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    Quote from BKL

    Just came back from a short trip and found our main water entry connection has a leak. Looks like the PVC just below the main galvanized shut-off valve has a leak. Guess I'll be searching for a plumber.

    It's funny, back in northern Virginia, the water pipe enters hoses thru the slab and the shut-off valve is safe and secure inside the house. Exterior faucets also had internal shut-off valves for the winter. Here in Texas, the water connection enters the house from outside with the shut-off valve exposed to anyone who wants to mess with it. Our Exterior faucets lack any interior shut-off capability.

    If it is not a high pressure leak FLEX SEAL TAPE is amazing stuff

    I am sure plumbers are in short supply and it may buy you some time

    The more people I meet

    The more I love my Dog!

    Quote from BKL

    I might be able to fix it tomorrow if I can find my valve-wrench for the water meter connection. IT may just be easier to call a plumber.

    I just use a big pair of channel locks. Is that right? A pair? I really just use one channel lock with two jaws.


    Quote from BKL

    Looks like the PVC just below the main galvanized shut-off valve has a leak.

    If it looks like PVC it should be CPVC. At least up here in the NW.

    Remember folks - this isn't a rehearsal, this is The Show!8)

    A large crescent wrench will work also as you can use it vertical and put a screw driver through the end for a turning handle. My dad worked at our home town water dept and I worked there part time while going to school. The shut off wrenches we had were 5 feet long because in the winter the ground froze down to four feet deep and some times farther and froze the lines to the house. Pipes then was all metal and if they froze you had a guy come with a welding machine and he would hook one cable to the street end of the pipe and the other in your house and the current would warm the pipe. We would always have water main breaks in the very cold nights when it would hit 20 to 30 below and the guys would have to go out in that weather and have the pipe dug down to and fixed. A cold and wet job. us young guys were the ones that had to go down in the cold wet hole to put a saddle on the pipe and bolt it down. I always wished I was in Florida where swamp land was selling cheap back then. Now I am and land isn't cheap.

    If the music is to loud you are to old.

    Quote from BKL

    Just came back from a short trip and found our main water entry connection has a leak. Looks like the PVC just below the main galvanized shut-off valve has a leak. Guess I'll be searching for a plumber.

    It's funny, back in northern Virginia, the water pipe enters hoses thru the slab and the shut-off valve is safe and secure inside the house. Exterior faucets also had internal shut-off valves for the winter. Here in Texas, the water connection enters the house from outside with the shut-off valve exposed to anyone who wants to mess with it. Our Exterior faucets lack any interior shut-off capability.

    Gorilla tape and a couple of hose clamps will stop or slow the leak until you can get it fixed.

    Quote from Frankie55

    Good luck! Use folks up north have been hearing many stories of busted water pipes down south. Hope it's easy on the pocket!

    I might be able to DIY the repair if I can figure out how to add a PVC nipple and pipe to a 90 elbow and then a threaded PVC adapter to connect to a ball valve. Hopefully I'll find some YouTube videos with tips on making everything fit in a small space. I'll be adding some pics later tonight.

    If there was just an inch or two below the PVC-Metal joint, It'd be a lot easier to try and wrap the leak with FlexSeal Tape.

    Edited 2 times, last by BKL ().

    ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) was established by Texas to ensure a reliable electricity supply. They have been repeatedly told roughly every ten years or so that the Texas grid lacks sufficient protection for cold weather operation, so I'm not surprised that lawsuits are now popping up. Texas chose to go-it-alone to avoid Federal regulations that have served the rest of the nation. El Paso, TX gets its electricity from the Western Grid system and experience aroud 3000 power outages with rought 1/3 of those lasting 5 minutes or so. Beaumont, TX also reportdly had far fewer power outages than the rest of Texas because it is connected to the Eastern Grid system. The Texas legislature created ERCOT, but never gave them any ability to force grid enhancements that will protect the system from what just occurred. I guess that's part of Texas' business-friendly environment the politicians keep bragging about. Businesses will rarely make decisions that costs them money if they have the leeway to hope nothing goes wrong. The Governor is now calling for the grid enhancements to be mandated.

