Dripping, drying and funny tastes

[hellziggy]

I had planned to post earlier tonight as part of my goal of actually posting on LJ more than once every few weeks. But balancing the checkbook took precedence. At least that's done now. I also didn't post right away because I've fallen behind on reading y'all so I'm currently going back through my flist trying to see what I've missed. Don't be surprised if you start getting random comments to older posts. :)

We have to actually plan when to do laundry now here at the HellHouse, instead of just doing it when we need it or have time. Our dryer quit working about 2-3 weeks ago. When you hit the button it does about half a rotation then just stops and turns off. We don't know yet if it's fixable or if we'll have to replace it. Either way, until we have one we are washing our laundry here and then running to the laundromat 5 blocks away to dry it. I'm also going to get some rope to string in the basement and some clothes pins so that we can hang stuff to dry that we don't need right away.

Then I got to wipe up water in the dining room. The whole snow - melt - rain - freeze - thaw - etc of this winter caused an ice dam on our roof and now we have water coming in through the frame of one of our dining room windows. I don't know the specifics of how ice dams work or if it's a permanent leak now or what, but hellbob was pretty upset by it so I know it's not good. And the way our windows are set up there was really no good way to put a bucket under it. Luckily we have a camera tripod, so we've got a cake pan balanced on that with one edge on the window sill. *sigh*

My toothpaste tastes funny. I don't know if we just bought the wrong version of Colgate Total last time, or if they've changed it. I just know the taste is a tiny bit different. I'd bet that hellbob didn't even notice. But I've always been particular about having to use the same brand of toothpaste everytime and I don't like it when the tastes change! The off taste was bothering me all day until I ate lunch. I don't want to brush my teeth before bed even though I know I should!

And on that note, I'm off to brush my teeth and go to bed. G'nite all!

Comments

[kindredspirit75.livejournal.com]

When my dryer broke, I found a few ways to dry clothes. It wasn't pretty, but it worked... hung clothes outside, even in winter. If you put one cup of white vinegar in the rinse cycle, the clothes won't freeze on the line, trust me. Had a drying rack positioned close to a forced air vent from the furnace and other things I just put on hangers and hung them from the shower rack. Told you it wasn't pretty...lol! Anyway, you might be better off buying a new dryer rather than fix the old one. Cost at least $100 for a repairman to come look at it, so put that towards a new one.

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

Do your clothes end up smelling like vinegar?

[kindredspirit75.livejournal.com]

No, they don't. They have that great fresh smell that you can only get from hanging them outside. I still do my sheets that way... I love to go to sleep on fresh, line-dried sheets.

You can only use white vinegar, else they WILL smell like vinegar...lol!

[ethel.livejournal.com]

Here's how ice dams work: Roofs are warmer than the rest of the outside of your house because you lose heat through the roof. So the snow melts and runs down the slope of the roof until it reaches the edge. Then there's nothing to really keep it warm anymore, so it freezes and fills the gutters. And then the water behind it keeps rolling down, and it freezes too. This keeps happening until the frozen ice on the edges of the roof gets too high for the water behind it to trickle over, so the water has nowhere to go. It just backs up on the roof behind the ice dam and sits there and can't melt because of the escaped heat from the house. Standing water on roofs is not good -- it gets under the shingles and comes into the house walls and leaks in, usually around the doors and windows. We've had a great setup this winter for them -- heavy snow, followed by a series of thaws and freezes.

Things to fix the ice dam include, for now, getting the snow off your roof so the stuff right next to the shingles can freeze, and clearing the gutters of ice. This summer you will probably have to track down the roof damage and fix it.

For long term, the most effective way to prevent them is pretty easy -- more insulation in the attic. This will prevent heat loss, and have the added benefit of lowering your heating bills and making the house more comfortable.

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

Great. Roof damage. That roof was new in August 2008. If we've never had them before, could it be caused by them installing the new roof wrong?

