Bob525D

Between christmas and new year i discovered that mice had chewed through my dishwasher waste pipe, i had to lift 1/4 of my new laminate flooring to allow the floor to dry out. I have put down tons of traps but only caught one, one of them has also chewed a hole in my recently remodelled kitchen. I decided to buy some electromagnetic \ ultrasonic repellers at a cost of ?60 for two, fingers crossed the mice will go back to their field.

On tuesday I call my central heating oil supplier, I finally manage to speak to someone about getting a delivery I have only been trying to contact them since between christmas and new year. I explain i am almost out of oil and i need a delivery, they say it will be sometime on the week beginning the 11th and dont seem to care i am about to run out. I told them i had been trying to call them for ages and the girl got quite defensive stating they were open (my wife just kept getting the answering machine). I now have had to reduce my heating to 20 minutes in the morning and 1 hour at night to avoid running out, if i run out the frost protection wont be able to operate and I may be looking at ???'s to fix. My kitchen is currently 5 degree celsius, outside it has been -11 degrees celcius recently very cold. By the time i got to thursday i couldnt take any more, my house is like an ice box so I decide to buy a portable gas heater from B&Q (local diy chain) to suppliment my lack of heating. The heater is outstanding, i am very pleased with how quick it can heat a room.

Friday morning starting a 7 so i can get my car MOT'd at 4pm I discover my shower has packed in, i get to working thinking just let the MOT be a good un. I arrive at the garage with my car fully warmed and ready for the 6x foot to the floor test, i head to the counter and say to the guy i am here for my MOT. He shouts another guy to come over who says nothing is in the book and asks my name, i tell him my name and he says i was booked in for 2:30. I tell him that i was told 4pm he didnt seen to give a $hit and offers to book me in for monday, the guy still argues that it was 2:30 not 4 i tell him i have a have a job and there was no way i could make that time without taking a 1/2 day holiday. I now need to find another place to get the MOT done, I hate dealing with these places they treat you like you know nothing about cars.

Today I spent all day in the attic trying to defrost my shower pipe, i discovered that the people installed the shower before i bought the house didnt cover the pipes hence they froze. Still aching from being in the attic crawling about i decide to fire up the heater i bought on thursday, it decides to pack up and it now only operates one burner due to the control switch not turning.

Sorry all, had to vent feeling abit out of luck at the moment. I guess i should be grateful the shower pipes hadnt burst with the ice, but i do wish i lived in a warmed climate.

BMRMEUP

Wow. That is a run of bad luck. And what a pain dealing with leaking and frozen pipes. Not fun. I would be equally frustrated with the oil company. Our house is heated with propane, but the gas company has been good about coming out the same day if we run out. Of course, they aren't supposed to let you run out, but that's another story...

Don't know if these are available to you, but a popular option for supplemental heat here are the Kerosun heaters, which run on kerosene (obviously). I'm still not entirely comfortable with using them inside, but that is what they are designed for and they seem to hold up. Might be good to have on hand in the future, just in case...

Anyway, good luck getting everything sorted out (and warmed up!).

turboawd

Sounds like you need a new house.

Krozi

That sucks.....hope you get it sorted out soon..

Bob525D

Just after posting the initial message my wife shouts me to tell me one of my dogs has an infected and swollen ear, i must be getting a years worth of bad luck at the in the space of a month. If i see Jeremy Beadle walking up to the house i'll thump him, the Uk guys know what i mean (he was a well known prankster in the 80's on uk tv, they did things like flatten people cars for a joke at least people thought it was their car but it was actually a lookalike).

I am scared to post anything else incase something else goes wrong, thanks for the support guys.

melimel

SORRY BOB, sounds like your having a crappy week... dont worry-this too shall pass- vent all you want here

Bob525D

Thanks for all the replies.

On a plus i think the mice may have left, haven't heard a squeak since plugging in the devices.

porsche911targa

Glad to see that maybe the mice are gone. On the pipe issue though, you may not resolve the freezing issue by simply covering them. You may have to use heating cable and then cover only with fiberglass covering. Here's a link to what I am talking about. Ask your local hardware store for the appropriate cable for your attic.

http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/52-299-h...ble-291542.aspx

Good luck.