KRAP! you dont realize how fat you are getting until you go under the house!

vash · vash's Garage

or my house's crawl space shrunk..hmmm...it could happen.

at the end of winter, i inspected my ancient heater. it is basically a gas radiant heater in the middle of my home. a campfire in the same place would be just as effective..

anyways, the exhaust was rusted through!! i went back down today, with a bin and some tools and hauled out the parts. more damage..the entire exhaust pipe has collapsed and was just laying there. i found little comfort in thinking that dying of CO in my sleep would at least be peaceful.

do i get the parts rebuilt at a sheet metal shop? the tubing looks like standard 4" stuff. two elbows and some straight would get me to the roof vent.

and i need to go on a diet!! my home heater needs to last until my wife gets done with school and lands a job...full (move out) remodel..hopefully.

Evans, Marv · 08-01-2010, 11:32 AM

The crawl space under my house is 36 inches. I better not get that fat.

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

My crawl is a finished 4 ft space - block walls & concrete floor. I just put a 3rd wine rack in 5 days ago so I had to work down there for 1/2 day. I was surprised how sore I was the next day from working like a hunchback.

Ian

Laneco · 08-02-2010, 02:23 PM

I hate crawling under houses. When we work on our rental, my duty is attic work and under-the-house work because Steve won't fit.

The rental was built beginning in 1951. A few strange add-ons have made the under-house space very strange to access. To access the kitchen, and master bath, I have to drop headfirst through the closet floor, then wiggle through a hole in the original foundation that is about 15" high and about 25" wide but is probably six inches off the base ground. Just a big hole punched in the foundation for access. Go through that head first on the back (due to the turn needed it's the only way), then pop out on the otherside, and roll on my stomach to belly crawl where I need to go because of the clearance. It smells weird and I've come face to face with feral cats and even a rat one time before we fixed the easy-critter access. Sometimes bugs too, a few spiders and creepy things that make me shriek when they touch me.

I HATE IT!!!! I HOPE IT !@#$#$# BURNS DOWN BEFORE I HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!

angela

masraum · 08-02-2010, 02:27 PM

Yeah, I'm not clausterphobic, but I'm not a big crawlspace kind of guy.

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

In my 1st house, the only access to some of the wiring/plumbing/heating was under the house in dirt 'trenches'. Access was a door in the back - from the outside. The house was on a block foundation but nobody ever shoveled out the dirt in the middle. I saw my share of critters down there. The biggest pain was when you forgot a tool you needed on the surface & had to crawl back out to get it.

Ian

A930Rocket · 08-02-2010, 03:59 PM

Having built hundreds of homes, the HVAC system has to have room under there and I always make sure the crawl space is high enough to work in. One corner may get short, but no closer than 18". At 6' 4", I got tired of working in others mistakes.

Once, the mason forgot to install the crawl door space in a foundation. Before the mason could fix it, we went ahead and framed it. When it came time to do the frame walk, I had to crawl in and out of a vent (8"x16"). I don't think I could get my head in there now...

sailchef · sailchef's Garage

A while back I replaced some copper pipe with cpvc under my house. A "good ole sussex county farm boy" buddy of mine stopped by to borrow a trenching shovel a day or two after I was done. I've always looked up to this guy as the rough n' gritty sort that he is. When I asked him to crawl under the house and inspect my handy work he started whinning like a baby. Couldn't get him to go near the place.

It's a tough work enviroment.

Zeke · 08-02-2010, 04:48 PM

vash, considering all the food threads you start, I'm not surprised.

I don't mind under the house, but my shoulders do. And, I usually need someone outside to fetch or whatever. Can't find any help any more. Well, I never really could. I can't go down there alone anymore at my age.

They'd never find me if I had the heart attack or stroke. It is tough work.

Aurel · Aurel's Garage

What is the benefit of a crawl space anyways? Seems like the worst of both worlds: a basement one cannot use. Mine is on a slab, works just fine and there are no critters crawling under it.

johnco · 08-02-2010, 05:37 PM

many years ago during a hard freeze I had to crawl under one of my father's old rent houses to replace some old galvanized pipes that had popped. had only about 12-14 inches of space to crawl thru the frozen mud. temps in the 20's, no room to work and rusted frozen pipes. working so close to my face, I give myself a black eye when the wrench slipped. wasn't fun. a lot less fun when I blackened the other eye a little while later. wasn't a good day. crawled from under the house looking like i had been in a bar fight

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurel

What is the benefit of a crawl space anyways? Seems like the worst of both worlds: a basement one cannot use. Mine is on a slab, works just fine and there are no critters crawling under it.

In colder climes, warming the floor (with a heated or semi-heated space underneath) is very desirable. Passive radiant heat. And of course, access to water/electrical cabling/heating etc.

Ian

Rot 911 · 08-03-2010, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laneco

I've come face to face with feral cats and even a rat one time before we fixed the easy-critter access. Sometimes bugs too, a few spiders and creepy things that make me shriek when they touch me.

Toss a couple of bug bombs in the crawl space a day or two before you have to crawl in there.

vash · vash's Garage

i am getting REAMED by the sheetmetal guy. i called 30 companies, and found nothing. nobody does small scale custom fabrication. i finally call a home repair guy, and he gave me a contact. called, and the guy gave me a very peppy "YES!" i rushed over there with my rusty part, and showed it to him. outside the store is a fully loaded, brandnew dodge diesel dually..bad sign..he said, "i can have that built by friday,,but it will cost you $150" this thing is a sheetmetal shoebox with a baffle inside..

dying in my sleep, or $150? i agreed to his terms. he has a cool shop, and employs a small 10 man crew. he said 4 guys do this type of work in the bay area.

in el paso, i bet i could get it done for $25. this weekend, i am going back in!!

Laneco · 08-03-2010, 01:24 PM

Hmmm. Four inch is pretty common pipe when you are hot-rodding a diesel pickup (as is 5 inch for that matter).

Maybe a muffler shop would have been an amendable choice?

angela

Zeke · 08-03-2010, 03:07 PM

150 seems a little high, but what are you gonna do? You know the shop is paying some pretty high wages and the ridiculous CA workers' comp rates.

I have a Chinese combo brake and shear unit but I don't have the spot welder to finish that box. Nor do I have the means to make crimp seams, so I'd probably take that same job to a shop.

john70t · 08-03-2010, 05:38 PM

vash, by a welder and go into business for $149.

Cardboard: warm against concrete, soft, clean, slippery, absorbs.

mjohnson · mjohnson's Garage

Crawlspace work is the only time I pull out the 'asthma' card. Debi's a trooper and gets done what needs to get done. She's still freaked out by the 6 x 3 foot hole under the middle of the house - thinking it's a grave or something. I told her that if there's a hole, it's not been used yet - the level spots were likely graves that were filled in previously...

Haven't got much done under there recently for some reason.