October 30, 2015
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FROZEN PIPES SUCK!

 

 

"Ya got to do something!  The water is spraying out of the ceiling in my bedroom!" yelled the college kid.

 

"Calm down, Jim.  Go to the mechanical room in the basement and turn the water off."

 

"What's a mechanical room?"

 

"The one with the furnace and hot water heater in it."

 

"Okay.  I'm here now.  What do I do?"

 

"Turn the water off."

 

"Where is it?  There's lots of pipes and handles."

 

"The one with the red tag marked 'Water'...turn it to the right."

 

"That's clockwise, right?  Nothin' happened."

 

"Go back to your bedroom.  The water should have stopped."

 

"...Yeah but....I'm movin' outta here!"

 

It was a helluva cold winter here in the east.  Record low temperatures.  Had numerous frozen pipes and five of them burst at the most inconvenient times and hard-to-get-to places.  Here's what I learned.

 

Bear in mind that, with the changing weather patterns, last winter may be a harbinger of future cold spells.  I wanted to permanently solve these problems.

 

Do it once...Forever!

 

The pipes that burst were sometimes:

  1. Running outside a brick exterior wall covered with vinyl, etc.
  2. Running underneath an add-on room or kitchen crawl space without any heating source.
  3. Other places without adequate heat.

My best solutions:

 

1.  PEX - A very strong and flexible plastic compound pipe that now has a large and growing market share.  If water does freeze in PEX, PEX will expand...not burst.

 

To solve the problems, I sometimes bypassed the problem pipes (copper, corrugated steel, PVC) and ran PEX inside the house along the baseboard, along the meeting of the wall and ceiling, then, depending on the look and circumstances, boxed it in and, if necessary, put vents in the box to allow the room's heat to reach the PEX.  In other words, I brought the plumbing (PEX) inside the heated house.  I found that wrapping the current pipes with insulation did not solve the problem.

 

2.  Insulate pipes + thermostat + heating element - Using insulation with a thermostat and heating unit worked 50% of the time.  Perhaps it was faulty insulation; perhaps the thermostat didn't switch on the heating element.  But I did use this in places I couldn't bring PEX into the house.

 

3.  Sump pumps, baskets, and PVC exit pipes - Surprisingly, the water in the basket did not freeze, but the exit pipes running along the ground into yard did freeze.  We had to heat up the pipes, and in one case cut the PVC off next to the house, then expand it out again in the spring.  Not sure of a long-term solution.

 

FROZEN BRAINS

 

"I'm freezin' here in the house!  The furnace isn't working!"

 

I always ask, "Look at the thermostat and tell me what temperature it is."

 

"Says it's 68 degrees, but I have an overcoat on!"  Or, "Says 65 degrees but the kitchen is really cold."  Or, "Says 78 but I don't know what's wrong!"

 

I then ask, "What temperature do you have it set at?"

 

I generally get an answer that makes me very happy I'm not paying the heating (gas) bill.

 

I sometimes send a handyman with a "heat gun" that gives the exact temperature of anywhere you aim it, then we show the temperature to the tenant.  Sometimes that makes an impact; sometimes not.

 

"I'M COLD" SOLUTIONS FOR A HOT WATER SYSTEM:

  1. Bleeding the radiators.
  2. Put more water in the system.
  3. Circulator pump isn't working.
  4. Thermostat is malfunctioning.

"I'M COLD SOLUTIONS FOR A HOT AIR SYSTEM:

  1.  Replace the filter.  (I keep 6 filters at the house, though rarely does a tenant change them.)
  2. Open/close vents to direct airflow to neglected areas.
  3. Thermostat is malfunctioning.

ACE IN THE HOLE SOLUTIONS

  1.  If I finish a basement with a fourth bedroom, den, and powder room, instead of trying to expand the current system to heat the new space, I prefer to add electric oil-filled baseboard heaters with a thermostat.  They are double the price of the strictly electric baseboard heaters, but they heat up and then shut off like a radiator, saving the tenant over 50% of the electric cost.
  2. I'm sure you are aware of the fluid (oil) filled electric stand-alone heaters that Home Depot or Lowes sell for $49-$69.  If a room is cold--and there are always a few cold rooms in any house--I leave one, two or even three with the tenant.  Gratis.

It's a good tenant relations move and generally stops the "It's freezing in here" phone calls.

 

Remember--The highest expense a landlord has is Tenant Turnover!

     

Disclaimer:  The information in this newsletter is provided as a service.  The reader should be aware that the author is not an attorney, accountant, tax advisor or financial advisor.  The author attempts to keep the information timely and accurate; however makes no express or implied guarantees.  This information may not be relied upon for accounting, tax, legal, financial or insurance purposes.  The reader is advised to consult his or her professional advisors regarding any use of this information.

  
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