What Preps are you doing this week? Part 13

[Frnc]

Also going to have to bite the bullet and find a plumber..

Stopcock in the house is jammed solid. Can't budge it and don't want to overdo it as it's very old. To add to the fun, the stopcock in the road doesn't fully close.. But once that's fixed, I can get the hot tap fixed that turns itself on...

I'm pretty sure stopcocks turn the opposite way to what you might expect. Off is clockwise. Turn SLOWLY when turning back on.

Post edited! Said it wrong way round.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Also going to have to bite the bullet and find a plumber..

Stopcock in the house is jammed solid. Can't budge it and don't want to overdo it as it's very old. To add to the fun, the stopcock in the road doesn't fully close.. But once that's fixed, I can get the hot tap fixed that turns itself on...

Nows the time to find these issues a leaky tap going down the sink isn't the end of the world but a burst pipe in the depths of winter is another scenario all together as I'm sure geegee will be all to pleased not to recount

[GeeGee]

YA talking about that today ..lost absolutly everything from a indoor upstairs burst pipe just before Xmas while I was out delivering pressies ..came home to carnage and water coming from the doors
Yorkshire Water estimated 13 thousand litres of water crashed through the ceilings upstairs and wrecked the house
Lived in a garden shed for weeks over winter

Once done and house sold I was glad to leave
Still navigating small storage in this bungalow I'm in but getting there...
And any drips any signs of any water I'm on it ...
Miss the wood burner but not the work that it took
But I am enjoying creating space where there really shouldn't be any in my small space

[Frnc]

YA talking about that today ..lost absolutly everything from a indoor upstairs burst pipe just before Xmas while I was out delivering pressies ..came home to carnage and water coming from the doors
Yorkshire Water estimated 13 thousand litres of water crashed through the ceilings upstairs and wrecked the house
Lived in a garden shed for weeks over winter

Once done and house sold I was glad to leave
Still navigating small storage in this bungalow I'm in but getting there...
And any drips any signs of any water I'm on it ...
Miss the wood burner but not the work that it took
But I am enjoying creating space where there really shouldn't be any in my small space

That sounds awful.
Yet another example of why we might have to bug out. Might only be to the shed, but it's still an evacuation, and for a fair amount of time. And in winter! Even in summer, nights can be routinely cold, and close to freezing occasionally. Of course if your BOB is soaked, that's not helpful, but the contents need to be protected from heavy rain anyway, eg in a pack liner.

[GillyBee]

You are far more likely to need to bug out due to mundane situations than TEOTWAWKI so it makes sense to think about these when planning your bug outs.

We have had to bug out temporarily or had near misses over the years from neighbour's property on fire, risk of a gas explosion (Van with cylinder on fire). Most of BIL's village had to bug out because of floods.

None of these were run to the woods events. They were go to friends/evacuation centre/hotel type events.

The chances are good that you will experience at least one of these every 10-20 years so plan accordingly. (And don't buy a house in a flood zone)

[Frnc]

Got my 'portable' air conditioner. Had to cut the box around it to get it out. Was a bit scary getting it upstairs. It's quite heavy. It has castors, and only one pair fit on a stair tread, so you have to tilt it a bit, and hold it up. You need two hands to lift it. I wouldn't want to lift anything heavier. Hope I don't ever need to lift it downstairs. It weights 24 kg. My Meaco dehumidifiers are only 10 kg.

Next palava was the hot air hose. It's longer than most, but is not as flexible as I'd hoped, so only just reached the window. I decided to use the rectangular kit. The hose has to bend out and then down to almost horizontal (window is top opener). It won't quite reach and stay there, but it will sit with the bottom edge in place, and a half inch gap at the top. So I can drape something over that, and plug the triangles at the sides.

Have to leave it 24 hours before use. I took the hose off for now and dumped it in the spare room, as it takes up a lot of space when you take it out of the window.

Am plugging it directly into a wall socket, via a Tapo to monitor energy use.

[ForgeCorvus]

Also going to have to bite the bullet and find a plumber..

Stopcock in the house is jammed solid. Can't budge it and don't want to overdo it as it's very old. To add to the fun, the stopcock in the road doesn't fully close.. But once that's fixed, I can get the hot tap fixed that turns itself on...

