TEXAS POLAR VORTEX | We Weren't Prepared For This 

We are a couple your age, with a 6mo old girl, living in an unfinished shipping container home in Ohio and deal with some of the same issues like condensation. Here's a few tips based our experiences: 1) Replace all pvc in (pressurized) plumbing system with black plastic pipe and pex 2) add thermostat controlled (lp) heater in pump house 3) keep water flowing through system 4) Install large air bubbler pumps in water tanks 5) install ERV/HRV in home to exchange stale air with fresh, our ventless lp heater will actually trip the low oxygen shutoff because it burns up enough oxygen in the house after only about 8hrs of being completely closed up 6) have like 3 or 4 sources of heat, electricity, and water. Redundancy Redundancy Redundancy, keep it up, you two are doing awesome!

You definitely need a wood stove for backup. It can heat your whole house.

I have been in television production for 40 years. I directed the 6&10 news at 2 different stations. I must say that your quality of videos are excellent. Your editing is spot on, audio levels are great, the video is sharp, the use of nat sound and music is right up there with professionals. I amazed how well your videos are produced for people who are not professionals in the video production

Hey guys. I work for a pool company and I live in Illinois and it gets cold here. When one of our customers hot tub heater goes off, we Throw a sump pump in the hot tub to circulate the water to keep it from freezing. And the pump generates heat so nothing freezes. Works every time. Maybe something like that can help you if it ever happens again Love you guys and the show.

i like how kenz always smiles through the tough times, and cries in the happy ones. A definite testament to character in my opinion

Hey, guys! I'm from Siberia. In our country, in order not to freeze the water in the tanks and not to break the pipes, they are buried in the ground. And the pumping station with filters is installed in the house-in the heat. The situation you have is certainly not very good, but the cold will not last long, hold on, we believe in you, you will succeed! Winter is now hard for everyone, our temperature dropped to -58 degrees Fahrenheit, frosts almost all winter lasted below-22 degrees, snow on the roofs of the first floor.

Well the dogs seemed to be having a grand old time. But seriously, I feel so bad for you guys. You've been working so hard and this is truly a setback. I am an awe of how you handle everything with such grace, humor, and gratitude for what you do have. I would be dropping F bombs left and right. Your support for one another is inspiring. Here's hoping things get better for you sooner rather than later. And all of us, your fans, are definitely pulling for you and sending you good energy.

Forgot to mention, from my camping days, an emergency blanket, (looks like a big sheet of aluminum foil or Mylar-- shiny silver on at least one side): placed under air mattress, shiny side up, to reflect body heat back up, towards yourself. It makes all the difference when sleeping on the floor.

A wood stove provides dry heat for the whole house, is able to melt snow for drinking water, to produce water to flush the toilet and water for loundry by hand. And it gives the oportunity to cook a good meal! You have plenty of trees next to your house, it wouldn't be difficult to provide the wood to feed the stove. And when there's a little bit time in summer, put a small barn around your watertanks: shadow in summer, protection in winter...

And Kenz finds a “bright side”. That tells you all you need to know about this couple. God bless you guys

Lifelong Texan, 61 years old. Lived in D/FW till early 70’s the northwest of Houston ever since. I’ve never seen anything like “Snovid 21”. Currently in Cypress, Tx, we had leaks in our house, all the plumbing parts were gone in a day. Took a week to finally get water. Thank goodness for the outdoor skills I’ve picked up throughout life.

Living off grid you have to be prepared for anything. That's what we learned living off grid in Tennessee. When we see the weather is gonna be bad or very cold we fill 5 gallon buckets and bring them into the cabin so they dont get frozen. So we have water for the animals and us.

Anyone struggling inside should consider setting up a tent inside a room as an extra heat catchment barrier.

dealing with this, off grid, with a baby and another on the way, while trying to get work done, and these guys still managed to go out in the cold to set up multiple beautiful shots of the homestead and nature covered in snow. thank you!

Fellow Texan here. I’ve lived in west Texas my whole life (60 years), and I’ve never experienced this amount of cold weather, for this long. Unprecedented.

