Country Solution for the City Boy

About 8 days ago I was appointed to take over an apartment complex in Columbus.  The owner had abandoned the place and we soon found out that there were multiple water line ruptures in the vacant units.

The temperature was dropping and the gas company was moving at a snails pace.  Even if we could get gas turned on, which was questionable, I have no idea if we could have gotten the furnaces fired up without a lot of repair or replacements.  Fixing the brusts was not a problem, but keeping the other lines from freezing was about to become an issue.

This was one of those "I learn something new every day", days.

The lender is a community bank that has a lot of rural borrowers.  From what I understand, farmers sometimes insulate their foundations with bales of hay.

Huh?  Say What?

A couple of calls later, I had found the right guy with the right tools (150 bales of hay) and he was on the way to the apartment complex to wrap the building, 1 row high, with bales of hay.

Bales are about 24 inches high and the water lines are about 18 inches from the ground on the exterior walls.

Cost to Repair 1 Emergency Burst = $350 ++ depending on location

Cost of Straw Bale = $3.00 delivered x 150 = $450 to insulate buildings pipes

Other things I learned that day:

•1.      There is a difference between straw and hay, yet I still don't know exactly what it is.

•2.      70 year old hay delivery guy is in better shape than I am.

•3.      If you look up Stupid City Boy in Websters, you will see my picture

•4.      The Code Enforcement Guys do not like bales of hay stacked on buildings

•5.      This actually works.  Whodathunk?