Thread: I usually don't have much time for cuteness

modom (palindrome guy) <[email protected]> wrote:

>OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
>salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
>part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.

Are there water pipes entombed in your foundation? If so, is
that normal construction?

Steve

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:45:20 +0000 (UTC), [email protected]
(Steve Pope) wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
>>salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
>>part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.
>
>Are there water pipes entombed in your foundation? If so, is
>that normal construction?
>
>Steve

Hell, I don't know. The leak appears to be at the place where the
kitchen was added onto back in the 1960s. The pipes were originally
set into the slab foundation and a second slab was poured to make more
kitchen at that time. The plumbing was extended to the new addition
across the gap between the two chunks of concrete. We've had a very
wet fall so far and the slabs apparently shifted with the rising
moisture content in the soil. My speculation is that this stressed the
pipes so that at least one of them began to leak.

This house is built on the first slab foundation laid in NE Texas. The
technology was a-bornin' back in 1952 when it was done, so there was
no best practices guide for plumbing at that time.

Current code and construction practice would have the plumbing above
the slab, as I understand it. This I plan to do ASAP. I got an
estimate during the summer, but held off because it was pretty pricey.
Now I'll have to pay for the repair and the pricey retrofit job, too.

Cool, eh?

For a little nerdly information about soil quality and -- um --
behavior around here Google "gilgai" if you like. Our dirt MOVES.
Anything sitting on it must be prepared for movement, too.
--

modom

"modom (palindrome guy)" <[email protected]> wrote
> Sweet video, though, eh?
> --
Yeah. It's a boy, I noticed.

modom (palindrome guy) <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:45:20 +0000 (UTC), [email protected]

>>Are there water pipes entombed in your foundation? If so, is
>>that normal construction?

>Hell, I don't know. The leak appears to be at the place where the
>kitchen was added onto back in the 1960s. The pipes were originally
>set into the slab foundation and a second slab was poured to make more
>kitchen at that time. The plumbing was extended to the new addition
>across the gap between the two chunks of concrete. We've had a very
>wet fall so far and the slabs apparently shifted with the rising
>moisture content in the soil. My speculation is that this stressed the
>pipes so that at least one of them began to leak.

>This house is built on the first slab foundation laid in NE Texas. The
>technology was a-bornin' back in 1952 when it was done, so there was
>no best practices guide for plumbing at that time.

>Current code and construction practice would have the plumbing above
>the slab, as I understand it. This I plan to do ASAP. I got an
>estimate during the summer, but held off because it was pretty pricey.
>Now I'll have to pay for the repair and the pricey retrofit job, too.

>Cool, eh?

Thanks for all the data.

Perhaps you could pull the trigger on doing the complete retrofit
rather than a temporary repair. In any case, I hope it works out
for you. I also live in a place with some soil movement
(clay soil, expands with moisture, settles otherwise), but
the utilities are mostly in a crawl space -- but there is one strech
of about a foot where the water service pipe does seem to go
through a perimeter foundation.


Steve

"modom (palindrome guy)" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> But: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1171689662375
>
> OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
> salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
> part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.
> Only busted my knuckle once.
>
> Water is off at the meter. We have several gallons in jugs for
> tomorrow.
>
> My plumber's number is in my cell phone's memory.
>
> Sweet video, though, eh?



I wonder what roasted hedgehog tastes like?



--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia


If we are not meant to eat animals,
why are they made of meat?

PeterL wrote:
> "modom (palindrome guy)" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> But: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1171689662375
>>
>> OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
>> salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
>> part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.
>> Only busted my knuckle once.
>>
>> Water is off at the meter. We have several gallons in jugs for
>> tomorrow.
>>
>> My plumber's number is in my cell phone's memory.
>>
>> Sweet video, though, eh?
>
>
>
> I wonder what roasted hedgehog tastes like?
>
>
>
I expect like it's major food source



Snails
but then why cook roadkill ?

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:45:20 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> modom (palindrome guy) <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
>>salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
>>part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.
>
> Are there water pipes entombed in your foundation? If so, is
> that normal construction?

Assuming a slab foundation, plumbing and any cable work such as
underground electricity usually go under or through the foundation
horizontally and then turn up vertical under the slab before it's
poured, optionally encased in PVC (cables are always in PVC).

Pier and beam foundations are not as much of an issue (for plumbing,
at least).

-sw

On Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:15:37 -0500, modom (palindrome guy) wrote:

> Current code and construction practice would have the plumbing above
> the slab, as I understand it.

Maybe in your city/county, but this is certainly not the norm.
We've all seen construction sites with all those tubes and pipes
sticking up from the ground either right before or right after the
foundation and slab is poured.

