It 
>> will last a lifetime with the filter, and since I have so much exposed 
>> plumbing in the house, it is well worth it to me.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David E. Smucker" 
>> <davesmucker at hotmail.com>
>> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 7:19 PM
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT frozen pipes
>>
>>
>>> Andy,
>>>
>>> How does copper work in your area?  I was always a fan of copper 
>>> until we moved here to Brasstown, NC.  With most of the well water in 
>>> this area, it eats copper -- so any of the plastics are better.  Dad 
>>> had the same problem when they moved to Boulder, CO.  Just check 
>>> around before you go to copper. The well drillers here are the ones 
>>> that told me to stay away from copper --  most of the hardware stores 
>>> here don't even carry it any more.  (and I had lots of copper 
>>> fittings on hand when I built this house.)
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>> From: "Andrew Vida" <osan at netlabs.net>
>>> Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 11:21 AM
>>> To: "Bob Ehrenberger" <eforge at centurytel.net>; "Blacksmithing List 
>>> Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT frozen pipes
>>>
>>>> Sharkbite fittings are, as you say, pricey, but they really do 
>>>> work.  My plan for this house is to replace all the lousy PVC lines 
>>>> with copper and sharkbite fittings.  Those fittings will also work 
>>>> with PVC and any other rigid or semi-rigid tubing.  Very ingeniously 
>>>> contrived, BTW.
>>>>
>>>> Bob Ehrenberger wrote:
>>>>> The Monday before Christmas we had the temps drop below zero with 
>>>>> high winds out of the West.  As a result, the pipes that run to our 
>>>>> laundry froze and burst.  That section of the house is just a crawl 
>>>>> space, so instead of opening up the hatch to gain access which 
>>>>> would have really flooded the space with cold air, I decided to 
>>>>> disconnect and cap that section at the source.  I got the Hot line 
>>>>> capped ok, but the shut off valve did not stop the flow completly 
>>>>> and let a steady drip through to the cold line. Because of the 
>>>>> dampness, I couldn't get the joint to take solder, so I decided to 
>>>>> use a compression fitting.  At the local farm store they didn't 
>>>>> have any compression fittings, but they had something called 
>>>>> SharkBite. It was a bit pricey but what option did I have?  So I 
>>>>> got it.  To my amazment, it worked as advertised, just clean the 
>>>>> end and slide the fitting on and you are done. So if you have to 
>>>>> make an emergency repair, the SharkBite connectors are a good choice.
>>>>>
>>>>> Robert Ehrenberger
>>>>> Shelbyville, Mo.
>>>>> eforge at centurytel.net
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>>
>>>>     -Andy Vida
>>>>
>>>> Proof Technologies Inc.
>>>> IV&V
>>>> Project and Program Management
>>>> (304) 466-0789
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>>>>
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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> _______________________________________________
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> 

-- 

     -Andy Vida

	Proof Technologies Inc.
	IV&V
	Project and Program Management
	(304) 466-0789
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