I’m from West Virginia. The extreme winter weather you experienced is mild or normal for us. I completely understand that this never happens where you guys live and that’s why you weren’t prepared, but as you said, this was a lesson or learning experience for you to address/make appropriate changes in the future. Unfortunately, the weather is changing for us all, in which everywhere is experiencing abnormal weather for their area. Crazy times! I am so glad that you all remained safe and managed to get through these conditions. Hopefully they won’t happen again, or rarely ever at the very least, but now you will be better prepared if they do! I have loved your videos and being a part of your journey. How rewarding it will be when it’s all complete and you are fully living everyday in your new home, that you built every bit together!!❤️

Being in Texas myself during the storm, my wife and I, who watch your channel regularly, couldn’t help but have you all on our minds in the midst of the storm. Hate to hear of your hardships, but glad you all came out alright on the other side. 🙏🏿

The way Mackenzie looks at Spencer is pure love. Don't let the love grow cold, keep it up. I enjoy this channel.

As a born and raised, 40 year old Dallas Texan, you guys got to experience something WE'VE never experienced either! It might not happen AGAIN for another 30 years -- the last decent snow here was 2010 or 2011, and before THAT it was 1978! It's historic and you'll be able to show the baby that SHE WAS HERE!

I love the dogs running through the snow ahead of you like dolphins pacing a boat in the ocean.

Very clever of them to figure out the pond was frozen....especially not being snow dogs. Smart boys😊

This is a good wake up call for everyone, I live in Alaska and we get snow and cold. Set up a wood stove that will heat up your whole home. Insulate all your pipes. You will surely have to get some back up heating in your well pump house. Cover all your bases because this will happen again.

Love your channel.... as a 70 something grandma I cannot imagine all that you have gone thru with this build.... your home is just amazing good for you.

What a great lesson this storm has taught everyone! So glad to hear everyone's safe. We were worried about you guys when we heard about the weather down there.

One thing that's a must, is a wood stove because you can use it for so many different things. 🔥🔥 Keep warm, that's what we do up here in Canada 🇨🇦

You need to add a wood stove , to be a bit more prepared

Just build a building around your water tanks so you can insulate and heat if necessary. I spent a couple years in a travel trailer in a small community in Alaska and it had a propane furnace in it. It would still generate so much moisture that the curtains would freeze to the windows in the winter. Oh the fun days.

What a sweet little family! Thanks for sharing with us your process of making a home for your family. What I am most impressed with is the teamwork in which you work and the positive attitude when life gets tough. You two are inspirational! Rock on!

From Canada 🇨🇦, we let our faucets drip the smallest amount, so our pipes don't freeze. Good luck!

Next time it freezes, you can run a hose from a tap to one of the rain collectors and open the tap. Therefore creating a loop of running water. The circulation will stop everything from freezing over and cracking pipes. 👍

I wondered about the delay in episodes (addicted watcher, here) and completely forgot ya'll were in TX. My heart goes out to you. As an original Texan and now Michigander, I can relate to the mixed emotion to the beauty and danger that snow can bring. People just don't understand that those in snow filled states are built for it, as opposed to those that don't. I feel for you, I pray for you, and hope all resolves itself and your lovely family makes it out of it all safely.

La casa está muy linda , los sigo hace mucho tiempo y los felicito por la constancia la perseverancia y lo trabajadores que son Dios los bendiga

No self-sustainable house should ever be without a room heated with a proper wood stove and a wood stash. No power dependency. As long as you have wood, you don't freeze.

IO is like "Let's GO man".. Bear is like "You GOT to be kidding me".. as difficult as it seems now (last week for you), God is still in control and He's given you SUCH a story to tell your grandkids... blessings on you guys...

Been watching your videos waiting for the inevitable. Reading through the comments you've really received some great tips on dealing with the cold weather. Even though I live a 4-hour drive from Montreal in New Hampshire...I can't imagine how tough it's been on two people from Florida building a house in Texas under these conditions. Hang in there...better times are ahead.

