Home Improvement

Ameraves

Ameraves

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We are finally getting around to working on our backyard, and discovered a manhole in our backyard. It was in this planter/retaining wall thing we have that we are removing, and now I am not sure what exactly we are going to do. It is going to end up being higher than the rest of the backyard. Here is a picture with it open. I will get some more pictures to try and better show what I am talking about.

M53GsmQ.jpg
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

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Okay here are some more pictures to show where it is. I will do my best to explain.

This is from sitting on my patio looking to the back fence. Where all those bricks are laying around, it used to be a retaining wall that we are taking out now. The red circle is where the manhole is.

l6UdE0s.jpg


This is just a little closer up

1zXpgWa.jpg


And this is looking towards the back wall and to the side a bit. This part of the house was an addition, and you can see how they dug out the dirt but never leveled it back. So we have to work on that as well. I tried to draw a line so you can see how much higher the manhole cover will be than the yard itself.

y8s3nct.jpg


So no it isn't exactly in the middle of the yard, it is probably about a foot from the back fence. However, it is still going to be really weird sticking out there. I assume the city has access to it, but it was completely covered by roots and everything, so nobody has used it in years. I am going to call them on Monday and see what exactly it is for, and what we can do about it.

Try and ignore the mess that the backyard is currently, that is why we are working on it. I will go back and find some pictures of what it looked like when we first bought it, and you can see how awful it was when we started.
 
lurker

lurker

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If the city has access to it, it should have been spelled out to you when you purchased the property. That's what you paid the title company to do.
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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lurker_sl said:
If the city has access to it, it should have been spelled out to you when you purchased the property. That's what you paid the title company to do.
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This is exactly right. You should feel completely free to destroy that so it doesn't stick up if you were not told about it when you purchased the house.

Have you gone down into the hole? You sure it's not a bomb shelter? Might be cool vintage shit in there.
 
Palum

Palum

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lurker_sl said:
If the city has access to it, it should have been spelled out to you when you purchased the property. That's what you paid the title company to do.
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Aaannnd boy seems those title companies do pretty much nothing and rely on insurance rates.
 
Palum

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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lurkingdirk_sl said:
This is exactly right. You should feel completely free to destroy that so it doesn't stick up if you were not told about it when you purchased the house.

Have you gone down into the hole? You sure it's not a bomb shelter? Might be cool vintage shit in there.
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No don't do that yet, Jesus. Find out what it is first. Hoping bomb shelter for a funny story.
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

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Well I can't get down in there, but I asked my brother in law to go down. He said he didn't want to because the air may not even have enough oxygen in there. I won't lie, I was sort of hoping for a buried vault or a bomb shelter too!
 
lurker

lurker

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Palum_sl said:
Aaannnd boy seems those title companies do pretty much nothing and rely on insurance rates.
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There are enough disclaimers on the title search documents that gets them off the hook for any mistakes they might have made. There's usually no recourse for their incompetence.
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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lurker_sl said:
There are enough disclaimers on the title search documents that gets them off the hook for any mistakes they might have made. There's usually no recourse for their incompetence.
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Yeah, this is true. Boy that pisses me off. What a bloody racket.

Find a plumber. They have snakes with cameras on them to go through pipes. $50 should get a guy out to check out something interesting like this.

I know people advised against it, but if it were me I'd make it go away completely and never tell anyone.
 
P

Picasso3

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Don't climb in manhole. I'm sure bzak can speak in depth about the dangers of confined spaces with shit air
 
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Picasso3

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Depending on the rim of the manhole it may be adjustable , sometimes they'll raise them with courses of brick which can be removed
 
Palum

Palum

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It looks like a storm drain access to be honest. Assume sewer would have been noticeable (or full) and that being empty/unused/not visited seems like a reasonable guess.
 
Big Phoenix

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Ameraves_sl said:
Well I can't get down in there, but I asked my brother in law to go down. He said he didn't want to because the air may not even have enough oxygen in there. I won't lie, I was sort of hoping for a buried vault or a bomb shelter too!
Click to expand...
Yeah manholes and gasses are no joke. Couple utility workers died here last year when they went into one.

And here are the vents on the roof of my house;

rrr_img_132452.jpg

rrr_img_132453.jpg


I have two of each type up there, you bros think a turbine would just fit in place of them or would it require some cutting? Also the attic is a mess, would it be worth it to tidy it up and put some plywood over the insulation in between the joists?
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

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Palum_sl said:
It looks like a storm drain access to be honest. Assume sewer would have been noticeable (or full) and that being empty/unused/not visited seems like a reasonable guess.
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Yeah that is exactly what it is. Here is another picture of it, now all uncovered. He took the lid off for me to look down, and it is clearly just a storm drain. It's probably 10-15 feet deep

KnI1zup.jpg
 
Borzak

Borzak

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Picasso_sl said:
Don't climb in manhole. I'm sure bzak can speak in depth about the dangers of confined spaces with shit air
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If you are referring to me I have no idea. Anytime I enter a confined area on site there's whole teams of people who check the air every 30 minutes, someone to check you in and out at the entrance and such. I carry a respirator because it's required, but it's a case of put it on when everyone who works there full time do.

I see now they ID'd it as a storm drain but at first it reminded me of the deals they had where I used to live in town when they moved the transformers underground. They used to sit in boxes on the ground but when they moved them underground they had little deals to access them everywhere, but not on peoples property but along subdivision streets and such. When I was a young teen we used to climb down in them all the time and see what was down there. Nothing but a big transformer in a box and maybe a rew instruments and such.
 
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