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Massive Pile Up In Fort Worth

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ondma said:
You have put up some pretty "controversial" let us say posts in P and N, but this one is probably a new level of absurdity.

The general advice is to steer into the direction of a skid (i.e. when the back end of the car is coming around, steer into the direction in which the car is starting to rotate). This is the correct response, but once the car starts to skid, it is very difficult to enter the proper amount of counter steering without overcorrecting and spinning the opposite direction. Modern cars with VDC will also try to apply brakes (to selective wheels) and modulate throttle to prevent a skid.
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It's absurd to drive in freezing climates? Okay budday.
 
An enormous amount of new housing that's never seen a cold spell like this is about to be put to the test in Texas. I expect full pocketbooks and wide smiles from recovery services and contractors.

Wrapped my exterior faucets last night and weatherstripped up a shitload of leaky door/window seals. Felt a big draft coming through a switch plate for a patio light and when I pulled off the sconce discovered a 1 inch gap on one side of the mounting plate just letting air pour into the wall. House is 12 years old...
 
K1052 said:
An enormous amount of new housing that's never seen a cold spell like this is about to be put to the test in Texas. I expect full pocketbooks and wide smiles from recovery services and contractors.

Wrapped my exterior faucets last night and weatherstripped up a shitload of leaky door/window seals. Felt a big draft coming through a switch plate for a patio light and when I pulled off the sconce discovered a 1 inch gap on one side of the mounting plate just letting air pour into the wall. House is 12 years old...
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I never really considered that issue. Here in MI that tends to not be an issue because any problems like that will be caught real fast. The builder would need to cover repairs since the house would still be under warranty so they tend to do a decent job on insulation and plumbing
 
Exterous said:
I never really considered that issue. Here in MI that tends to not be an issue because any problems like that will be caught real fast. The builder would need to cover repairs since the house would still be under warranty so they tend to do a decent job on insulation and plumbing
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Yeah given the climate I sort of doubt builders were as careful around here.
 
Brainonska511 said:
So they don't care about insulation and proper sealing to keep air conditioning in? Just throw oversized systems and electricity at the problem in the summer?
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I think it is probably more that heat isn't going to damage a home like cold can so those deficiencies aren't going to be as apparent. But also yes just throwing tonnage at the heat is done from what I've seen.
 
sdifox said:
Lol what makes you think builders care about operating cost?
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Truer words were never spoken. Even our in house construction guys at work will skimp on things if it cuts a few bucks off the budget but be an operating nightmare for years or decades.
 
Plumbers make bank every time cold freeze passes through the South. The pipes are not built and installed with freezing temps in mind so you get pipes bursting everywhere. It's like roofers getting paid after hurricane/tornado or heavy rain. It's like Christmas for these guys. I wrap and cover all my outdoor faucets during winter. I do not want to call a plumber during cold freeze.
 
ponyo said:
Plumbers make bank every time cold freeze passes through the South. The pipes are not built and installed with freezing temps in mind so you get pipes bursting everywhere. It's like roofers getting paid after hurricane/tornado or heavy rain. It's like Christmas for these guys. I wrap and cover all my outdoor faucets during winter. I do not want to call a plumber during cold freeze.
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Do you have vacuum release valves to empty outdoor pipes during winter? Might not be the technical term for it...
 
K1052 said:
An enormous amount of new housing that's never seen a cold spell like this is about to be put to the test in Texas. I expect full pocketbooks and wide smiles from recovery services and contractors.

Wrapped my exterior faucets last night and weatherstripped up a shitload of leaky door/window seals. Felt a big draft coming through a switch plate for a patio light and when I pulled off the sconce discovered a 1 inch gap on one side of the mounting plate just letting air pour into the wall. House is 12 years old...
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I've had those tests where it calculates how much leakage your home has via the garage door or the front-door I think (forget what the exact term is) and ours was pretty tight.

Most I did was make sure pipes were insulated - emptied out our irrigation (sprinkler) pipes on the side, covered a few of the plants that we liked and thats about it. I'll run sink water around the house just in case to keep water moving since we have an outdoor water softener system.

We have PEX piping in our home, so I'm really not too worried.
 
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ponyo said:
Plumbers make bank every time cold freeze passes through the South. The pipes are not built and installed with freezing temps in mind so you get pipes bursting everywhere. It's like roofers getting paid after hurricane/tornado or heavy rain. It's like Christmas for these guys. I wrap and cover all my outdoor faucets during winter. I do not want to call a plumber during cold freeze.
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We had a few minutes (10?) of less than golfball-sized hail - which admittedly isn't often - but regardless, that didn't stop 12 roofers from being at my door the next day to give me their "free inspection". I'm not even exaggerating the number there.

