Mysterious pipes in floor of 1953 basement

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Emold

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Hey everyone, I think this is my first time posting a question here as I usual find my answers in the archives. In other words, thanks for the help with all of our previous plumbing issues!

We recently pulled up an old subfloor in the basement of our 1953 1 1/2 story home. Two capped cast iron(?) pipes, sunk into the concrete, were revealed. Any ideas what they are for? I don’t believe they look like the standard clean out. I want to know if I should leave access to them or if I can cover them with new flooring.

Any knowledge or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Jody

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Reach4

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I don't know what those are. What is the lettering cast into the caps?
 

Emold

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I don't know what those are. What is the lettering cast into the caps?
Both of the caps say E Anthes. I thought it might be a brand, but google didn’t turn up anything that seemed related.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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If you're brave you could take a cap off and flush toilets to see if you can hear if the drains are connected.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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I think maybe its French. Check this site and scroll down to page 70.. or do a word search on that site for Anthes
 

Emold

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Lol, I might be brave enough, provided the bolts aren’t immovable.
So here is an update after removing the covers. I can feel a breeze coming from the one closest to the exterior wall, it also has a few cobwebs with some dry pine needles. The second one has standing water and sediment at the bottom and there is a bend in the line about 4-5 inches down. No sewer smell, and no sounds or level changes with flushing all three toilets in the house. The bathrooms/kitchen are all connected to the main line about 16 feet to the opposite side of the house from these. We had a company replace the main sewer line out to the alley, after they ran a camera down the access in the stack. So any new thoughts on the purpose of these?

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Tuttles Revenge

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have you tried pouring water into them to see if it drains or fills the pipe? Air moving through the other indicates it is open at its other end. My best guess is that the water is in a p-trap of some sort and the other is its vent. Guessing that it intended to be a basement drain in case of flooding. All basements in our area had floor drains.
 

Reach4

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I was wondering about an old abandoned whole-house trap, but the diameter seems low for that.
 

Emold

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have you tried pouring water into them to see if it drains or fills the pipe? Air moving through the other indicates it is open at its other end. My best guess is that the water is in a p-trap of some sort and the other is its vent. Guessing that it intended to be a basement drain in case of flooding. All basements in our area had floor drains.
I finally got to this test. The water does drain , it looks like it maintains about 3-4 inches of water at the bottom while the rest flows toward the second pipe. At the base of the second pipe you can just see some tickling water going past, so I think based on my limited knowledge that you’re correct. I also found this pipe beside the front steps in a flower bed, opposite the exterior wall where the mystery pipes are. I tried taping and yelling down them but neither type of sound transmitted, but maybe it’s still apart of the old drainage system? If this is an old drainage system do you think it is safe to cement it closed and put flooring over it? Thanks everyone for the replies!
 

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Tuttles Revenge

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Its hard to say what it is.. But its easy to guess that the moment you cover it you will need it.
 

Smooky

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The two pipes are from an oil tank for some sort of oil heat. Anthes was a furnace manufacturer.

 
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Tuttles Revenge

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The two pipes are from an oil tank for some sort of oil heat. Anthes was a furnace manufacturer.

in what manner would a furnace manufacturer / installer use those? That doesn't make any sense.

I've seen 2 small copper lines installed to get oil from the tank to the furnace, but not anything remotely resembling the above.

In the catalog I linked above they show a style of "bolted cap" which they refer to as Anthes style.

Also referenced in this post from eons ago.
 

Reach4

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Oil fill pipe and vent? Doesn't seem to bee a good thing to have indoors.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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Oil fill pipe and vent? Doesn't seem to bee a good thing to have indoors.
I don't believe the above are not oil fill / vents. I don't see any evidence to suggest they have anything to do at all with oil.
 
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