Nows the time to find these issues a leaky tap going down the sink isn't the end of the world but a burst pipe in the depths of winter is another scenario all together as I'm sure geegee will be all to pleased not to recount

My Dad told me to turn the stopcock off and on "a couple of times a year" to make sure it didn't jam..... Its now a "Clock weekend" job.
I think he wrang a stopcock off sometime before I was born and once bitten, twice shy

[grenfell]

Some years ago I was working on an old fire damaged building. We were told to just cut off the pipework as it was all "dead" . My workmate angle grinded through a pipe and water started coming through. "Carry on" he was told "it's just what is in the pipes" . Of course it wasn't but the main stopcock on a 2 1/2" pipe hadn't been turned for a century or so. The poor plumber had to fit a stopcock to the flowing pipe.
Just to add it might be worth considering a hydrostatic valve fitted . They look essentially like a light switch and make isolation an easy job . Also fit isolation valves to taps and toilets while you're at it.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

Also fit isolation valves to taps and toilets while you're at it.

Part of the need to get the stopcock fixed is that I have a couple of isolation valves that leak when turned off. These, of course, are on the taps that also leak and need replacing....

When we bought the house 30 years ago, an old man had been living in it for years. It was a wreck so needed to be totally rewired and replumbed. Back then we were skint - everything had gone into buying the house. The work was done by a local firm (mates of mates down the pub). Now, I wouldn't call them cowboys, per se, but they were pretty familiar with horses... As such, everything had do be done on a budget - good enough better that perfect and count the pennies. Now we are paying the price. For instance, we had a new boiler a year back, and as part of that they pressurised the system and flushed the pipes. Two radiators promptly sprang leaks and needed to be replaced. Everything is just tired and used.

Ideally, I would have everything redone, to modern standards and my spec (the electrics in particular). Have all the pipes insulated (we have raised wooden floors). But it would cost a lot and mean all the flooring would have to come up. This is the problem with living in a house thats over 100 yers old.

[GeeGee]

Also fit isolation valves to taps and toilets while you're at it.

Part of the need to get the stopcock fixed is that I have a couple of isolation valves that leak when turned off. These, of course, are on the taps that also leak and need replacing....

When we bought the house 30 years ago, an old man had been living in it for years. It was a wreck so needed to be totally rewired and replumbed. Back then we were skint - everything had gone into buying the house. The work was done by a local firm (mates of mates down the pub). Now, I wouldn't call them cowboys, per se, but they were pretty familiar with horses... As such, everything had do be done on a budget - good enough better that perfect and count the pennies. Now we are paying the price. For instance, we had a new boiler a year back, and as part of that they pressurised the system and flushed the pipes. Two radiators promptly sprang leaks and needed to be replaced. Everything is just tired and used.

Ideally, I would have everything redone, to modern standards and my spec (the electrics in particular). Have all the pipes insulated (we have raised wooden floors). But it would cost a lot and mean all the flooring would have to come up. This is the problem with living in a house thats over 100 yers old.

This was my issue same thing old house same age same story.
I had a isolater put on the bathroom pipe that burst but I literally couldn't keep up with it all it had leaked before.. my own fault for not dealing with it right ..must have burst the minute I left ... filled the bathroom and bedrooms...
Had to have a new boiler too and of course all the electrics blew ..no ceilings ..all crashed to lower floor
No flooring ..no white goods all destroyed laminate and carpets kettle toaster microwave the lot gone
Sofa and chairs floating ( old concrete floors kept the water in till it burst through the doors ) tv had blown ...Still plugged in on standby. What a fool . . Kitchen door warped ..
No kitchen units and everything you keep in the drawers and cupboards ..photos paperwork all your electricals passport the lot
I was literally stood in the clothes I had the poor cat was in and fortunately perced on top of the soaked curtains on the pole
Sold the house with a 7 week old brand new boiler new kitchen units ,carpets and flooring new plaster new ceilings but no way could I ever go through it again ..indoor floods are awful ..all floods are....
Harsh lesson but one learned.
Simple keep up with the damned pipes would have stopped all this
A few days before xmas too
The preppers on here kept me going with "posh" names for the shed I was living in ...it was freezing cold and with my little gas cooking ring I'm surprised I didnt burn it down !
Not worth it ...get the pipes sorted as soon as you can wouldn't wish it on anyone