So sad to hear you had to go through so much with the freezing temps. Echoing the previous posters on the subject of a wood burning stove, but I would also insulate both the water pump shed (you may want to consider mineral wool, it’s all natural and, unlike fiberglass, won’t degrade if it gets wet) and insulate the pipes themselves - you may not have them locally, but you should be able to order standard sizes online to fit around the pvc pipes (and go down below the frost line because they can freeze in any spot). It’s standard in cold climates to insulate the pipes. You might even want to make makeshift insulated ‘cozies’ for the vulnerable mechanicals for the next time these sorts of temps are predicted (better safe than sorry). And I would bet you’ll get these temps before another 50 years pass. Best of luck and thanks again for sharing your lives with us!

I’m glad you have a pump house but still buy wraps for all your pipes. I went to the dollar tree and bought several foam noodles (that kind you use in the pool). They’re cheap at a buck each and will save you in the long run.

If I can give any advise, when you know the weather is going to get this way in the future, it's best to drain or pump any water from PVC lines so they don't burst. Your pex lines are fine if they freeze with water in them pex can expand up to the size of a basketball before it will burst. Just make sure PVC lines are drained so what's below ground doesn't get damaged. You two are strong and I truly believe you'll do great and live very happy out there.

I'm so sorry you guys. That's such a hard situation. Just know that this whole community is sending you love.

Thank you both for being so open and sharing your experiences with us. I have been waiting to see how your home held up during the TX storm we had. Love how y'all share the things you have learned. I am looking forward to seeing the improvements/changes y'all will be making to the water and possibly solar energy y'all have.

How could you have known this would happen? Life has been so crazy especially this last year. Take a breath and keep marching forward. You've weathered so many storms. You've got this!

Poor Spencer!! He has to do almost everything with that build and now has to take care of all of this! What an amazing and patient man to carry everything on his own shoulders. Good luck Spencer! Remember those famous last words girl “I will never complain again “. You really are a lucky woman to have that man! God bless ✌🏻🙏❤️👍🏻🇨🇦

It still is the most beautiful home and you have each other sending you lots of love and warm feelings, you guys are amazing.

I live in the foothills of Western Canada . The temps we got were feeling like -40 . But we are prepared up here for this . You guys down there don’t normally get this .

None of Texas was ready for it to be so cold. We were without power for 6 days. God bless y'all.

The next time it gets that cold. Turn your one or two of your sink faucets on drizzle to keep the water flowing through the pipes . It might keep it from freezing and expanding and bursting the pipes.

It is of course not easy for you to know, you are not used to this type of cold weather, just as you say. But please, please do not ever leave your dogs unattended near thin ice! They can and do easily fall through and if so, they can not get back up again and will drown without human help. It happens here in Sweden by mistake also, even if people here know it is very dangerous. Just the other week, we had a guy rescuing a dog that had run away from its owner and had gone through the ice out on our main river. So please keep in mind and and stay safe 💕🙏

keep warm and keep smiling, this event will help you add to your preparedness and what extra's the house needs, glad you got insulation installed! sending warm thoughts.

“I think it’s safe to say… we weren’t prepared for this.” Yeah, I mean, you and the rest of Texas. Don’t feel bad.

Time-lapsing the lake slowly freezing was so cool, what a good idea

Love y’all!! Glad you made it though the crazy winter storm!

A lesson learned 'hard' is one never forgotten. ALWAYS plan for the worst and Hope for the best.

It sounds like purchasing a wood burning stove would be very beneficial right now and for your future. It could probably heat your entire home with just a few logs and provide you with a way to cook as well. Good luck. Godspeed.

I grew up in the Appalachian mountains in Northern New Brunswick, in the 60's & 70's. We had an old big farm house and dealing with the cold was a fact of life... running to the bathroom in winter clothes in the early morning, to change to fresh winter clothes around a stove pipe, mom having to melt snow in the extreme -40 days to make tea, and having to go out and feed animals all at 5-6 am in the dark. Sun didn't rise till after 9am when we were at school... and we were well off!!! I can tell you this... Spring and Summer were SO INCREDIBLY WELCOMED!!! but man did we LIVE! You can do this!!! and tell your children about it!

