And did you happen to get a home inspection done? If so, I'd ping the inspector... ask him WTF they are, and if he doesn't know, then ask him why the fuck doesn't he know? If I saw those in a wall I'd sure as hell want to get to the bottom of it, never mind if I was a home inspector.
Keep an eye on them if it rains a lot. They could be used for weeping to reduce hydrostatic pressure against the block wall if there's a major groundwater swell. The 90deg elbows may have been added to prevent the water from just dripping out and giving it a little more space before it flows out on to the floor.
Like Nett said, radiant heat is what I was thinking. That thicker wall galvanized pipe is odd to use for weeping, but could be what effinshenanigans said. Also, contacting the inspector is a good suggestion, too. Home Depot also rents push cameras, and a RotoRooter type contractor will have one, if you really want to know. It's a camera on a stiff cable. You can insert it in the pipe, and view what's in there, see any tees off the main line or other fittings, chase it to the end.
Re: radiant heat, those pipes are positioned pretty low on the wall, right? Unless the garage floor is well beneath the top of the block, the heat would have to radiate through 2'+ of concrete.
The pipes are at about eye level for me, I’m 5’8” the pipes are only against this wall, the short end wall of a ranch style house. Also, we are very sure the garage was added after the original build, just based on layout of everything. We’re still in the process of moving in so I’m not there all the time, but maybe the garage wall (former exterior wall) would have some evidence of something. Right now, my hunch is that it may have been to an oil tank that was removed when they put in the garage, or when it was hooked up to natural gas.
Actually, yeah…the garage floor is about two feet lower than the main floor, and the basement is maybe about a 7’ clearance…I have a plan now for investigating. Thanks.
Demo, drywall and paint is me, contracted plumbing/electrical/cabinets/floor refinishing/tile, if I lived by myself I would have tackled the whole thing but with a busy family it just wasn’t going to fly with my wife. Plus she can deal with a contractor when something isn’t right (like the island countertop pictured, supposed to have an apron on three sides for seating)
Nothing in the garage to give me any answers. Now that we’ve finally got all our stuff in the house and we’re living here…gonna have to wait until more pressing issues are taken care of before I find out anything more. In other news, I tightened the packing nuts on the washing machine faucets to stop them from dripping. in other news, I learned what packing nuts are.
I had to do the same. They began to drip after taking the w/d out and reattaching them for the floors to be redone. They wouldn't move, we have awful hard water issues here. This Old House helped a lot with tips to get them tightened. I maybe had to wack them with a hammer a few times.
I would say that these days are a weird mix of elation and apprehension. This is my place, and that’s awesome! But now I’m responsible for everything, and so I’m watching everything like a hawk. We painted the living room (except the wall at the basement stairs, in case we scuff it moving big stuff down), and painted the bedroom. So we have two actual living areas, and the rest are just piles of crap. Aside from that, just little stuff. Replaced a ceiling fan/light, replaced shitty shower faucet knobs, switched all the door locks (that was first). Learning as I go, using the internet and YouTube.
That's awesome... just be sure your insurance (all of them) are paid up, and then enjoy it. Keep an eye on shit, and I recommend setting up a maintenance calendar in Google, and every time you do shit, put it in there. Set up alarms for doing things like changing furnace filter, batteries in smoke detectors, etc... it comes in handy as not only a reminder, but also a running log of what historical work has been done. (I add details into the "notes/description" section so I can print out a running log if I needed to.) I'd also say get some local trades in for a quick yearly inspection to kick things off... will give you piece of mind for things like hot water heater, furnace, etc. Helps to establish a baseline early, and get you on their radar as a client so that if/when shit goes to hell at some point, they'll know you and you'll have some history with them. That was the hardest thing for me to do... find good trades and get established with them. All the recommendations from my parents are all dead or sold their businesses, so weren't the same quality. I've had to replace just about every trade over the last 5 years.
So. Woke up for work, got ready…heard a noise that I can only describe as “maybe a toilet flushed elsewhere in the house…” but my wife was still asleep. checked the basement before heading out - wet carpet near a door that led to (what I thought was) a sump pump. called an emergency number for a plumber who was not happy to be awake, but was very nice after a while. Turns out it’s a sewage ejector pump for the basement bathroom (rarely used, but I was messing with it due to a leak under the sink). The float is broken and so it filled up (luckily with only water). Also, the washer drain line was leaking above it so that got fixed. So I’ll have to pay for that. But after searching, I think I can replace the float myself. That’s the start of all problems right now - asking “can I fix this myself?” I’m a fast learner, but I really hope most of the lessons aren’t too expensive.
As a total novice, I like to just have escape routes. Like, if I fuck this up am I going to flood the whole house? Will this result in the water to the whole housing having to be off until I can get a professional on site? I've paid for work I thought I'd eventually learn but it became evident that the tools and skills needed wouldn't be happening. Like, fixing cut holes from the ceilings after plumbing work. But then I've removed toilets and replaced all their interworking guts, I've replaced light fixtures and all the electrical outlets. I'm comfortable with basic plumbing and electric. Know your limits, and figure out what's the worst thing that could happen. Oh, and don't try to juggle learning too many new skills for multiple projects at once. Pick one or two tasks but you aren't going to reno your house in your lifetime if you're learning every single thing along the way.
Oh, definitely. I can think things through and be methodical about it, without freaking out. My thought process this morning was basically: -six sq ft soaked carpet - pump room wet. Drips on pipe above eye level. -no pouring water or active dripping. Positive. -two things come to mind - just flushed toilet recently, ran the washer last night. -wife wakes up, has to pee. Observe while she flushes. No change. Positive. -however, not enough knowledge of system to feel relieved about situation. Call plumber. then after plumber visit: -problem is only affecting least necessary bathroom. Positive. Shut off sink and toilet. -problem not pump, just float switch. Also positive. -google fix. Requires new float switch and zip tie. Not bad, let’s try it. The only annoying part is all this shit is happening in the busiest week of December for me.
One thing I forgot to mention was to learn where all the emergency cutoffs are and make sure they actually work. Then figure out where you want more of then to cut off different appliances or parts of the house. Saves you tracing lines at 3am while under pressure.