Cold weather advice from Sheila's Wheels

[usenet2012]

I've just received this cold-weather advice from my home insurance co.

Number 5 is particularly excellent.

G'day

Being a savvy Sheila you?ll know that our houses are susceptible to problems that can be caused by severe cold weather conditions. If a leak from a burst pipe or water tank happens it can be very serious - potentially extremely expensive with highly disruptive consequences.

As soon as harsh weather conditions are forecast it?s advisable to get our homes as protected as best we can. So we?ve put together a set of simple steps that you can take to help prevent the kinds of serious plumbing problems that can be caused by cold conditions.

---------------------------------------------- How to prevent frozen pipes

----------------------------------------------

1. Know where your internal stopcock is and how to turn it off.
2. Find out where your internal stopcock is if you're not already aware, just in case you need to switch off your water supply.
3. Leave internal doors open to allow warm air to move around.
4. Leave the cupboard door open under your sink, allowing warm air to move around the pipes ? a lot of frozen pipes are found below sink units.

1. Allow some heat to circulate in your loft space the best way to do this is to leave your loft hatch open.

[Broadback]

You can scoff, however in the 60's when we had that very cold Winter I took off the hatch and left a paraffin heater underneath. As a result we were the only house to have water in the block, others kept coming to collect water from us, which we happily supplied. Admittedly there was little insulation back in those days, however it did work.

[sm_jamieson]

Make sure you don't forget to insulate your loft hatch first ;-) Simon.

[Brian Gaff]

What, so if there is a fire the whole house goes up, or maybe there is a seperate leaflet for fires.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes, I was just wondering what a car insurance company was doing insuring houses actually. In my house the pipes where applicable all run under the insulation so the heat from the house keeps them warm. The usual place we get frozen is at the actual ballcock in the loft so I've added some lagging over it and move a bit from under it, and I've not had any issues in recent years.

Brian

[Nightjar]

I can imagine the doors in my house delaying a fire for several seconds.

Colin Bignell

[polygonum]

Sheila's Walls?

[philipuk]

You would be surprised how long a door can keep back a fire, even internal doors that are mostly cardboard. They certainly can provide enough time difference to allow you to escape. Of course they do naff all to keep smoke in.

Philip

[Tim Streater]

Why should I do that? There are no pipes up there.

[whisky-dave]

Well if your loft is well insualted then you're not warming the loft which is keeping your energy bills low and reduces global warming, why would anyone want to do such things ;-0

[Tim Streater]

It isn't - yet - because of various building and cabling work. When all that's done I can get the loft insulated properly (there's some there now, but it's been disturbed).

[Mentalguy2k8]

And maybe locate your internal stopcock for a 3rd time just in case!

[Andy Dingley]

Here's a cold weather tip from my Dad.

• Always use compression joints. Don't solder anything. When compression jo= ints freeze they just pop apart, so that they're easy to re-assemble,

• Why buy or cut a new piece of pipe, when instead you can join two old bit= s with a compression joint. Compression joints aren't that expensive!

• Re-using old compression joints makes for an interesting variety of style= s and sizes. After all, plumbers have adjustable spanners for a reason!

• Never use isolating valves. They might leak or seize up!

• Don't disrupt tiling or need awkward planning ahead for a pipe run. Inste= ad plumb in the utility room sink and washing machine by piping out into th= e unheated garage, past the garden hose tap, then back into the house. Insi= de an uninsulated flat roof makes a great pipeway, and you can run the elec= trics through there too.

• Insulate your pipes against the cold by building them custom-made plywood= boxes and stuffing then with a smidgen of recycled loft insulation. Don't = waste money on buying neoprene. Nail the lids down too, it's not as if ther= e's anything in there to go wrong.

• Go ga-ga and wind up in a care home, before you've told anyone where the = family jewels are buried, or where you hid the stopcocks.

So, new tenant moves in. Most of its working, except for an ominous damp pa= tch appearing in the garage, once we started using the washing machine supp= ly again...

[Jethro_uk]

It's been 5 minutes, and I still can't stop laughing

[jgharston]

A small damp patch has appeared in the corner of my off-shot kitchen below where the Victorian corner chimney was removed decades ago. So, to check I've just finished clambering up above the ceiling, and as a precaution also drain down the rainwater storage tank. My fingers only now feel normal again.

The drifts of dust in the corner had a damp colour, but didn't feel damp. I'm hoping it's the record rainfall we've had in the last few months has penetrated further than normal, and that it will return to normal, but I'll have to clamber up there again to keep an eye on it.

JGH

[usenet2012]

In message , Mentalguy2k8 writes

Lol - I missed that. :-)

[Andrew Gabriel]

Victorian hearths often have no damp proof course - they didn't need one because the heat from the fire kept it dry.