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PainterofCrap posted:Either that, or one hell of a built-in hot tub. Or a particularly hellish hot tub. You generally don't see putrefied rat carcasses in a regular one.
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Feb 25, 2015 11:12
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That is terrifying. Was there a horrible smell the moment you walked into the house?
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Feb 25, 2015 15:22
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Leperflesh posted:Also, it's possible if water stands in there 100% of the time that draining the water will cause structural wood that has been submerged for decades to immediately begin to mold up and rot away at an incredible rate. Archaeologists know that there are three conditions that preserve organic material over time: "dry and stays dry" (think mummies), "frozen and remains frozen" (think mammoths), and "wet and remains wet" (think sunken ships). Are you saying that that could be a load-bearing flood? 
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Feb 25, 2015 16:00
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Gounads posted:That is terrifying. It was surprisingly odor-free. Slightly dank, but I'd been in worse basements that day (many, many pipe freeze/bursts). Probably due to it being juuust above freezing down there. If it was summer, I would've been sporting protective gear & a respirator. The family room was quit cozy, actually. No idea this lurked below.
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Feb 25, 2015 16:59
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Actually, switches outside the bathroom are making a comeback now that wet room bathrooms are becoming popular, where basically the entire bathroom is a shower stall.
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Feb 25, 2015 18:13
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Ashcans posted:Are you saying that that could be a load-bearing flood? Haha well apparently not, since it's all masonry, although it's possible the masonry below the water-line could be compromised. But yes, it's possible to have a load-bearing flood.
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Feb 25, 2015 18:23
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Ashcans posted:Are you saying that that could be a load-bearing flood? Downtown Milwaukee WI is right next to Lake Michigan, and sections were previously swamp land way back in the early 1800s, and the water table is very very high in the whole area. A number of historic multistory buildings have original, submerged wood foundations that are still in great shape because they have never been exposed to air. One building had settling problems and it was determined that the water table in that area had dropped due to a deep tunnel storm water system that was installed a few hundred feet under it. The tunnel leaks in a few places so the water table dropped below the building and the wood foundation started drying out and rotting. I think they actually have to pump water INTO the foundation now to keep it stable. A lot of words to say that it is a valid building technique, when done intentionally 
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Feb 25, 2015 20:46
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Also, house boats.
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Feb 25, 2015 21:05
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Just to beat a dead horse, the city of Venice, Italy is mostly built on a bunch of piles driven into the middle of a swamp. They tested a few of them a few years ago and dated them to some time in the 7th century.
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Feb 25, 2015 22:27
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Mizufusion posted:Riddle me this: the house I grew up in was built in the 60s. Both bathrooms had electric outlets. So why did the hallway bathroom have the light switch inside, and the master bathroom have it outside? Is it for building trust exercises, like "man, I hope my spouse doesn't turn the light off while I'm pooping"? My in-laws master bath is like this, built in the late 60's inside the bathroom door to the right is the shower and the bathroom door opens in and to the left so outside the door is the most sensible place.
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Feb 26, 2015 02:30
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The furnace in my dad's house died, so I've been babysitting the house while the repair people do their magic and replace the 25 year old unit that predates him buying the house. This is bringing back lovely memories of the hosed up poo poo we found in the house. The people doing the repairs were not prepared for the disaster that lurked underneath and I feel like I need to have a case of beer waiting for them tomorrow evening. I was like eight when they bought the house so gently caress if I know all the details about what idiot inspected the house or if these issues were known and they bought the house as is. But anyway. The furnace. Pretty quickly on it was obvious there was something not right with it. When an electrician was brought in to see why breakers kept tripping, it was discovered that instead of wiring the furnace properly, previous owner had run an extension cord under the floor, drilled a hole in the floor for the cord to come up and plugged into an ancient ungrounded electrical socket. A similar setup was found with the dishwasher and water softener. No wonder we were tripping breakers all the time until they paid a pro to fix it. Dedicated circuits? What are those?
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Feb 26, 2015 03:10
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Grape Soda posted:The people doing the repairs were not prepared for the disaster that lurked underneath and I feel like I need to have a case of beer waiting for them tomorrow evening. There isn't a tradesman on the planet that wouldn't appreciate a sixer of some moderately palatable beer like Miller Lite. If the job has been a bitch, it's a cheap $7 thank you.
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Feb 26, 2015 05:05
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Speaking of water being where it shouldn't. Wifes friend mentioned something about her new apartment building having some 'water issues', I asked about it and she shows me this picture.  Told her got an electrical issue too! Also send me that picture.
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Feb 26, 2015 06:19
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streetlamp posted:Speaking of water being where it shouldn't. Wifes friend mentioned something about her new apartment building having some 'water issues', I asked about it and she shows me this picture. Christ that's giving me college flashbacks - a big pipe burst on the top floor of my 8 story dorm (I was on the 6th floor at the time) and filled the walls with water. I was drinking my morning tea at the time and suddenly the power goes out. I get up to see if it's just me or if everything's out and then I hear loud, rushing water all around me. Seriously it sounded like a loving waterfall. I go out in the hall and water is pouring out of the holes in the electrical sockets. Like not just dribbling out but shooting out like there's some pressure behind it, it was really drat surreal.
