06.13.08
Good Morning Good Eggs!
And A Merry Friday The 13th.
By Peggy Schlichter
Well today kicks off Good Egg weekend. A time of parades, socializing, kids riding the rides, ball games, street dances and all around get togethers to have fun. Every year the town celebrates its Good Eggs. A time for all the folks who have worked hard for the last year to get together and have a little fun.
This year as we start to dry out a bit it should have a little extra meaning. Everyone with basements who are tired of pumping water and cleaning up the mess need a little break. I know I do. I woke up to a foot of water in my basement yesterday morning. Those who have been living with the problem longer than I have I can now comiserate. No hot water, no A/C and the mess until it dries enough to see what is damaged. So I am choosing to look at yesterday being my Friday the 13th and today and this weekend of clear weather as my reward for putting up with the mess. Speaking of which I have avoided going to look this morning until I finish this post.
I did manage to get my trellis’s up yesterday as the pump was working on its task of clearing the water. Funny thing is when you buy an old house you tend to find odd things. By the time the water was down enough to see what was going on I discovered a tile that opens into my basement. Where it comes from and why it is there is a mystery that I will have to look into. It was not a happy discovery. Just why would someone build a house and leave a open tile running into the basement? One has to wonder.
Anyway, it is a question that will not be answered this weekend. I intend to enjoy the festivities. Hope to see you there.
anony said,
June 25, 2008 at 11:54 am
Peg, did you ever find out about the open tile in your basement? I don’t know if you saw it or not, but in the 07/12 issue of the Stuart Herald, Memories of way back when, …. 70 years ago article from news, “Our streets will be resurfaced this summer. Those of you not having sewer and water into your homes should consider doing it before the streets are completed. The Green Bay Lumber Co has sewer tile for sale. This will be cheaper than after streets are done.” I don’t think the street you live on now was resurfaced at that time, but there are many homes in Stuart that are still using the self installed tiling for their water and sewer needs. Is it any wonder we have problems?
thevoicesofstuart said,
June 25, 2008 at 10:35 pm
anony – no i still haven’t figured out where the tile is coming from. i do not have a light bright enough to see if the line makes a turn at the side of the house or if it is just an old field tile that for some reason was left open into the basement. in the floor on the opposite side of the room there is a drain that i have no idea where it goes to either. i know that is does not go into the sewer line because i had the entire sewer line camera’d when i gutted the back half of the house and found the old sewer line was rusted out and dumping under the kitchen floor. i found that there was good pvc line run from the north east corner of the house to the road but from there into the house was rotten so i replaced it while the floor was out of the kitchen. i do not have a full basement here just a room about 10 x 12 that the utilities, hot water and furnace sit in. my educated guess on the drain is that there is a area somewhere to the north under the house that has a large rock fill to disperse any water that goes out that drain. the water was always draining but the volume and the surrounding ground saturation slowed it drastically. if i can figure out where the pipe comes from i can then get an idea what needs to be done. it is possible that the drain is the old home sewer trap that was disconnected when they hooked up to the city. there is also a old cistern on the ne corner of the house but i could find no connection between it and the sewer line or tile. the only other possibility is that what i am calling the cistern is the old house sewer. i do not think so though because the old house wells would have been to close and been contaminated by the sewage. all the wells i found were dry laid stone. the tile is on the south side of the house and about 8′ deep. i need to find something long and flexible to run down the tile to see if it makes a corner fairly close to the opening. if it does it is a pretty good bet that it goes around the house. if not and just keeps going south it is probably an old field tile that i am going to have to figure out what to do about. this is the first time since i have been living here that there was any large amount of water dumping out of the tile. but then again this is the wettest spring since i have been back also. i won’t get anything done this week because i am cleaning the garage and having a yard sale on saturday. i am completely bummed with having 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag. not being able to get to a work bench without having to move stuff. not being able to find what i was looking for without having to go look 20 places, go through boxes or buy new just to make a simple repair. it is not raining so the tile can wait another few days.