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The timing is impeccable, eh?
Jan. 25th, 2026 07:47 amYesterday around noon, we were going to move the cars so that I could take mine for a drive to get the engine heated up and running since we're obviously not going to be going anywhere today or tomorrow. Emily had started the laundry a couple hours before that but I didn't think a wash cycle was going and I kept hearing an odd noise downstairs.
We were just about to leave when I pointed out the noise and Emily was going downstairs all ha ha to ease my mind aaaand yeah. Hot water pipe burst, steam going EVERYWHERE. Fan-freaking-tastic. Old houses are awesome, eh? We tried putting a towel around it as carefully as possible and called the heating folks (the ones that came out on December 23 to finally fix the heat on my side that wasn't working and it involved having to get a new heat pump).
They said they could come out between 2-6 and we had to shut off the heat to minimize any damage while we waited. I had been intermittently turning on my space heater since my bedroom was chillier than the rest of the house since it's clearly not well insulated and when the temps get into the single digits, well, it's cold. But I hadn't had it on much - until we had to shut off the heat altogether.
The dude arrived about 3 something and assessed things but they didn't have the stuff to replace whole sections of pipe so he went off to Home Depot to get stuff to try to patch things. I belatedly realized that even though Emily turned off the heat, the gas stove still worked fine so I started putting on simmer pots as well as started the process to make cookies. The guy got back and put on a patch but it needed an hour to cure before testing it so he went out to hang in his truck while we finally got to drive my car around some. We stopped to get snacks and booze (mainly for Emily, I don't really drink). Even after hours of waiting and testing, unfortunately the patch and the clamp weren't going to hold.
We're holding out hope that the plumbing supply place is open this morning since he's going to try to get things there and hopefully he can make it to our place in the storm and get this fixed, otherwise it's going to be yet another uncomfortable day. We can turn the heat only in 20-40 minute stretches. Emily brought down her little space heater and her human-sized dog bed to sleep in the dining room. I woke her at 3 to put the heat on for a stretch because out in the living room, it was down to 46F. It didn't get quite to 50 after 40 minutes but at least it was slightly warmer there.
I got up at 6:30 and started the simmer pots up again and when those got burbling, I put hot water in the steel coffee carafe and started making coffee. I had to shut off the space heater in my room to do that but it's fine since it only needed to be off for 10 minutes. In the meantime, Emily put the heat on for another stretch.
With the simmer pots and the heat on for about 35 minutes, the living area got from 45 to 50 and her dining room area got to 53 so not comfortable but at least keeping the pipes from freezing.
I do love the irony that by leaving my bedroom door shut and my bigger space heater running, it's slightly above 60 in here.
I told Emily I was hoping to film some ASMR videos in the dining room but clearly that wasn't going to happen. I did joke that I could do the ASMR or Emily snoring. heh heh.
So if you could toss some hopeful vibes this way that we get heat restored and no more burst pipes, that would be super duper awesome.
We were just about to leave when I pointed out the noise and Emily was going downstairs all ha ha to ease my mind aaaand yeah. Hot water pipe burst, steam going EVERYWHERE. Fan-freaking-tastic. Old houses are awesome, eh? We tried putting a towel around it as carefully as possible and called the heating folks (the ones that came out on December 23 to finally fix the heat on my side that wasn't working and it involved having to get a new heat pump).
They said they could come out between 2-6 and we had to shut off the heat to minimize any damage while we waited. I had been intermittently turning on my space heater since my bedroom was chillier than the rest of the house since it's clearly not well insulated and when the temps get into the single digits, well, it's cold. But I hadn't had it on much - until we had to shut off the heat altogether.
The dude arrived about 3 something and assessed things but they didn't have the stuff to replace whole sections of pipe so he went off to Home Depot to get stuff to try to patch things. I belatedly realized that even though Emily turned off the heat, the gas stove still worked fine so I started putting on simmer pots as well as started the process to make cookies. The guy got back and put on a patch but it needed an hour to cure before testing it so he went out to hang in his truck while we finally got to drive my car around some. We stopped to get snacks and booze (mainly for Emily, I don't really drink). Even after hours of waiting and testing, unfortunately the patch and the clamp weren't going to hold.
We're holding out hope that the plumbing supply place is open this morning since he's going to try to get things there and hopefully he can make it to our place in the storm and get this fixed, otherwise it's going to be yet another uncomfortable day. We can turn the heat only in 20-40 minute stretches. Emily brought down her little space heater and her human-sized dog bed to sleep in the dining room. I woke her at 3 to put the heat on for a stretch because out in the living room, it was down to 46F. It didn't get quite to 50 after 40 minutes but at least it was slightly warmer there.
I got up at 6:30 and started the simmer pots up again and when those got burbling, I put hot water in the steel coffee carafe and started making coffee. I had to shut off the space heater in my room to do that but it's fine since it only needed to be off for 10 minutes. In the meantime, Emily put the heat on for another stretch.
With the simmer pots and the heat on for about 35 minutes, the living area got from 45 to 50 and her dining room area got to 53 so not comfortable but at least keeping the pipes from freezing.
I do love the irony that by leaving my bedroom door shut and my bigger space heater running, it's slightly above 60 in here.
I told Emily I was hoping to film some ASMR videos in the dining room but clearly that wasn't going to happen. I did joke that I could do the ASMR or Emily snoring. heh heh.
So if you could toss some hopeful vibes this way that we get heat restored and no more burst pipes, that would be super duper awesome.
