More plumbing archaeology questions

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Taylor

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I am in the process of finding out where the main waste line is in the basement slab of my 80 yo house. It is clay and needs to be replaced. I am going through layers of asbestos tiles and 2" concrete slab bit by bit....

....when I come across some kind of shallow arch just below the slab (the slab thickens to include it). The waste pipe goes down into the arch and I can see space in there, like a small chamber under the slab. There are also strips of corrugated metal (lead?) embedded in the concrete.

Does anyone know what is going on here? The waste pipe looks very fragile, I am digging it out with a hand-held garden spade, and even so bits of the pipe are sometimes coming up in the debris. Under the circumstances, I'd really like to know what I'm dealing with before I proceed.

From the parts I have dug up, the ceiling of this "chamber" is quite smooth, which leads me to think that this is something premade that was laid down and then the slab poured over it.

Thanks for any enlightenment.
 

Taylor

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Pitchers

Here are pitchers. First one shows the trench I have dug so far to expose the waste line, and at the end (right corner) is the space under the slab I spoke about.

The second pic provides a close-up of that corner. There appears to be another smaller hole to the right of the one pictured, as though there is a support there and empty space under the slab behind it.

The waste pipe appears to be going underneath that reinforced concrete at the end of the trench. There is a piece of corrugated sheet metal embedded in that lower concrete on the right. There are bits of sheet metal in the pieces of concrete I have taken out. The slab has been 2" thick but thickens at this point.
 

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hj

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concrete

Don't see anything there but a bunch of dirt. Concrete in a home's basement is not reinforced. If there is debris in the concrete, that usually implies that it was a patched section by someone who was either careless with his mixing, or intended for the stuff to be in it, but not by the original concrete contractor.
 

Taylor

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More pitchers

I've passed the point where I had questions, but I'm still curious what was going on there.

The first pitcher shows the area I have now gone past. The pic hopefully shows the concrete thicker there; notice the space under the slab (left) and that round hole (right). What it does not show is the very smooth underside of the concrete, so this is not simply subsidence of the soil under the slab. Found a few scraps of rotted lath, suspect they poured over something made out of lath. Still don't understand the sheet metal strips in the concrete.

Second pic updates the pitcher of the trench I showed earlier, the spot in question is around where soil goes from gray to brown in color.

It looks like the waste pipe makes a change in direction there (more asbestos tiles to take up, yummy), I am wondering if they framed something to protect the fitting there.
 

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Terry

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I imagine this to be the blocked opening of a cave of the tiny Inner Earth people. It was common around the turn of the century, when foundations were excavated, the openings were exposed, and little tiny Inner Earth people would scurry about and throw building materials about.
To discourage this night time activity, they would lay bits of metal down and mix it with low grade concrete and cement.
After a period of time, the tiny Inner Earth people moved farther down, and we really don't see them much anymore.
But if you hear sounds at night like creaking floor boards when it's deathly quiet, it could be the tiny Inner Earth people trying to push upward and force a hole through the concrete.
It's really nothing to worry about, what they need to survive is below ground, they love roots, and they can grind up rocks for their minerals.
But they do like throwing around construction materials.
Always keep scrap in a pile in the front yard, don't leave it just laying around.
 
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Patrick88

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I imagine this to be the blocked opening of a cave of the tiny Inner Earth people. It was common around the turn of the century, when foundations were excavated, the openings were exposed, and little tiny Inner Earth people would scurry about and throw building materials about.
To discourage this night time activity, they would lay bits of metal down and mix it with low grade concrete and cement.
After a period of time, the tiny Inner Earth people moved farther down, and we really don't see them much anymore.
But if you hear sounds at night like creaking floor boards when it's deathly quiet, it could be the tiny Inner Earth people trying to push upward and force a hole through the concrete.
It's really nothing to worry about, what they need to survive is below ground, they love roots, and they can grind up rocks for their minerals.
But they do like throwing around construction materials.
Always keep scrap in a pile in the front yard, don't leave it just laying around.

That explains so much.
 
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Redwood

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I always wondered who threw all the construction debris in the forms the night before the pour... Now I know! Thanks Terry!

When I throw a styrofoam Dunkin Donuts cup into a concrete form I consider it to be my own personal Mini Time Capsul!
 

Master Plumber Mark

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\terry, and the little people

Terry whatever you are smokeing tonight , please

mail me some of it..... I have never seen the little

inner earth people....


Now on occasioin ,
if I have a fresh opened can of PVC glue
and I am in a tight crawl space, I have seen
pretty colors and I have I conversed with the cock roaches

but I have never seen the little people...

.
 
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enriquehobart

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My latest time capsule was a gatorade container filled with gravel.

I'm one of those little people and I have to walk to get to the keys on my keyboard and jump when I'm on the right letter.

....phew.

hj and redwood...zup?

enotsdnascire

6/15/8, 10:44pm
 

Taylor

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You guys are gonna love this

Getting close to the end wall....bear in mind that I had to dig up asbestos tiles so this is probably original floor.....got a piece of concrete floor that's stuck, pry with a crow bar....

.....and voila, a cleanout buried under concrete for 80 years.

These old houses......
 

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