How would you have prepared for Hurricane Sandy? (converted, wild, room)
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I'm about 200 mile inland and the storm went just a little to the south of us. We made out fairly well, the power only ever flickered a little. In any event:
The fridge was fully stocked.
The pantry was fully stocked as it always is.
7 gallons of gas in the generator.
7 gallons of gas in gas cans.
Another 50 gallons of gas in three vehicles.
New chainsaw (needed one anyway).
2 cases of beer and months worth of cigarettes.
***Made sure the generator ran. ** It's nearly brand new but this is one important thing a lot of people overlooked.
These are not over the top preparations but common sense, I'm not prepared for Armageddon and have no intentions too. Had it been really bad the gas would have been rationed and the generator run every four or five hours to keep the fridge/freezer cold, heat and water. Realistically the only thing I need the generator for is the water pump and that will be changing because I have plans to get a manual pump.
Great for the Romans. This isn't Rome. I have concrete steps that are 70 years old and in VERY poor condition. My brother's house is 50 years old and just needed a entire concrete wall in his basement replaced. That's far short of 2000 years.
Concrete that is failing after 50 or even 70 years isn't a very good quality concrete job. Assuming good site prep before the pour, low moisture in the concrete when it's poured, additives like fly ash and a long cure time it should last indefinitely. I have a 60 year old concrete basement floor in my house and there isn't a single crack in it. Of course if you have something like steps or sidewalks and keep putting ice melt on it that's going to eat it away quickly. There was more that few heavily travelled road locally that were 60 years old they recently replaced, one of the big difference here is they used coal ash in them which greatly increases the strength.
We live in cinder block structure, it has some benefits but there is downsides. Renovation become problematic if for example you want to put a window in somewhere.
Concrete that is failing after 50 or even 70 years isn't a very good quality concrete job. Assuming good site prep before the pour, low moisture in the concrete when it's poured, additives like fly ash and a long cure time it should last indefinitely. I have a 60 year old concrete basement floor in my house and there isn't a single crack in it. Of course if you have something like steps or sidewalks and keep putting ice melt on it that's going to eat it away quickly.
I wouldn't know. I wasn't alive when the houses were built. How do you not have a single crack in a concrete floor in a basement? Settling causes them. They're impossible to avoid.
Everybody loves the idea of filling their bathtubs. Seems such a waste of water, when it's likely you won't use it, and will just drain it out when the threat is gone. Keep in mind you probably have about 40+ gallons sitting in your hot water heater, that could be used in an emergency. The water in your bathtub won't be drinkable, it will be dirty.
Everybody loves the idea of filling their bathtubs. Seems such a waste of water, when it's likely you won't use it, and will just drain it out when the threat is gone. Keep in mind you probably have about 40+ gallons sitting in your hot water heater, that could be used in an emergency. The water in your bathtub won't be drinkable, it will be dirty.
Great for the Romans. This isn't Rome. I have concrete steps that are 70 years old and in VERY poor condition. My brother's house is 50 years old and just needed a entire concrete wall in his basement replaced. That's far short of 2000 years.
What a pitiful example of poor quality workmanship... but that has nothing to do with the performance of concrete.
If you do a little reading on concrete, you'll find that a common source of bad concrete is the tendency to add too much water. Many times, you'll see installers just slosh in water, by sight, without careful measurement. Even on TV, you can see examples of [expletive deleted] bad practice.
When there is too much water in the concrete, there is greater shrinkage with the possibility for more cracks and reduced compressive strength. As a general rule, every additional inch of slump decreases strength by approximately 500 psi. So for example, if you ordered 5-inch slump concrete and received 7½ inches, a mix designed to be 4000 psi would end up being 2500 psi. This represents a serious loss in strength, especially if you were placing exterior concrete in a freeze/thaw climate where the standard requirement is 4000 psi for proper durability.
NOTE: the more water that is added to the mix the weaker it becomes; adding one extra quart of water per 80 lb bag can reduce the strength of the concrete by up to 40%.
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Note: though excess water in the mix can adversely affect performance, keeping the concrete from drying out too fast is also critical to the cure.
Everybody loves the idea of filling their bathtubs. Seems such a waste of water, when it's likely you won't use it, and will just drain it out when the threat is gone. Keep in mind you probably have about 40+ gallons sitting in your hot water heater, that could be used in an emergency. The water in your bathtub won't be drinkable, it will be dirty.
You buy a bunch of cheap 2 liters, dump them fill with water, squeeze it, put cap on and freeze them. Like 20 of them. This gives you block ice, in your freezer/fridge to keep it cool longer and as it melts its cold wTer.
We also hit up the grociery stores just before the storm and get steaks on discount and cook them on our grill.
Then all the usual supplies. Any risk of storm surge or flooding I would be gone.
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I don't get it. Doesn't that just give you a bunch of cola bottles full of frozen water?
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