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Feb 26, 2015 06:41
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I finally have something to contribute to this thread! Yay! So my house has this switch in it:  Where is that? In the back of the bottom shelf of the pantry. Why is there? I dunno. What does it control? Well, apparently it controls the power strip that's above the fireplace on the other side of the wall. Not sure why that needed a switch or why that was put in the back of the pantry.  The other kinda sketchy thing:  This from work. Power panel next to the sinks. No, that is not an outdoor box either. It's rusty as all hell, has rusted through in a few places. I''m assuming it's ok, since I guess it had to pass some kind of inspection, but it still makes me a little uncomfortable washing dishes next to it.
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Feb 26, 2015 06:47
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Dragyn posted:I'd always heard that it was before the days of GFCI protection, as a safety precaution. No outlets in the bath and the light switch is outside. Yep, my 1918 built place is the same way. Lightswitch on the outside of the bathroom, and the sole outlet is a (now GFCI) box put in in the 1980's remodel.
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Feb 26, 2015 07:21
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ExplodingSims posted:The other kinda sketchy thing: I have no idea how this would pass inspection, unless you live in Russia or some other hellhole.
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Feb 26, 2015 07:34
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Dillbag posted:I have no idea how this would pass inspection, unless you live in Russia or some other hellhole. Orlando FL, so pretty close.
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Feb 26, 2015 07:35
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Dillbag posted:I have no idea how this would pass inspection, unless you live in Russia or some other hellhole. Unless there's the ability to spray water at the panel itself, I'm not sure there's a problem here... EDIT: I know the NEC prohibits putting circuit breakers in bathrooms now, but without actually looking at a recent edition, I'm not sure if there is anything about *kitchens*. I do know that water ingress is called out specifically, however. Slanderer fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Feb 26, 2015 |
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Feb 26, 2015 07:39
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Slanderer posted:Unless there's the ability to spray water at the panel itself, I'm not sure there's a problem here... Well there is the sprayer head which can (and has) been used to spray the panel. Plus it's also across from a janitor sink which has another hose on it. Again, it might be up to code and everything, but it just seems weird to me.
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Feb 26, 2015 08:02
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Yeah, that's a dish sink, I guarantee that panel is getting sprayed on the daily, by a half-soaked guy standing in a puddle and leaning his dick against a stainless steel rail.
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Feb 26, 2015 14:10
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Slanderer posted:Unless there's the ability to spray water at the panel itself, I'm not sure there's a problem here... Also, it's being blocked. I worked in a grocery store service deli, and the boss refused to understand why we couldn't put the 100 lb baker's racks two deep, "in all that empty space," in front of the breaker panel. I went to a socket, stuck my finger on it, and started screaming. I yelled for him to pop the breaker, and I got sent home for being disruptive.
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Feb 26, 2015 16:52
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`Nemesis posted:Downtown Milwaukee WI is right next to Lake Michigan, and sections were previously swamp land way back in the early 1800s, and the water table is very very high in the whole area. A number of historic multistory buildings have original, submerged wood foundations that are still in great shape because they have never been exposed to air. One building had settling problems and it was determined that the water table in that area had dropped due to a deep tunnel storm water system that was installed a few hundred feet under it. The tunnel leaks in a few places so the water table dropped below the building and the wood foundation started drying out and rotting. I think they actually have to pump water INTO the foundation now to keep it stable. Most of the blame for decaying pilings is BS cooked up by building owners to get the government to pay for problems that have been around for a long time. This article is from 1954, about 30 years before the Deep Tunnel was built. The head building inspector supposedly did a study of the same problem in downtown back in the 1930's. The short story is that the water table fluctuates wildly - something that architects didn't realize back in the 1800s and early 1900's when they were using timber pilings.
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Feb 26, 2015 18:04
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Wasabi the J posted:Also, it's being blocked. Ah, I wasn't even a paying attention to that garbage can, which technically shouldn't be there. But aside from that, Liquid Communism posted:Yeah, that's a dish sink, I guarantee that panel is getting sprayed on the daily, by a half-soaked guy standing in a puddle and leaning his dick against a stainless steel rail. Eh, I assume that the panel getting wet is more of an issue with damage to the panel (mostly contamination on any electrical contacts), instead of direct electrocution safety---the entire steel panel is grounded (or should be). If a short was somehow caused by sufficiently-conductive water, it would be internal to the breaker.
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Feb 26, 2015 18:44
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Panel gets wet, everyone goes home, a short starts a fire, the building burns down?
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Feb 26, 2015 18:48
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Leperflesh posted:Panel gets wet, everyone goes home, a short starts a fire, the building burns down? Honestly, that would be pretty unlikely- I think the bigger concern is corrosion of exposed metal and trapped water/contaminants in the breakers themselves, since that can cause trouble down the line (like a breaker failing to open up).
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Feb 26, 2015 18:59
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Slanderer posted:Honestly, that would be pretty unlikely- I think the bigger concern is corrosion of exposed metal and trapped water/contaminants in the breakers themselves, since that can cause trouble down the line (like a breaker failing to open up). Rusted closed breakers would be a super awesome way to start an in-wall insulation fire when you decide that no, 3 space headers on one surge protector isn't a bad idea at all!
