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Old 12-04-2020, 08:59 AM   #1
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Default Winterizing Plumbing 3-Season Todo List

Well I pushed things to the limit and the guy I was going to winterized is booked out. I need to close by Monday as it’s gonna get down to 16F stay well under 32F for several days.

So my plan is.

Remove water line from lake and remove foot valve and let it drain.
Open valve at base of pressure tank.
Remove drain plugs on pump.
Drain hot water heater.
Drain supply pipes as best I can
Drain toilet water closet
Poor a gallon of RV antifreeze into all traps.

I’m not sure I can easily blowout any lines.

It’s all slopped down to the lake so that should all drain.

Water Well is getting Drilled in Jan if all goes according to plan.
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Old 12-04-2020, 09:52 AM   #2
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Probably, some freezable water will still be left inside the shallow well pump.

What to do .... using a big plastic funnel and gallon of rv antifreeze, poor about one quart of antifreeze into the top of the pump via an open plug on top, and turn the pump on for five seconds to swirl the antifreeze around, inside the pump.
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Old 12-04-2020, 10:48 AM   #3
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Sponge out all water from toilet tank and make sure you put antifreeze into toilet bowl trap or you will get sewer gas into the house. Make sure you open all shower valves as well. Open outside sill cocks so as to avoid any vacuum issues. You really need to reconsider a small air compressor to blow out the lines, just to be safe. They can be bought for under $50 at Harbor Freight.
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Old 12-04-2020, 06:29 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by tummyman View Post
Sponge out all water from toilet tank and make sure you put antifreeze into toilet bowl trap or you will get sewer gas into the house. Make sure you open all shower valves as well. Open outside sill cocks so as to avoid any vacuum issues. You really need to reconsider a small air compressor to blow out the lines, just to be safe. They can be bought for under $50 at Harbor Freight.
I do have a compressor. I’ll see what I can do on that. Problem is,where is in and out? And once air finds a path it won’t push water any more. I’ve done simple stuff be for like sprinkler systems. But a house with pipes going every which way it’s hard to push it all out.

I think the plumber might have pumped RV antifreeze in on some spots.
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Old 12-04-2020, 07:28 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by mswlogo View Post
I do have a compressor. I’ll see what I can do on that. Problem is,where is in and out? And once air finds a path it won’t push water any more. I’ve done simple stuff be for like sprinkler systems. But a house with pipes going every which way it’s hard to push it all out.

I think the plumber might have pumped RV antifreeze in on some spots.
Not if you drain and blow systematically! I made up a fitting so I can attach my compressor to the water lines. First drain water and hot water tanks, then gravity drain what pipes I can. I turn the water tank valve off and start the compressor, then go to each faucet and one by one open them up til nothing but air comes out. Drain toilets ( wet vac works great for that), then add antifreeze to toilet bowls and all drain traps. Drain washing machine and run a little antifreeze through that, then do the same with the dishwasher...that's all!

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Old 12-04-2020, 09:29 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mswlogo View Post
I do have a compressor. I’ll see what I can do on that. Problem is,where is in and out? And once air finds a path it won’t push water any more. I’ve done simple stuff be for like sprinkler systems. But a house with pipes going every which way it’s hard to push it all out.

I think the plumber might have pumped RV antifreeze in on some spots.
Couple of other hints:

- Winterize your laundry washer according to the manufacturer's instructions and remove the drain line. Using some flexible hose and a funnel, pour a cup or two of antifreeze into the drainage outlet. When you disconnect the washer's supply lines (manufacturer will tell you to do that), be sure to cap them to avoid any surprises if you forget to reconnect the hoses before turning the water on in the spring.

- I also disconnect the fridge and toilet supply lines to release any vacuum and allow water to fully drain.

- If you have a bubbler, be sure to leave that circuit breaker on and even then, double check to ensure you have power to the applicable outlet.

- Don't be shy with the antifreeze. It's much cheaper than new toilets or appliances.
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Old 12-05-2020, 02:48 AM   #7
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House is as basic as it gets.

1 bathroom
No washer
No dish washer
No ice maker
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Old 12-07-2020, 01:00 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by steve-on-mark View Post
Not if you drain and blow systematically! I made up a fitting so I can attach my compressor to the water lines. First drain water and hot water tanks, then gravity drain what pipes I can. I turn the water tank valve off and start the compressor, then go to each faucet and one by one open them up til nothing but air comes out. Drain toilets ( wet vac works great for that), then add antifreeze to toilet bowls and all drain traps. Drain washing machine and run a little antifreeze through that, then do the same with the dishwasher...that's all!

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I had a compressor with hand crafted adapter to water system. I used to run a small setup in my last place in the boathouse to have pressurized water down near the water. Much simpler setup though.

You were right to use the compressor. I had depressurized pump and taken the foot valve off first and started down at that end first. Then I shut the house off at the pump to keep it "closed".

I had the compressor basically on a spigot (hot and cold) at the house. Then I opened hot water heater drain first. It was the compressor driving that water out. And it had to go up from the base of the the water heater. Once hot water was empty. I did the first faucet, then closed the hot water drain. Then opened up the next and closed the previous. Regulator is not good on the compressor and had to be careful not to get to much pressure in the system.

