Home Improvement Today?

So you can carve the holladay meat of choice with a plasma cutter, cool

 

It’s definitely got more room than a lot of homes, and I’m grateful for it. Even at the tightest spot up near that kitchen sink I can still get around on my hands and knees, just being careful to not repeatedly whack my head on the pipes or bump into ductwork.

It is a fairly well built home for sure. I question why some things were done a certain way, but I suppose most people say the same about their home too. This week I’ve been adding foam insulation to the copper pipes and have been spending way too much time cleaning up a bunch of debris, big rocks, loose mortar chunks, etc in preparation for having a vapor barrier put down next week. All those rocks, dirt, and mortar have helped fill in that boiler hole. Additional pics below of the “crawl space”….maybe mini-basement is a better term?

 

Get yourself a bump cap! You can thank me later.

MSA 10033652 Bump Cap with Plastic Suspension and Sweatband, Non-Impact Protection, Composition: High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Color: White, Standard 6.5" - 8" Size

$20 MSA 10033652 Bump Cap with Plastic Suspension and Sweatband, Non-Impact Protection, Composition: High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Color: White, Standard 6.5" - 8" Size

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00INYEMXQ

 

When I was growing into my 6'2" adult height I found my share of low ceilings to bump my head on. As an adult I never bump my head, except when I have to wear a hardhat on construction sites. The extra 1.5" added by the hardhat throws off my hard earned top of head calibration. lol

 

yep. i'm more banged up and bruised when i need to wear a hard hat. i get so used to judging things off my hair being moved by it, when i lose it, i start smashing into everything!

 

At my old job I wore ear plugs frequently, they came on a cord for around your neck which I found annoying as it would pull on the shirt collar etc. or sometimes catch when working on a machine.

I would cut the cord leaving about 5-6" tail on each plug. It worked well for quickly grabbing them out of my shirt pocket but I also noticed I very seldom bumped my head when wearing them. The cord acting like a curb feeler I guess.

For the younger ones, curb feelers were a popular add on for cars in the 50's - 60's.
They were a piece of stiff cable clamped to the lower fenders with a spring mount and would scrape the curb before the tire, as they were clamped solid to the fenders the vibrating noise was quite noticeable in the car.

 

I’ve worn a hard hat on a lot of jobs and I only hit my head when I take it off. Kinda opposite of some of y’all’s experience lol

 

despite the fact i'm a young 36 year old, i just made an entire post in the 'what have you done to your 3rd gen' on jc whitney. i know all about curb feelers!

 

Tried to upload a video but can’t seem to do it. I have this quiet check valve on my sump pump. After the pump shuts off the valve seems to flap up and down letting a lot of water back in to the pit. Bought a new one thinking it was bad and still the same problem. Anyone else use one of these spring loaded valves have this problem?



edit… should also mention this valve was on the old pump that I just replaced. The new pump does have a built in vent hole on the pump. The old one had it drilled into the pipe.

 

Here's a shot of my setup. As you can see I have quite a bit of pipe above the valve.

The water drains back slowly over about 5 minutes. The valve doesn't flutter or anything, more of a slow leak. I don't worry about. This valve replaced a "hard close" model that banged every time, shaking the whole house. It wasn't transparent so I can't say if it leaked or not.

 

I was wondering if it was because I don’t have a lot of height above it. Only goes up a couple feet and exits through the foundation.

 

https://youtu.be/BqfaY549F2Y
not mine but this is exactly what mine is doing

 

I though mine was leaking because there was so much height. I don't worry about it because when a large amount of water is entering the system it holds long enough so there isn't significant back flow. It only drains the water softener so most of the time it just sits there doing nothing.

Yeah, that's not right. That video says the guy installed an AAV to fix the problem. Does your system have good venting?

Not mine, but what mine looks like
https://youtu.be/yZEVa87C-J0?t=364

 

Previous owner had it exiting the foundation through 1 1/2” pipe and into a 4” pipe that drains a good 100’ plus away from the house, on a slight downward slope. Because of the 4” pipe I know it’s not creating a suction pulling that flap up.

 

Black pipe was already there. Don’t know why they ran it along the wall and not a straight exit. Either way it works. I have the basement watchdog battery backup combo kit. Says the vent is built onto the pump so I don’t need to drill a weep hole.

 

If that 100' of 4" pipe is sloped at the standard 1/4" per foot (and even if it isn't), that is your problem. The sump pump is putting out a big slug of water and will easily fill a portion of the 4" drain. Air to clear the system has to come from somewhere, and that place is the pump/valve combination. If there is a roof vent close by I'd tie into that. Otherwise an AAV on that black pipe should fix the problem of venting that drain.

 

Hold that thought of tying into an existing vent through the roof. This is just a sump pump for ground water right? Connecting to a roof vent is the wrong thing to do and will allow sewer gasses into your house. Use an AAV

 

Yeah it’s just ground water. I’ve never seen anyone use an aav on a sump pump.

 

A drain is a drain and air has to get into the system somehow. The plumbing codes have a concept of a trap arm and how long they can be before there is a vent. The maximum length for a 4" drain is 12', and you are far beyond that. The thing is you might not even need that valve. Without it just the water between the pump and the wall will drain back into the sump, just like mine does. It becomes a problem when lots of water back flows and overworks the pump.

 

shouldn't there be a check valve on the outflow side of the pump keeping water from draining back into the sump ?