Roofs are built to last 30 years, but of course idiots fearmonger folks into believing a little bit of tiny hail is going to warrant their roof replacing.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
I've had those tests where it calculates how much leakage your home has via the garage door or the front-door I think (forget what the exact term is) and ours was pretty tight.

Most I did was make sure pipes were insulated - emptied out our irrigation (sprinkler) pipes on the side, covered a few of the plants that we liked and thats about it. I'll run sink water around the house just in case to keep water moving since we have an outdoor water softener system.

We have PEX piping in our home, so I'm really not too worried.
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Eventually I'm going to rent an IR camera to get a look for myself what's going on in the walls because I have some suspicions from feel. Doors and windows are easy to find and fix (installed some new sweeps, replaced weatherstrip, etc). Outdoor faucets are wrapped and farthest faucet is set to drip.
 
We have about an inch of snow right now. I went out around the neighborhood. I live near some steep hills so they were not going to be able to be traveled on. I had to take the back roads that gradually went down hill.

Once I got to the main road, there were cars stuck here and there. The nearby Walmart is also at the bottom of some steep roads. When I drove by I could see the exit was blocked with cars that got stuck trying to leave. Nobody was going to get out of Walmart now, at least not going that way.

I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if they know to put the transmission in D-2?" Sometimes that keeps the wheels from slipping because less torque is put on them.
 
K1052 said:
Eventually I'm going to rent an IR camera to get a look for myself what's going on in the walls because I have some suspicions from feel. Doors and windows are easy to find and fix (installed some new sweeps, replaced weatherstrip, etc). Outdoor faucets are wrapped and farthest faucet is set to drip.
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You can do it yourself - sure, definitely not a bad idea.

I went with a Home Energy Audit - and would definitely recommend it. I think I paid... $450 ? They brought with them a temperature gun - and built us out a report with pics of where to fix things and such.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
You can do it yourself - sure, definitely not a bad idea.

I went with a Home Energy Audit - and would definitely recommend it. I think I paid... $450 ? They brought with them a temperature gun - and built us out a report with pics of where to fix things and such.
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Yeah I can manage it and call a contractor in to fix what I know needs to be fixed but can't (or won't) do myself.
 
The part of town I live in is a microclimate and the weather is always worse than downtown where I work. There could be 1-2 inches of snow every where else but 10+ at my place and the roads around me aren't plowed or salted so it can be dangerous trying to drive. Luckily I have a nice manager who let's me have the day off when it's like that.
 
FelixDeCat said:
We have about an inch of snow right now. I went out around the neighborhood. I live near some steep hills so they were not going to be able to be traveled on. I had to take the back roads that gradually went down hill.

Once I got to the main road, there were cars stuck here and there. The nearby Walmart is also at the bottom of some steep roads. When I drove by I could see the exit was blocked with cars that got stuck trying to leave. Nobody was going to get out of Walmart now, at least not going that way.

I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if they know to put the transmission in D-2?" Sometimes that keeps the wheels from slipping because less torque is put on them.
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Oddly sometimes the key to getting un-stuck in snow or ice IS spinning the tires enough so they heat up. Note this must be done with care ... getting rpms too high can destroy your tires or worse.

Problem is nearly every newer car comes with some kind of traction control which will prevent 99% of wheel-spin and MANY people are apparently so clueless they have no idea it can be turned off in most vehicles.
 
sdifox said:
Lol what makes you think builders care about operating cost?
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Construction fellas are part of the "sociopathic class"; if there's a buck to be saved, they'll know where to cut those corners. The reason they do good work is because they don't want to come back and do "warranty" which devours time, which is money for them.

If irreversible damage can be caused, they'll do it because "things have to be fixed". Inlet pipes on a faucet, for example, are the one non-serviceable item on them. Destroy that, and you "stimulate demand".

I know of one instance where drywall nails were used for housing in the 70s and the ceiling comes tumbling down. Given how much time has passed, the original builder is long gone and the repair costs are borne by the homeowner.

Their expertise can make them problematic tenants, as items that should not break with most residents start failing rapidly and unexpectedly.
 
Seems so odd to me to not build stuff to be more efficient. Whether it's naturally colder or hotter out, you want to keep the climate inside comfortable. Heard of some places that even put water heaters outside, that just seems so odd. With climate change the weather is getting more and more messed up, seems to me it's best to build for all type of weather no matter where you are. Building things such as making sure plumbing can't freeze is a fairly basic thing to do, you'd think they would do it everywhere just as a matter of cause. Even Florida can get snow sometimes.

I guess this is the difference between a "builder grade" home (ex: a house that was only built for purpose of selling) vs someone that bought land and had a house built. The builder grade one will cut as many corners as possible to save money but someone that builds their own house will actually want to put time and effort in making it good.
 
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