W O W !! I was waiting for this episode where you would about all this! Don’t feel bad...as you can see the entire state of TX was sadly unprepared despite having been through this, albeit rare situation, before. Fortunately, you two are both really smart and won’t have to learn this lesson twice!

Wow your home looks so much more beautiful surrounded by the snow 😍😍

After reading some of the comments, I was surprised by what people were saying. They didn't have internet!!! They had other things to do besides getting a video for us!!!! Hey, let's give them words of encouragement instead of all the bs comments!! How often does Texas have this extreme weather?? How often does it get this cold for days?? I think you guys have done an awesome job, all on your own. It has been a learning experience from the start and kudos to you for hanging in there. Yes, it's really hard on you right now but I know you will get it figured out and move forward. You learned from this but again, this was a freak storm. We just had over 3 ft of snow this weekend but we are used to the snow and cold. Big difference. Look how far you have come so far. You don't need to hear, "Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda". God bless you two and hang in there because you are amazing people and you will get it all fixed. Love you guys!!

I’m from up North. We had two wood stoves. One on each end of the farmhouse. They are the best source of heat! Stay warm! If you guys lived closer, you’d be welcome at my home.

You guys are so strong living through All the walls you have facedi pray you get through it all and have a wonderful home afterwards.God bless you and your family and animals.

When edge of pond freezes, use rocks or shovels to break up ice - don't step on it.

I lived in the Central Texas Hill Country, I feel for you, I was right there with you. Frozen Water Tank, power only on 4 hrs/day, no heat, no water, melting ice & snow for water, eating dehydrated camping food for 5 days. We made it even through all that.

Whenever you hear that the weather will be below freezing, put a small space heater in the pump house. My grandparents use to have a light bulb on in there for heat. And drain the pipes!

Yes, it sure was beautiful! I have lived in San Diego all my life, 59 yrs & I just do not have words. I am so sorry for the many people who had to suffer through this. I am so glad you are having warmer days now. God Bless

Thoughts and prayers for you're ever growing family. 🙏 I hope all is well at this time ! I love you're videos.

I'm from Pennsylvania and I remember the blizzard of 93. The day before the snow hit it reached 93 degrees and it was my grandmothers funeral. And the funny thing is, she would say she'll make sure the weather is nice so everyone can say goodbye but then hell is going to freeze over. She said that my entire childhood. Well funeral went smoothly, and the family was coming back to our house, but my mom forgot the keys. So after a 3 hour wait everyone went home. My mom was worried about the food going to waste so she put it in our freezer. The next morning I woke up to 4 feet of snow and counting. When the snow stopped we had 6-8 feet with drifts. I missed out on school for a week because my mother and I had to shovel our 10th if a mile driveway so the plow could come up. None of our neighbors helped so we'd have to take hour long shifts. I was 8 years old. All that food came in handy though!. I'll never forget it

With your solar power and being off the grid maybe you were way more prepared then the rest of TX

Ohhh sooooo beautiful with all the snow. Still you two are still react so good. Respect

I have never commented on you channel but I have followed you since the beginning. You guys are doing a great job. Keep it up ,blessings

Bear was like "What? Nope" 😁❄

Spencer you should buy one of those tiny wood stoves for the kitchen in the house. That way if in the future this happens at least the wood stove would add a great source of heat in an emergency situation. They look cute, don't take up a lot of space, can be up on a shelf off the floor and put out a lot of heat to a room where you can huddle in.

beautiful pictures of the area with all the snow - I know you all got really cold in TX but what a memory you have - may never have another snow like this.....Take care - stay as warm as possible......Luv

In my country we have average -20C dropping to -40C at lowest in winter. Even so we still sometimes have challenges to stay warm or adjusting our houses for it. I am sure that you will go over it. You guys are adorable beautiful family. Despite the challenges the best thing is that you guys are always stand together next to each other. Yeah, the woodstove could be the quickest solution for heating as we do the same here in Mongolia. Would need to make sure to keep the child in a distance when its hot. Always love to see your new videos.

Wow I didn't realize the gap between when you film and when you post.

