The Home Improvement Thread

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Is it right next to the house? Does it look like a downspout may have gone into it at one point? Could be the french drain, with rocks at the bottom like that. Is it lined with PVC or something or just a dirt hole?

- Hole is like 12-18 inches or so away from the house... in the middle of concrete beside a concrete side path.
- Doesn't seem like it ever had a downspout in it.
- Rocks at the bottom. I don't recall seeing any dirt, but I can double check later.
- Not PVC lined for sure, but I think I remember the sides were wood cross beams or something. Not sure how far down the wood goes and if there's any exposed dirt. There's also screws sticking out of the wood near the top. I'll check later tonight when I get home and take a pic.

The hole is 6-8 feet deep though. Aren't french drains near the surface? Not to mention, do homes built in the 80s even require holes like this for draining? I wondered if it had to do with a fire place that is nearby, but it's like 3-4 feet away from the fire place so it makes no sense. It almost seems like a rough out of some sort, but I have no idea what it could be for.


EDIT: Could it possibly be some type of an air intake "vent" or something for a drain tile or weeping tile system? I was chatting with the neighbor and they said the previous owner put that in at his own cost to prevent water seeping inside the house because it wasn't code for the houses built in community because the community was on a hill or something and houses were flooding. Would this make sense?

[Fuzz]

A french drain will be around the footing of your house, so 6-8 feet down makes sense, and if it is 12-18 inches, you are seeing the gravel rocks that are part of it. It's possible it was put in for surface water drainage due to no where to channel rain water? Mine had a downspout directly into the french drain, which was a BAD IDEA. Some times these old houses just have weird things like that.

[surferguy]

Maybe an old flagpole or clothesline tree was in the ground there?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Maybe an old flagpole or clothesline tree was in the ground there?

That’s what I was thinking. Or basketball hoop.

[Fuzz]

6-8 feet deep? You'd have to be insane to dig a 5" hole 6 feet deep for a pole.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

6-8 feet deep? You'd have to be insane to dig a 5" hole 6 feet deep for a pole.

Most flagpoles are installed by lazy people leaving 10’ or so out of the ground. These guys had a true and proper flagpole installation leaving only 2’ out of the ground.

[OMG!WTF!]

Burial of a small pet fish?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Maybe an old flagpole or clothesline tree was in the ground there?

It doesn't seem like a logical place for a flagpole or clothesline tree.

Fuzz's guess of something to do with a foundational draining system seems to make sense, the size of the hole doesn't make sense to me. It's definitely big enough for a 3-5 year old kid to fall into. I said 5" x 5" earlier, but I am looking at a ruler right now and it seems too small. It might be closer to 7-8" x 7-8". I'll confirm what's going on with pics and use a measuring tape to confirm the size of this thing.

Assuming the this hole does have to do with drainage, is filling it with stuff a bad idea? Should I be trying to look into putting something else in there that allows for air flow that I can remove when needed? The reason I was thinking of dropping a full on 8' post into the hole is so that I could remove the post if needed while making it far less likely a kid could fall inside.

[PaperBagger'14]

Getting 5" mixed up with 7-8", it's an honest mistake

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

It doesn't seem like a logical place for a flagpole or clothesline tree.

Fuzz's guess of something to do with a foundational draining system seems to make sense, the size of the hole doesn't make sense to me. It's definitely big enough for a 3-5 year old kid to fall into. I said 5" x 5" earlier, but I am looking at a ruler right now and it seems too small. It might be closer to 7-8" x 7-8". I'll confirm what's going on with pics and use a measuring tape to confirm the size of this thing.

Assuming the this hole does have to do with drainage, is filling it with stuff a bad idea? Should I be trying to look into putting something else in there that allows for air flow that I can remove when needed? The reason I was thinking of dropping a full on 8' post into the hole is so that I could remove the post if needed while making it far less likely a kid could fall inside.

This sounds like foundation drainage to me.

I wouldn’t put anything in it, but some kind of cover on top should be no issue.

Foundation drains are to keep the soil above the bottom of the foundation from getting saturated with water, as it will soak through the foundation wall if there’s any inadequacies in the waterproofing. The empty space forces water to fall down quickly to the foundation drainage / sump pit.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Assuming the this hole does have to do with drainage, is filling it with stuff a bad idea? Should I be trying to look into putting something else in there that allows for air flow that I can remove when needed? The reason I was thinking of dropping a full on 8' post into the hole is so that I could remove the post if needed while making it far less likely a kid could fall inside.

