I had to go online to find out how to change a toilet flapper today and found this really helpful article, complete with diagram, so I’m posting a link to it here.  Mostly I just love the fact that there’s a website called ToiletFlapper.org.

Brrr, it’s cold out there!

I sent out a list of cold weather tips to my clients and then realized that my own exterior faucet still had the hose hooked up to it and wasn’t wrapped.  (Yes, it was frozen, but I was able to thaw it out.)  Typical.

Anyway, this is just a reminder, make sure you’ve unhooked your hoses from exterior faucets and done something to insulate them.  You can buy styrofoam covers, however word on the street (OK, my office) is that the stores are pretty much out of those, so you can do what I did and wrap the faucet with a towel covered with a plastic bag.

Here’s a link to more cold weather faucet tips.

(I’m the comment asking why you shouldn’t thaw a pipe with a hair dryer, which is exactly what I did.  Anyone know why it’s not recommended?)