Consider insulating the pump house and put a heat lamp in there. An old trick from northern farmers. Being that you are living in a small house anyways you will always have a problem with moisture. The adult human exhales an average of 1 gallon of water/24 hours. May not seem like much but it adds up. Try cracking a window open slightly and putting a floor fan in there to move the air around, it works to help circulate the heat, and keep the place dry. Heat tape and insulate all the pipes too. As far as the tanks, try to keep them full, the more volume the longer it takes to freeze. And yes consider a wood stove.... not only can you stay nice and warm, but you can cook too. Remember too, diversify, diversify, and always have a back up plan. This storm only shows where you need to improve. Stay warm, stay safe, love your video’s, please keep them coming.

Hey guys! been subbed to you for years but not watched for a while, so happy for you reaching 1m!!!! I'm catching up on a lot of the vids I've missed and just seen this one. To solve the condensation from heating, I'd suggest you get a Chinese diesel heater to run in the winter. All in all with the 12v power supply, the unit and the tank it would cost you about $150 for a 5kW unit, which would suit your space just fine. I know you've got solar and a good battery bank so you could run an electric radiator, but in winter when solar power generation is low and you have snow on the panels, a diesel heater is ideal as they only pull about 2 amps which is phenomenally low for the amount of (dry) heat they put out! I have one in my campervan (used to use propane buddy heater) and never woken up with condensation inside since I switched to the diesel heater. You also eliminate any worries of Carbon Monoxide poisoning as the heater exhausts outside the house. Great progress guys keep it up!

Glad you guys are ok. All the stuff that froze can be replaced. Love your videos. ❤

I say..."go to a hotel, you deserve it" These are going to be you best memories!

I could tell you guys were on the verge of tears this whole video. My heart breaks for you. I hope this setback will not break your spirit. Living in Michigan, we are accustomed to this level of storm. We had 18 inches of snow on the ground at the end of February. The snow will melt. The sun will shine again. You will recover from this. There are better days ahead. Keep your chins up! Love you guys.

Tough weather situation. Good luck to you guys. I am fascinated by your channel. At 13:57 we learn about a fundamental problem of your setup. Moisture condensation is a common problem in my country (German) where we have cold winters more often. Therefore we install a sealer foil on top of the wooden frames before putting on the drywall. This has two major effects if the house is sealed properly. You stop the air circulation in the house driven by the temperature gradient between your heater and the cold walls, hence you need much less energy for heating, and the house is more comfortable since you do not feel a constant draft in the winter. Secondly, you avoid that warm air with a higher moisture content hits the cold areas and water can condensate. If that happens behind the drywall it can lead to mold which you do not see initially and only when it surfaces many years later. Wood rotting is another common problem in my country when moisture condensation happens inside the wall due to lack of air-tightness. There should also non water condensing on modern windows inside of a finished house. (In Germany such windows would be illegal to be solded.) At the end you want a temperature gradient across the wall such that the inside wall/window temperature is above the condensation point at all times, and not steam can diffuse into to wall and condensate somewhere. I hope you are able to perfectly seal your drywalls at the end of your build to avoid such complication in your dream house. Keep up the good work!

I hope for you that the weather will get better. Here on the french riviera we had some ten years ago periods of very cold with snow before march. It hasn't happened since. So courage to you and protect your daughter well. And above all, insulate your pump and filter installation. See you soon

Hey guys, I come from Alaska where u had to insulate everything for the extreme winter temps. Spence, it’s very easy to resolve your freezing pipes & tanks & so on. Simply insulate them. I’m sure there r RU-vid videos showing how it’s done. My husband worked as an “insulator” for one of the big oil companies in Alaska & he was kept very busy during the winter months insulating pipes. So get to & don’t worry about frozen pipes or tanks ever again. Good luck & cheer up u two. ❤️❤️

Water is critical. Living on the Texas Gulf coast we keep a supply of bottle water always, and then during hurricane season, when a storm is heading our way, I fill up 5 gal. buckets at least 10 and the tub for flushing and some jugs for potable water. Generators and a solid food supply are mandatory. We treated the cold just like we would a storm, and managed fairly well. Preparation is key, hard to do when you are building your house.

Wow! Praying for better days. You have pushed through a lot during this journey and I know you will come through this as well. Be safe and stay warm.