-sw

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:17:35 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> Thanks for all the data.
>
> Perhaps you could pull the trigger on doing the complete retrofit
> rather than a temporary repair. In any case, I hope it works out
> for you. I also live in a place with some soil movement
> (clay soil, expands with moisture, settles otherwise), but
> the utilities are mostly in a crawl space -- but there is one strech
> of about a foot where the water service pipe does seem to go
> through a perimeter foundation.

Is there a slab under the crawl-space? Otherwise it sounds like a
pier and beam foundation - no slab.

-sw

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> But: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1171689662375
>
> OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
> salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
> part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.
> Only busted my knuckle once.
>
> Water is off at the meter. We have several gallons in jugs for
> tomorrow.
>
> My plumber's number is in my cell phone's memory.
>
> Sweet video, though, eh?

Oh crud. Sounds most unpleasant.

--
Jean B.

"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:hau8og$a9v$[email protected]..
> modom (palindrome guy) <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>OBfood: water leak in the kitchen tonight, so we ate out. D had the
>>salmon. I had a pizza. and wine. Two glasses of wine. Then I tore out
>>part of the kitchen to find the leak. Yep, it's in the foundation.
>
> Are there water pipes entombed in your foundation? If so, is
> that normal construction?
>
> Steve

Not uncommon in Slab foundation construction.

Copper pipe refit is common to bypass this situation as the piped clog with
hard water. (California)


--
Dimitri
Coming soon:
http://kitchenguide.wordpress.com.

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> But: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1171689662375
>

>
> Sweet video, though, eh?



Awwwww. So cute! When we were on the island of Gotland this
summer we looked all over for hedgehogs, which are supposed to be
very common there. Didn't see a one except in the tourist shops
where they were as common as moose-logo stuff on the mainland.

gloria p

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:


> For a little nerdly information about soil quality and -- um --
> behavior around here Google "gilgai" if you like. Our dirt MOVES.
> Anything sitting on it must be prepared for movement, too.



Googling gilgai reminded me that in Colorado we have bentonite, a
type of clay that is very absorbent. It absorbs water and swells
a lot, then in dry periods it shrinks again. Same result--the
earth moves, foundations crack. Many new houses are built with
"floating" foundations. Oh, and exhaust systems to get rid of
potential radon in the basements.

gloria p

Sqwertz <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:17:35 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

>> Perhaps you could pull the trigger on doing the complete retrofit
>> rather than a temporary repair. In any case, I hope it works out
>> for you. I also live in a place with some soil movement
>> (clay soil, expands with moisture, settles otherwise), but
>> the utilities are mostly in a crawl space -- but there is one strech
>> of about a foot where the water service pipe does seem to go
>> through a perimeter foundation.

>Is there a slab under the crawl-space? Otherwise it sounds like a
>pier and beam foundation - no slab.

In my case, no slab -- perimeter and linear cental foundation lines
with cripple walls. There were originally piers/posts in the central
part, but I had them replaced due to settling.

The only slab houses in my immediate area are the thousands
of little Eichlers.

Steve

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:27:04 -0600, Gloria P <[email protected]>
wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>> But: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1171689662375
>>
>
>>
>> Sweet video, though, eh?
>
>
>
>Awwwww. So cute! When we were on the island of Gotland this
>summer we looked all over for hedgehogs, which are supposed to be
>very common there. Didn't see a one except in the tourist shops
>where they were as common as moose-logo stuff on the mainland.
>
>gloria p


Hedgehogs are nocturnal. There are a few living here but it's very
rare to see any out during daylight hours,,, I usually see them at the
edge of the woods at dusk and in the early morning when it's barely
light yet. And during winter they hibernate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog

Dimitri <[email protected]> wrote:

>Copper pipe refit is common to bypass this situation as the piped clog with
>hard water. (California)

Copper pipes have a sort of cult status among California
homeowners. In fact, the original galvanized pipes can
last a long time. Our 87-year-old galvanized pipes work
fine; sections of them have been snaked out once or
twice to improve the flow.

A lot depends on local water chemistry.

Steve

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:54:40 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> The only slab houses in my immediate area are the thousands
> of little Eichlers.

Sounds like Sunnyvale, south of El Camino.

-sw

"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:havp11$lbk$[email protected]..
> Dimitri <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Copper pipe refit is common to bypass this situation as the piped clog
>>with
>>hard water. (California)
>
> Copper pipes have a sort of cult status among California
> homeowners. In fact, the original galvanized pipes can
> last a long time. Our 87-year-old galvanized pipes work
> fine; sections of them have been snaked out once or
> twice to improve the flow.
>
> A lot depends on local water chemistry.
>
> Steve


Yep I know the house we have down South had galvanized pipes for about 40
years -actually according to Zillow it was built in 1966 making the house
43. At 40 we replaced the pipes to copper including the line from the main
to the house - one of the best improvements I ever made.


--
Dimitri
Coming soon:
http://kitchenguide.wordpress.com.