Then I wanted to push water out around the pump but it was going straight out the foot valve. So I had to put that back. and took it out later.

I did put RV antifreeze in the pump and let it spin a second. Not sure that did much.

I also put plumbers grease on all the plug holes on the pump. They tend to get rusty.

I put 1 gallon down each sink, tub etc.

I put 2 gallons in the water closet and flushed it (with it mostly empty in the bowl). It was just enough to "flush".

I have a 5 gallon bucket in the tub of water and put 1 gallon of RV antifreeze to maybe not freeze. Also 5 spare gallons of RV antifreeze. In case I visit over winter and need a couple flushes.

We managed to stay until Dec 6., that's like 2 weeks before winter solstice. Had some gorgeous weather at times. Got tons of projects done. Expecting a $500.00 electric bill though. Which is fine.

Even though it was cold, dark and windy when we left, we still miss it.

I have 5 Blink cameras. 2 outside. 1 in garage and 2 inside. Plus 10x Zoom PTZ AXIS Web Camera. Weather Station. Two Multi Sensors (Temp, Motion, Vibration, Pressure humidity). One in the house and one in the pump house. Curious how cold it will get. ZWave Smoke alarm . Sense Power Monitor. ZWave motion switch in Garage to control a 150,000 lumens light . ZWave light switch for floods. 4 Wave light bulbs. ZWave Door Lock. All Zwave can be controlled monitors through SmartThings. Best Thermostat (using a cool high voltage to low voltage adapter).

Oh shoot, just realized I left the "cottage sitter" running which will call us every time it goes below 40F in the house. Need to remember how to program it remotely. Ugh.
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Old 12-07-2020, 08:48 AM   #9
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The compressor was definitely the way to go...you’ll be glad you did. Now all you need is for your power to remain on so all your technology works!!!
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Old 12-07-2020, 08:52 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mswlogo View Post
I had a compressor with hand crafted adapter to water system. I used to run a small setup in my last place in the boathouse to have pressurized water down near the water. Much simpler setup though.

You were right to use the compressor. I had depressurized pump and taken the foot valve off first and started down at that end first. Then I shut the house off at the pump to keep it "closed".

I had the compressor basically on a spigot (hot and cold) at the house. Then I opened hot water heater drain first. It was the compressor driving that water out. And it had to go up from the base of the the water heater. Once hot water was empty. I did the first faucet, then closed the hot water drain. Then opened up the next and closed the previous. Regulator is not good on the compressor and had to be careful not to get to much pressure in the system.

Then I wanted to push water out around the pump but it was going straight out the foot valve. So I had to put that back. and took it out later.

I did put RV antifreeze in the pump and let it spin a second. Not sure that did much.

I also put plumbers grease on all the plug holes on the pump. They tend to get rusty.

I put 1 gallon down each sink, tub etc.

I put 2 gallons in the water closet and flushed it (with it mostly empty in the bowl). It was just enough to "flush".

I have a 5 gallon bucket in the tub of water and put 1 gallon of RV antifreeze to maybe not freeze. Also 5 spare gallons of RV antifreeze. In case I visit over winter and need a couple flushes.

We managed to stay until Dec 6., that's like 2 weeks before winter solstice. Had some gorgeous weather at times. Got tons of projects done. Expecting a $500.00 electric bill though. Which is fine.

Even though it was cold, dark and windy when we left, we still miss it.

I have 5 Blink cameras. 2 outside. 1 in garage and 2 inside. Plus 10x Zoom PTZ AXIS Web Camera. Weather Station. Two Multi Sensors (Temp, Motion, Vibration, Pressure humidity). One in the house and one in the pump house. Curious how cold it will get. ZWave Smoke alarm . Sense Power Monitor. ZWave motion switch in Garage to control a 150,000 lumens light . ZWave light switch for floods. 4 Wave light bulbs. ZWave Door Lock. All Zwave can be controlled monitors through SmartThings. Best Thermostat (using a cool high voltage to low voltage adapter).

Oh shoot, just realized I left the "cottage sitter" running which will call us every time it goes below 40F in the house. Need to remember how to program it remotely. Ugh.
My last electric bill was 670.00...we were going to get out of here yesterday, but decided that boating off the island in the dark and those winds probably wasn't the safest thing to do...today's the day.

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Old 12-07-2020, 09:02 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by Blue Thunder View Post
The compressor was definitely the way to go...you’ll be glad you did. Now all you need is for your power to remain on so all your technology works!!!
It’s on battery backup All that has to stay up is Cable. Which often will go down with wide power outages. But I’ll get multiple notices if things go down. I needed it for my prior home which we didn’t shutdown.
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Old 12-07-2020, 09:05 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by steve-on-mark View Post
My last electric bill was 670.00...we were going to get out of here yesterday, but decided that boating off the island in the dark and those winds probably wasn't the safest thing to do...today's the day.

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Wow, I was thinking about island folks during all this winterizing stuff because we came real close to getting an island property.

Stay safe.
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Old 12-07-2020, 09:09 AM   #13
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Old 12-07-2020, 09:25 AM   #14
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I would recommend taking apart the mixing valve on your shower. Often times they are made of plastic inside and it doesn't take much for it to crack if any water is left inside. I have had it happen a few times when ISS (years ago) forgot to do it.
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