Go to your local HD or Lowes or whatever, in the section that has underground sprinklers you can find a nice box with a removable lid, you can dig around the hole a bit and bury this level to the ground and then it is easily accessible, saf and wont look at all out of place. They come in a few shapes and sizes.

They are cheap and in my experience, if you don't know why it's there best not to screw with it, someone did it for a reason and if you aren't having water issues its probably working. It may just be there so you can monitor the ground water saturation of your weeping tile.

[Fuzz]

If you are worried about your kid getting stuck in it, why not just fill it up with neighborhood kids, and then yours will be easy to grab if it goes in?

[Calgary14]

I have a smart lock on the front door of my house that needed batteries (4 AA) replaced. I replaced them but noticed within minutes the light was blinking red again indicating low battery. I took out the batteries case and on the bottom it was so hot it burnt my hand and the plastic was melting. This is likely a short in the wiring somewhere but I am glad I took out the batteries when I did before it got worse. The lock is about 7 years old and prior to this I've had no issues with it.

What should I do now? Contact Weiser and ask for a replacement and notify them of the safety issue, or contact local retailers like Home Depot who sell the lock to notify them of the safety issue (or both)?

[surferguy]

Use a key

[DoubleF]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Here is a pic of the hole. Also, my memory was way off on the size of the hole.

Spoiler for size:

Spoiler!

The hole is 91 inches deep x 11" x 14" and is 10" from the side of the house.

The underground sprinkler cover idea would have been great had the hole not been situated smack dab in the middle of concrete. Are there any other hatch options that would work for this scenario but made of metal. That way it might work while still allowing the necessary ventilation and whatnot. I don't think I could screw it into the wood directly. That stuff is just as rotted as the plywood cover on it before.

I've temporarily taken a concrete stepping stone from my back yard and placed it where the rotting wood cover used to be. I wouldn't want a kid to step on that plywood and have it snap under their weight.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I have a smart lock on the front door of my house that needed batteries (4 AA) replaced. I replaced them but noticed within minutes the light was blinking red again indicating low battery. I took out the batteries case and on the bottom it was so hot it burnt my hand and the plastic was melting. This is likely a short in the wiring somewhere but I am glad I took out the batteries when I did before it got worse. The lock is about 7 years old and prior to this I've had no issues with it.

What should I do now? Contact Weiser and ask for a replacement and notify them of the safety issue, or contact local retailers like Home Depot who sell the lock to notify them of the safety issue (or both)?

You'd contact Weiser, the manufacturer. Contacting local likely doesn't mean anything unless it's a well known problem and even then, you still should contact the manufacturer. If the unit is 7 years old, this especially doesn't mean anything to them.

If the point is to try to get some type of freebie, it's not guaranteed. The lock is 7 years old and the electrical components only have a 1 year warranty. It's unknown if it's a lemon or just unfortunate circumstances unique to your situation. I guess you can always contact the manufacturer about the issue, be open about the fact it's out of electrical warranty and ask if it failing like this is normal.

I guess if the unit is kinda melted, you can always see if they'll honor the lifetime finish warranty... but TBH, unless this thing was 7 weeks old rather than 7 years old, it's kinda almost expected the unit will fail sooner or later and unfortunately, you don't really have any leg to stand on unless other stuff other than the lock was damaged.

[Fuzz]

I'd just get a piece of pressure treated plywood, and some nice long decking screws. Not all the wood looks rotten.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'd just get a piece of pressure treated plywood, and some nice long decking screws. Not all the wood looks rotten.

Hmm.. I guess I could do that with the other 3 sides that aren't rotting. I think I'd rather see if I could get a strong robust metal hatch type thing rather than plywood though. Just for peace of mind.

[Fuzz]

You could probably find some metal mesh with a fine grid to cut to size, and screw down. I'm not sure you will find the perfect size hatch for that.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You could probably find some metal mesh with a fine grid to cut to size, and screw down. I'm not sure you will find the perfect size hatch for that.

I was actually thinking of building a small "platform" to secure a lockable metal cover similar to what speede5 recommended. It would be a few inches high and slightly larger than the hole itself. Something kinda like a well cover type of design.

That way it's a cover that no kid(s) can kinda just flip over or open up with basic tools while still easily be opened without to much effort to look inside if needed. The metal mesh suggestion is a good one. I might consider that too so no one can accidentally drop a phone down there when flipping the cover open to check it or whatever.

Because it is on the concrete walk way, I guess I am also over thinking a scenario where someone is standing on top of that cover when it's covered in snow and it just gives out. With a raised cover, in theory, it is less likely someone is accidentally be standing on top of it.