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In reply to the discussion: Snowed in BOGers! Give us your video, pictures and stories. [View all]IrishAyes
(6,151 posts)valuable preventive in the future, though. I'd thought buying a little drop-in coil heater would be cheaper than electric pipe wiring, but apparently this time I was penny wise and pound foolish. Someone also told me a plumbers trick of wrapping the pipe in heavy duty tin foil first to help spread the heat around.
Once I've learned the proper routine, things will be fine. It storms like hell here every winter, but after 8 years we've only been w/o power a very few times, and that not for long. Only once did it last several hours. Underground utilities - odd for such an old town - and a local power plant help a lot!
I've even found a new handyman to add to my short list. A blessing indeed. He installed my new dishwasher for only $40. Does everything a house needs. So he might not always be available, but he will always be the first one I call. He makes his main income for the year in 3 months as a unionized construction worker in a town almost 70 miles from here - it's seasonal but carries him the rest of the year and allows him to be merciful with his charges for little old retired ladies needs. I've always wanted to replace the original brick foundation in the front half of the house with poured concrete even though the present one's perfectly okay - for now. But it is a hundred years old. Best to do that before other interior renovations and then I won't ever have to worry. A stitch in time.