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Feb 26, 2015 20:31
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I created this on myself by not getting ONE post below the frost line (boulder in the way, running short on time, <insert more excuses here>). It's fine as long as the building heat is running. Well, it failed overnight a couple weeks ago, and this post (which the hinge side of the door frame is attached to) heaved up and away from it's correct position. The door would no longer close properly. In fact, I barely got it open. Even with the heat back on it's still not getting any better - it's just been too cold here. To fix it for real I'll have to excavate outside and lay some insulation (an inch of foam does the work of about 4 feet of soil). In the mean time:  Porta power to the rescue. Now it closes properly. Spring can't come soon enough.
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Feb 26, 2015 22:38
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Neutrino posted:Most of the blame for decaying pilings is BS cooked up by building owners to get the government to pay for problems that have been around for a long time. This article is from 1954, about 30 years before the Deep Tunnel was built. The head building inspector supposedly did a study of the same problem in downtown back in the 1930's. The short story is that the water table fluctuates wildly - something that architects didn't realize back in the 1800s and early 1900's when they were using timber pilings. Am I correct that the MMSD prevailed in the lawsuit about that? I couldn't remember.
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Feb 27, 2015 02:41
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Slanderer posted:Eh, I assume that the panel getting wet is more of an issue with damage to the panel (mostly contamination on any electrical contacts), instead of direct electrocution safety---the entire steel panel is grounded (or should be). If a short was somehow caused by sufficiently-conductive water, it would be internal to the breaker. What in the world would make you assume a panel put in next to a loving dish sink is properly grounded? Proper grounding is for competent builders and electricians, the sort that would look at a build out with a sink trap and taps in arm's reach and go 'Uh, maybe this isn't a great idea..'
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Feb 27, 2015 10:33
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Am I the only one seeing the standing water on the floor? Some splash on the panel seems like the least of their worries.
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Feb 27, 2015 19:56
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Liquid Communism posted:What in the world would make you assume a panel put in next to a loving dish sink is properly grounded? Proper grounding is for competent builders and electricians, the sort that would look at a build out with a sink trap and taps in arm's reach and go 'Uh, maybe this isn't a great idea..' Dollars to donuts the panel was there long before the sink. That doesn't prove the panel is properly grounded, but it doesn't suggest otherwise either.
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Feb 27, 2015 23:03
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gently caress, fine, I actually looked it up. Installing panels in kitchens is not prohibited (you can't have them in bathrooms within "dwelling units" though, but apparently other bathrooms are fine???). I can't tell from the picture, but that panel may or may not meeting the requirements for installations in damp locations, but probably not the requirements for wet locations---that difference is important, because the NEC definitions of those locations are weird and specific (where "wet" can mean "in the loving rain", and "damp" can mean "outside under an awning, but can still get wet"). For "wet locations" you can still have the breaker (no minimum distance from sinks or anything), but it needs to be "weatherproof" (this doesn't mean "waterproof", it just means that the location-specific weather can't adversely affect the function of the device. Basically, you choose the right NEMA rating for the application).
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Feb 27, 2015 23:36
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`Nemesis posted:Am I the only one seeing the standing water on the floor? Some splash on the panel seems like the least of their worries. Looks less like standing water and more like the natural result of that kind of dish sink. Usually you'd have an anti-slip mat down there, though.
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Feb 28, 2015 01:56
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`Nemesis posted:Am I correct that the MMSD prevailed in the lawsuit about that? I couldn't remember. The weirdest thing is they paid out to Boston Store for the store's settlement issues when the article from 1954 clearly states it had problems back then. I guess they figured they had some responsibility. http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2015/01/28/back-in-the-news-mmsd-settles-with-boston-store/
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Feb 28, 2015 04:50
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Liquid Communism posted:Looks less like standing water and more like the natural result of that kind of dish sink. Usually you'd have an anti-slip mat down there, though. It's a little of both! The floors in there aren't sloped or anything, and are horribly lumpy, and never really stay dry. Also the drains are hilariously tiny in there.
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Feb 28, 2015 04:56
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yswP-MSvQ Bathroom remodel appears to be going great!
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Feb 28, 2015 05:53
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That's an...interesting situation. I spent a minute trying to figure out exactly how the power outlet could have gotten pulled into that mess when it wasn't before, but I'm drawing a blank. It's probably just as well I don't do wiring in my own home.
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Feb 28, 2015 06:41
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canyoneer posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yswP-MSvQ That is pretty funny and most likely somewhat dangerous. Don't plug anything in that you cannot afford to replace. I think you might have a loose neutral somewhere. If not, I think you found some of the most creative wiring. Is the nec ever going to forbid different phased circuits from sharing a common neutral wire? E: I'm too dumb to realize that isn't your video. I should never CopperHound fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Feb 28, 2015 |
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Feb 28, 2015 06:46
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That camerawoman's laughter is super-infectious. Also it's hilarious. I can't figure out how the hair dryer's switch activates the lamp without actually turning on the hair dryer.
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Feb 28, 2015 08:17
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