    We're also seeing reports of people owing thousands on their electric bills. There's a company called Griddy that basically charges customers a flat $9.99 monthly fee and then purchases power for their customers at the market rate which has hit as high as $1000/Megawatt compared to an average of $50/Megawatt. Griddy was sending out notices to their customers telling them to temporarily switch electric companies to get a fixed rate, but too many customers ignored the alerts. I tried Griddy for a couple months last summer and found myself spending way too much time monitoring spot-market power rates trying to save a few bucks before deciding I preferred the peace of mind of a fixed price contract at the lowest available price for the longest term I can find at the time I'm selecting which provider I want. With Griddy, I saw average prices of 5 cents pr KWH but surges could easily wipe out any savings. I now pay around 10-11 cents per KWH and know what to expect.

    I find it ironic that the company that provides the infrastructure to carry power to my home also offers to seel me a natural gas-powered generator to supply my power needs when they fail to do so.:/

    In addition to the power outages, which we experience far more often than I remember when we lived in northern Virginia, we also have multiple Boil Water Notices when the water system breaks down. I believe we only experienced 2 or 3 BWNs, IIRC, during the 25 years we lived in northern Virginia. Regulation, properly done, can be beneficial and reduce utility outages.

    Quote from BKL

    I might be able to DIY the repair if I can figure out how to add a PVC nipple and pipe to a 90 elbow and then a threaded PVC adapter to connect to a ball valve. Hopefully I'll find some YouTube videos with tips on making everything fit in a small space. I'll be adding some pics later tonight.

    If there was just an inch or two below the PVC-Metal joint, It'd be a lot easier to try and wrap the leak with FlexSeal Tape.

    BKL I just saw flex seal in a spray can at Home Depot yesterday. I personally have not had satisfactory results with the tape and a permanent fix is always better, but it could be worth a try.

    Remember folks - this isn't a rehearsal, this is The Show!8)

    Quote from SlingLow

    BKL I just saw flex seal in a spray can at Home Depot yesterday. I personally have not had satisfactory results with the tape and a permanent fix is always better, but it could be worth a try.

    They make it in a can you can apply with a brush as well - fixed a few spots on my metal porch roof. The stuff was so tough when it can time to remove that section we had to grind off the screw heads. Of course it was only a temp fix for 2 years

    The more people I meet

    The more I love my Dog!

    It got down to 41 and now is up to 70. I would go riding but have to many projects to get finished. Besides riding is better during the week when people are at work and kids in school.

    If the music is to loud you are to old.

    Quote from SlingLow

    BKL I just saw flex seal in a spray can at Home Depot yesterday. I personally have not had satisfactory results with the tape and a permanent fix is always better, but it could be worth a try.

    I've used the FlexSeal spray on some shingles hat were allowing water to flow in underneath. Worked well, but I'm not sure how well the spray will work under pressure.


    I tried using the FlexSeal Tape and had one hell of a time just trying to cut it w/o sticking to the scissors or razor knife and then couldn't get the paper backing off without getting the tape stuck to my fingers. Made me feel like I was totally incompetent! Tried some T-rex tape, but it didn't hold and the leak seemed even worse. To top everything off, the plumber I called said he was a one man shop and had already received over 600 calls, so it looks like I need to find someone else.

    Quote from EnjoyLifeToday

    68 degrees and a beautiful blue sky day for riding!! :thumbsup:

    That's what I'm talkin' about!


    EnjoyLifeToday my wife and I are flying down to your area April 5th through the 10th. We haven't figured out where we will be exactly but will be in the greater Phoenix area part of that time. We may or may not have friends from Idaho join us as well but I'm wondering if there is a day we could meet up for lunch or dinner. We won't be Slinging and we're not into swinging but would enjoy meeting the two of you!

    Remember folks - this isn't a rehearsal, this is The Show!8)