Winter storm autopsy: It can happen to you
Were you one of the millions of homeowners, renters or business owners who suffered from the recent miserable polar weather in the core of the USA? The storm and low temperatures left millions without power, drinking water, food and other necessities. Frozen and burst water pipes in houses and businesses are now as plentiful as flies at a summer cookout.
The past few days I’ve been trying to make sense of all the misery out there. A week ago I was a guest on the live midday WGN-TV news show to try to help the folks in Chicagoland who were suffering from extreme cold, ice dams and whatnot.
My takeaway from that brief appearance, as well as an avalanche of incoming help requests on my Askthebuilder.com
website, is that people have ignored the simple and easy things they could have done to protect their homes when these severe weather events happen.
I don’t know where the blame lies for this lack of transfer of basic home maintenance know-how, and to be honest, I don’t care. All I care about now is getting you up to speed so you know what to do to prevent burst water lines in your home.
Water expands in volume by 9 percent when it freezes. This usually isn’t a big deal if it freezes in an open bucket where the extra volume can go up into the air. Your water lines are different. They’re a closed system much like a can of fruit juice. Put one of those in your freezer and the next day it’s going to be split wide open just like your burst copper or galvanized iron water lines.
There are water lines that can handle this expansion. I have them in my own home and I installed it in my daughter’s new home. PEX plastic water lines can freeze and not burst. If you’re going to build a new home or remodel, consider PEX.
Here’s what to do if you don’t have PEX water lines. Step one is to clean your bathtub(s) and fill it to the brim with clean water. Do the same with as many buckets, bowls and pots as you own. You’ll use this for drinking, cooking, flushing toilets and so forth during the crisis.
Step two is to locate your main water shutoff valve and turn it off. It’s almost always where the water line enters your home. It could be in your basement, crawlspace or a closet.
You need to make sure the valve works and actually shuts off the water. This can be a touchy test because if you haven’t exercised the valve before, it may not work, you may break the handle, or it might not reopen. Don’t do this test hours before you’re expecting 20 guests for Thanksgiving dinner. Don’t do this test on a weekend when plumbers might be hard to come by.
Let’s assume the valve works. Your water is now off so if the water lines were to burst, you wouldn’t have to worry about thousands of gallons of water flowing across your floors like the great Mississippi River flowing across the flatlands.
But you’ve now created a hidden time bomb. Shutting off the water is not enough. We need to get as much water out of the water lines as possible. Find the lowest sink in your house and turn on both the hot and cold valve as if you needed warm water.
Now go through the entire house and flush every toilet, open up every valve, including tubs, showers, outside hose faucets, etc. You’ll see lots of water start flowing out of the first sink where you opened up the first valve. Gravity is pulling the water out of your water lines and replacing it with wonderful air. Do NOT close the valves on any faucet. Leave them open until such time as you can once again turn on the water.
If you feel it’s going to get bitter cold in your home, you’ll need to drain your water heater as well. That’s easy as it has a drain valve on the bottom of it.
Let’s say the power doesn’t come on and the temperature in the house is getting close to 32 F. Now it’s time to protect your toilet tanks and bowls and all the sink, tub, and shower traps. You can pour some RV antifreeze in all these. Most septic tanks and sewer systems won’t suffer with RV antifreeze. Don’t use regular car antifreeze, as it’s quite toxic.
If the water in the toilet bowl or traps freezes, you’ll have even more misery and expense. It’s so easy to prevent this damage. But, then again, it requires you to have three or four gallons of this antifreeze stored in your home, so you’re not looking for it when it’s sold out the day after the power goes out. Be prepared like a scout.
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Raised beds are a great option for most vegetable gardeners, especially if you have only a small amount of space.
A raised bed is nothing more than a box or container with soil placed on top of the ground. They typically are more productive than in-ground beds because the soil is less compacted, has better drainage and warms and dries earlier in the spring, allowing you to start gardening sooner.
They also are often easier to maintain, particularly for gardeners with limited mobility, and generally have lower perennial weed pressure. The main disadvantages are that raised beds tend to require more frequent irrigation and have a high initial cost of construction. The advantages, however, typically outweigh the disadvantages over the long term.
Design and construction
Gardeners can purchase raised-bed kits that require assembly, or you can build one out of many different types of materials. Large containers, such as livestock water troughs, are popular right now for their industrial-chic appearance, and they also make excellent raised beds.
Most gardeners elect to build beds out of non-treated, rot-resistant lumber, such as cedar, oak or locust. Bricks, rocks and cinder blocks also can be used. Gardeners should avoid the use of used railroad ties and tires because of the potential for leaching toxic materials into the soil.
Proper design and sizing of a raised bed is critical so that the gardener can easily accomplish all tasks while outside the bed. Beds should be no more than 3 or 4 feet wide, and even more narrow if young children will be gardening. Although length is less crucial, many raised beds are designed to be a maximum of 8 feet long.
Soil should be a minimum of 6 inches deep, and 8 to 10 inches is preferable. Raised beds can be placed directly over existing sod or soil, and a barrier does not need to be placed underneath.
The beds also can be elevated several feet off the ground to allow individuals with limited mobility or those confined to a wheelchair to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of gardening. Such beds should be designed to be a maximum of 24 inches wide to allow easy access to the entire bed.
Soil
One of the greatest benefits of gardening in raised beds is the ability to grow in lighter, less-compacted soil with more pore space for air and water. Filling them with native soil dug from existing in-ground growing spaces is
not recommended.
Ideally, raised beds should have a mixture of quality garden soil and compost. Many garden centers sell bagged soil blended specifically for use in raised beds.
Location
Like any vegetable garden, raised beds should be located in areas that receive a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight each day. They also can be an option for sloped locations by terracing the bed during construction.
Ideally, raised beds should be located close to a water source to facilitate frequent irrigation. If you build several raised beds, be sure to allow for adequate space in between to allow for easy work and maintenance in each.
Although a raised bed won’t solve every problem a vegetable gardener might encounter during the growing season, it will provide an opportunity to produce more vegetables in a smaller space while reducing the labor involved with routine garden-maintenance chores.
Mike Hogan is an associate professor at Ohio State University and extension educator at the OSU Extension.
hogan.1@osu.edu