Another Clue Tour
Two years ago, I did a "house clue tour" for some of the undergrads living at tEp--basically a guided tour of the hidden infrastructure of the house, from the basement to the fifth floor. I spent far too much time during my undergrad days fixing things rather than studying (as well as staring at the walls of the boiler room during my depressive episodes), so I am glad to share this knowledge with people who might find it useful. Therefore, I did another one this Saturday, after getting off a plane from Kansas.
About five or six of them came along on the tour (or at least parts of it)--where the magic button to relight the Garland oven is hidden, where the sprinkler drain valve is, where the water meter is hidden, and how T-Stop had to crawl through freezing water under the kitchen floor to shut off the water when the pipes burst. Also, told the story of Big Time Wrestling in the center room, resulting in both expansion tanks falling from the cave (boiler room) ceiling, thus taking out both the heating and hot water systems. And recounting Leper stanching the leak like in a submarine movie, stuffing a rubber glove-wrapped broomstick handle into the sheared pipe ("Turn off that valve! No, the one to the right!") It was a good, entertaining time to give the tour and tell the stories.
Also, it's great to be reminded that undergrad Teps are a bunch of smart, creative, and funny people--it's wonderful that the tribe maintains that continuity. And it was great to have undergrads who are appreciative of the information I have to offer.
One of the undergrads asked me how long it has been since I lived in the house... it's about 13 years. He then marveled at the fact that I hadn't lived here for over a decade, and still had this level of detailed recollection about how the house works. Wow... it surprised me to hear that, and I can't explain why my brain has tEp's innards imprinted on it.
Anyway, in terms of continuity, the house is still a pit of unmitigated shit. Well, okay, it's not that bad... but check out the hella large rat that Puck caught in 23's closet!
posted by Bats @ 6:20 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
What's the latest on the roof and the plumbing column? Weren't they both in line for replacement?
Oh, yeah. That's Velcro that left that comment.
What's the latest on the roof and the plumbing column?
The undergrads reported some roof leakage (lower roof I think), but couldn't really pinpoint it. It might actually have more to do with a eavestrough/gutter overflow, so I recommended that they do water spray tests to try to identify exactly where its coming from. It seems to be a shame to tear off a roof when the problem lies with a small specific detail, such as a flashing connection.
I know many people have argued about replacing the main plumbing stack. And it is getting close to the time when a cast iron pipe system is nearing the end of its service life (~100 years)--see Bird & Jen's house for an example of a failed system.
However, all of the plumbing leaks and failures that I ever experienced, and that I heard about afterwards, have been at the branch plumbing, and/or the floors. For instance, a failure of the shower arm inside the wall on the supply side, or a leak in the floor, so water from the bathroom leaks into the stack area. It doesn't make sense to me to replace the stack if these are the problems we're experiencing. If the current failures are otherwise, it might be worth considering, but it will be a huge undertaking--removing the walls from half the bathrooms (on the stack side), and likely most of the ceilings, and the center room ceiling. If the problems lie elsewhere, they should be fixed instead.
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