Home Improvement Today?

X2, dont be skeeerd

 

We aren't after all so why should he be, right?

 

can always shut it off. Last place we had, had a sprinkler system to back yard, problem was they put a concrete pad over the lines, bad thing was it made no sense of directions or channels and it leaked under the concrete pad. So i just capped off the back yard by the channel box.

 

We knocked out a couple of DIY projects around the house over the past few weeks. Painted the front door to match accents on exterior of our house, repainted the powder room and whitewashed the stone fireplace in the main level family room.

 

We also made some improvements to the exterior this summer/fall…had the stone repointed with a lighter color and had new soffit, fascia, gutters, and Hardie plank siding installed on the gables. Time to save up again…lol.

 

So I got the water turned back on at the house. (I’m not living there full time- I just go up when I’m able to work on it) Opened up the valve on the elusive mystery pipe and anxiously waited for water to appear somewhere in my yard.

But after 30 minutes…..nothing. I walked as much of my property as I could and even peeked at the neighbor’s yard but no signs of any water coming up or out anywhere. My flow rate at the meter is roughly 6.5 gpm. After a half hour with nothing to show, I shut it off. That said, I suppose close to 200 gallons of water disappeared into the abyss. Perhaps I didn’t leave it running long enough?

I’d planned on capping it off soon while I’m doing other stuff under the house. However, I intend to have a garage built behind the house sometime and would like to have at least one spigot on it. With that pipe already run thru the foundation, would it be feasible to run the water line to the garage from there? It would probably be close to a 80-100ft run. Thanks in advance.

 

It isn't very difficult to drill (or knock) a hole through the foundation for a water line. If that is a convenient location for the line, good. With a new building going up you are going to have to do whatever the local codes require.

Does the house have a septic system? I am leaning toward a master drain installed for whatever reason.

For capping it off, it appears there is a plastic fitting threaded into the copper, it should turn out without a problem. You can put a brass pipe nipple in there along with a ball valve. Put a pipe plug in the other end of the ball valve - bad luck to leave a valve with an open port.

Perhaps when the new garage goes up you can discover where the line goes.

 

Mounted the tv above the fireplace. Should’ve done that 15 years ago.

 

I have run into a lot of projects like that. You put them off for years and finally spend an hour, then find yourself saying "why didn't I do this years ago?".

 

Replaced 31 switches today while stuck inside

 

It would be an ideal place to run a line out to the future garage. Nothing in the way and almost a straight shot to it. You’re right, I may finally find out where it goes at that time.

Yes, there is a septic tank. I’m curious as to what would be a purpose or function of there being a master drain? Much of this is brand new to me so I’m always happy to learn something.

 

Usually seasonal use buildings will have provision to drain the plumbing for the off season, you said this wasn't a seasonal use however.

Old houses often have mysteries to explore, sometimes you get digging around and find clues to things from the past and can piece together that there was a stove here or a doorway there.

Most of the time we just don't know however. Even owners and neighbors forget over 30 - 40 years about odd things done in the past.


In the northeast it is common to find a large raised concrete circle about 5 feet across in the basements of old homes. Younger people will have no idea why it is there.

Older people will immediately know why - there used to be a coal fired gravity furnace sitting on that circle. Commonly called an Octopus Furnace due to the large pipes radiating out in all directions.

The furnace and pipes will be long gone leaving the new home owner with a concrete circle and a mystery.

 

My grandmother had one of those in her basement. As a kid the thing scared me to death. When the natural gas line was installed in the street they converted from coal. My dad said spring cleaning really a thing, cleaning soot from the the walls. The air gets bad here in the winter and nobody burns coal, I can't imagine what it was like back in the day.

 

I was left with what could be a mystery hole under there, but fortunately my mom was able to tell me what it was for. They had a hydronic heating system and the boiler for it was placed in that spot. It was removed at least 30 years ago but the hole, a few of the copper pipes for the baseboard radiators, and an almost burned place in the wood above the boiler remain as evidence. The picture below is actually of my water heater but you can see the hole on the left.

There’s also a 220V outlet in my dining area, as it used to be a living room and they had a large AC window unit in there. Kinda neat to have if I ever were to need it.

 

Pretty clean for a crawlspace, not too bad to work in -- as far as crawlspaces go.

It looks like a well built house with all the brick pillars.


Truthfully I really don't even like the word crawlspace...

 

it would be, but with it only being 5" down outside the foundation, and in that 'look-at-it-and-it'll-crack' white pvc, it could be subject to freezing and breaking, and would need to be blown out with an air compressor before every winter.

my dad's garage is setup that way, and every year, he adds a few new words to the mix when he's tired of my mom nagging him to blow it out before the cold sets in.

there's better ways to do it below the frost line, and imo, i'd much rather do more work now than repeated work every year to save a few bucks.

 

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.

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