A hose bib right at the bottom of the tank is so helpful. Not likely to freeze at bottom of tank and hose bib can be covered b4 freeze. Good luck! Following your story for a long time now. Good job yall.

Here in San Antonio, we got sub zero temps, snow and then lost power for 4 days. I sat in front of my fireplace and wrapped in blankets. This is unprecedented temps for this area. Hang in there 💕

I think it’s so cool you finally slept in the house. Thank you for letting the doggies inside as well.

We have about 8 small propane tanks that we have for emergency. We have a wood burning stove for heat and we have 3 5 gallons containers for water and cooking, and we have about 3000 gallons of water for animals and for washing dishes and to take baths. We also have about 6 5 gallon buckets with lids that we bring in the cabin incase it gets really cold so we have water for us and the animals. Always think ahead.

So glad you made it through. 💗 if you need input about the cold those of us in the north deal with this every year and colder can help you out.

Suggestion for preventing freezing pipes: When the temperature gets *really* cold, keep the water running - just a trickle. I know your water is a precious commodity so you can't waste it, but you could have it trickle into buckets and pour back into your tanks every few hours.

Hey watchers, It may have 'only' been 7 inches of snow but when you normally don't get any snow, that's a big deal! Winter clothes are a staple of us snow people (I'm in Utah), but snow and that extreme cold isn't normal for Texas! McKenzie and Spencer- I'm so glad you guys were able to adapt and stay warm-ish. I hope things have gotten better and you've been able to get things fixed. Hopefully you guys have been able to look ahead and anticipate future freak of nature weather to keep yourselves safe and prepared.

As for snow winter in Texas it is always sunshine the next day or next days right . 2021 was special winter wonderland for most four season countries respect. I think it would be good to have a woodstove as well or gas stove right for colder winter seasons. Good thing you have trees. So good supply of wood indeed. Yes so true good you spray foamed the home earlier it helped.

There are some really nice wood stoves you could put in your home. Or build a fire place! Our fire place keep me and my husband warm for five days. Of course we were only out of electricity for 20hrs. But it was so cold we just keep the fire place going to help save on our energy bill. And it did! Great job on your home though.

Get a milk house heater for the pump house. We used one in our unfinished basement for many winters and it worked well.

It maybe a good idea to plan for these kinds of events going forward because of the changing climates. Like a heat source for the water shed just in case. Sometimes up north, we fill the bath tub with water to use to flush the toilet. And definitely have a tote of winter clothes available in storage. I know you are very resourceful but weather is changing and I don’t believe that these will be “once in a lifetime” events any more. Next year, more of the house will be completed and you are so much more prepared than so many other people. 💗💕

So glad you guys made it through the worst ok ❤️ stay warm and safe xx

Colorado boy here. The frost on the inside of the windows brought back less-than-fond memories of my childhood. I've got pictures of 1/4" of ice on the inside of the windows in our house in Black Forest. Since you've pretty much have to start over in the pump house, insulate it this time before you replace your hardware. Then a couple of 100 watt light bulbs will keep it from freezing. I personally would install drains in the pump house where you could drain the entire system if things get really bad. You would have to go without water during that time, but you would be ready to go once things got warmer. Leaving the water running works to a point, if it's really cold it won't stop the lines from freezing. Drains can freeze too, but a healthy dollop of shampoo or Dawn dish detergent will clear that up. When, not if, you get your car stuck in the snow, letting out about 1/2 of the air in the tires makes a heck of a difference. Got me out of a bind more than once. Be sure to pack a compressor to pump your tires back up. And proactively replace the fuse for the cigarette lighter with a breaker since your compressor will likely blow the fuse. And as I asked my friend in Houston, "So, what was it like living in 1870's Texas?"

We always put a heater in our pump house to keep the pipes from freezing. And you need to insulate your pump house

Wow! I will never complain about 40 degree weather again in central California. Praying you guys stay warm and safe. 🙏🏼🙌🏼💪🏼

"This is not normal here" - no, it is not. Texas doesn't get this cold. We've set new record lows for Texas

I am mesmerized by your process and love for each in your family. Animals included