I'm thinking it was probably mostly caused by the freezing rain, because we've never had issues before. The woman who had the house before us insulated the hell out of the attic so we never get icicles except during a melt and our heating bills are wonderfully low.

[ethel.livejournal.com]

Too long to post here, but I wrote an entry on my lj about it.

[genevra.livejournal.com]

Dad has a roof rake, if you don't have one.

[vanaabegra.livejournal.com]

To add to ethel's excellent post, you can also get ice dam heating cords that you put at the edge of the roof to prevent the dam. I have no idea if these actually work or how well, but it would be worth investigating. I looked briefly, but could not find a review for those on consumer reports.

I ended up getting 4 new appliances last year (or the year before). I got them all at the scratch & dent place in St Louis Park on Excelsior. Good prices on all of them. If you need to replace more than one appliance, you can get package deals and a flat (or at least lower) delivery price.

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

As I said to ethel above, our attic is insulated like crazy. We have low heating bills, and have never had an issue in the last 10 years. Our roof was replaced in August 2008 (yay hail!). Is it possible it's because something was installed wrong? Or is it most likely just because of the wacked out weather the last couple weeks?

[ethel.livejournal.com]

Complicated answer, too long to reply here. Is it ok if I make a lj post on it (which I can do from email?)

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

Sure. :)
I'm guessing Rick probably knows most of the answers too, but it wasn't really something he felt like sitting around chatting about last night after going out to poke at ice...

[scubagrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the toothpaste thing. I hate it when they change things.

Hope you find a great deal on a new dryer. I hate it when appliances break. Ours was the washer- we bought a new one because they'd deliver,install, and take away the old one.

Sucks about the leak. Hope the fix is small and cheap.

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

LOL! I love that you are the only person to comment on the toothpaste thing. Toothpaste should never ever ever change flavor! (And it should be white, never green, blue or red)

[scubagrrl.livejournal.com]

Well, I could deal with it being colors, but you're right, that it should never ever change flavors!

Another gripe is that everything seems to require whitening. I don't want to whiten my teeth- I don't care and I don't trust it. Is it destroying my teeth? It's hard anymore to find the regular Colgate. Boo!

[whimsywinx.livejournal.com]

Ugh! I had problems with water damage from the window AC unit above me in my first place. It royally sucked. Good luck!

[mle292.livejournal.com]

There are probably multiple opinions on this. I agree that better insulation is an effective solution, but I do not agree with the heat tape solution.

According to Home Energy Saver Dot Gov,

Electrically heated cable rarely, if ever, solves the problem. It takes a lot of electricity to prevent ice formation; and the heating must be done before it gets cold enough for ice dams to form, not afterwards. Over time, heat tape makes shingles brittle. It's expensive to install, too, and water can leak through the cable fasteners. And often the cables create ice dams just above them.

[genevra.livejournal.com]

If you decide to go the repair route on the dryer, I've got an excellent appliance repair guy. Absolutely Guaranteed Appliance Repair. Al knows his stuff. 763-566-4424 or 612-824-3964. He's fixed my dishwasher motor, my washing machine, and the ice maker in my fridge. Yes, the icemaker broke in my nice new(ish) fridge!

[boliviafang.livejournal.com]

A) I'm glad you're posting again!

B) I really would toss that toothpaste and buy another tube. Or buy another tube and if it tastes funny, too, then use the first one. Wasn't there just some scare about bad toothpaste? I think it was only at dollar stores, but still. Can't be too careful.

[ninja-tech.livejournal.com]

Ick. All unlovely things to have to deal with I see. Well, your efforts to catch up on the LJ FL is commendable. I'm never very good at that, but this sick day has given me the opportunity to at least go back a few days!

I hope the ice dam thing didn't cause permanent damage and that the dryer is fixable (and doesn't cost a fortune to do so).

Lastly, I am the same about toothpaste. I'm very particular. For me it is Colgate Cavity Protection. Crest would be an absolute NO. :D

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

Yes, Crest is just... greenish blue... and wrong! No Crest!