?

Urban_Tribesman

Hey Cookie. Is the air brick directly in line with this lump inside? If so, air bricks are for ventilation, not flooding, and it would suggest something is being ventilated and this 'stump' is it turning down to go below ground level.
Is the floor solid or suspended? ( does it sound solid or hollow when you stamp on it?) air bricks are usually associated with suspended floors. If not ventilated, these will decay and rot if the moisture level gets too high.
Does the house have a cellar? Difficult to tell for sure without seeing the room in context with the rest of the house.
I am sure Appy61 will have a view but more pics would help. How old is the house? The pic suggests 1930's or before?

Sartori · Post edited by Sartori at 2015-01-20 04:38:40

speaking of a million years old. the house i moved into a few years ago has this weird concrete stump thing in the cupboard under the stairs... any kind of builder/maintenance type people know what this thing could be?

im willing to take a sledge hammer to it to get rid of it. but i fear that something bad may happen if i do... i've asked the previous owner about it and he doesn't know what it is either...

take a look folks. the pic is on its side btw...

Do it , what`s the worst that can happen ;) ? it`s a naughty step someone made .

PS I advise that you DON`T touch it , it might be a concrete cap over a water or gas main , as that`s where they usually come into the house - but you can tell us from the hospital if it goes tits up ;)

Sartori

I`d also rather punch myself in the crotch with a stick than watch `Fifty Shades of Grey` , which ironically is in scene 3 .

Whickwithy

I think you need to find a way to dress up the concrete stump. Hmmm, paint it so it looks like piano pedals?

Ponygurl

....OR...you could always put some wicker weave around it and make it an Art piece. "Petrified Bread". Then simply tell any guests it comes from "stone ground" wheat. (then watch the reaction...priceless)

Ponygurl

Sartori said:
I`d also rather punch myself in the crotch with a stick than watch `Fifty Shades of Grey` , which ironically is in scene 3 .

....so you're saying you have a "stick" fetish Sartori? That's certainly a new one on me..to each their own. (?)

iuventus

That's not a particularly unusual fetish, PoGu. I mean, check out craigslist any day of the week.

Urban_Tribesman

If we are looking to hide this, then turn the room into a pantry and paint the lump so it looks like a loaf of bread.

cookiee_munster

Urban_Tribesman said:
Hey Cookie. Is the air brick directly in line with this lump inside? If so, air bricks are for ventilation, not flooding, and it would suggest something is being ventilated and this 'stump' is it turning down to go below ground level.
Is the floor solid or suspended? ( does it sound solid or hollow when you stamp on it?) air bricks are usually associated with suspended floors. If not ventilated, these will decay and rot if the moisture level gets too high.
Does the house have a cellar? Difficult to tell for sure without seeing the room in context with the rest of the house.
I am sure Appy61 will have a view but more pics would help. How old is the house? The pic suggests 1930's or before?

Hey, thanks for all this. My God. i've read through all the other guys suggestions/advice. i wish you could all be here right now, stood around this stump staring at it with me. lol.

the stump is directly inline with the air brick outside. i know the brick is for ventilation, but because its so low to the ground, i thought that whoever lived here years ago may have had flooding in the past and to stop this from happening again, tried doing a bodged job at sealing up the air brick from the inside?

the understairs floor is solid concrete, as is the stump. ive been asked once if this place has a cellar, and im pretty sure one doesn't exist. at least access to it now doesn't exist anyway.

the house was built in the very late 1800's/early 1900's it was one of the very few to be built in this village. its an old house. but not "old" if you know what i mean. thanks for all the help btw :)

im kind of reluctant to take a sledge hammer to it just inacse...

right now, my other half uses the room as his computer room, as much as he's lived with this stump, its king of annoying knowing he could have a little more floor space if it was gone.

cookiee_munster

um. here is another pic of the stump from a different angle. this time with the other half in "the office" as we call it. you can see the patches on the wall where i've filled, those were bits of efflorescent salt that were bursting out the wall...

Whickwithy · Post edited by Whickwithy at 2015-01-20 16:33:01

cookiee_munster said:
efflorescent salt

Hate that stuff. I get get it on my basement floor all the time and have to sweep it up.

Urban_Tribesman

Sounds like the external ground level is too high allowing dampness outside to penetrate the wall which, I would guess, is a solid wall not a cavity. That would be the cause of your efflorescence.
Do you, by any chance, go down a step into the 'office'? I wonder if the room once had a raised timber floor that has been removed in the past, resulting in this stump to cover the air brick.
I still think the most likely reason for the 'stump' is to turn the air flow from the air brick down to a lower level, hence the question about the cellar.
Can you see through the air brick from outside? Use a torch to see if you can see anything. I doubt there is a water or gas main as Satori has suggested as these would be obvious externally. Do you even have gas? Where do these (gas/water) come into the house? If somewhere else, then they won't be here as well.
Ideally, your external ground level will be 150mm below the internal floor level to prevent the ingress of damp. People mistakenly raise external levels all the time and cause damp issues inside, so worth looking at.
Have you got access to some net curtain wire? If so, get 3 or 4 foot and fish it through the air brick and see if it keeps going in, which would suggest it is passing down to a lower level.
Still,waiting for @Appy61 to comment. Where are you in the country BTW?

Sartori

Urban_Tribesman said:
Sounds like the external ground level is too high allowing dampness outside to penetrate the wall which, I would guess, is a solid wall not a cavity. That would be the cause of your efflorescence.
Do you, by any chance, go down a step into the 'office'? I wonder if the room once had a raised timber floor that has been removed in the past, resulting in this stump to cover the air brick.
I still think the most likely reason for the 'stump' is to turn the air flow from the air brick down to a lower level, hence the question about the cellar.
Can you see through the air brick from outside? Use a torch to see if you can see anything. I doubt there is a water or gas main as Satori has suggested as these would be obvious externally. Do you even have gas? Where do these (gas/water) come into the house? If somewhere else, then they won't be here as well.
Ideally, your external ground level will be 150mm below the internal floor level to prevent the ingress of damp. People mistakenly raise external levels all the time and cause damp issues inside, so worth looking at.
Have you got access to some net curtain wire? If so, get 3 or 4 foot and fish it through the air brick and see if it keeps going in, which would suggest it is passing down to a lower level.
Still,waiting for @Appy61 to comment. Where are you in the country BTW?

My gas & water both come up under my drive , through the wall about a foot down , under the hall and up through the floor under the stairs , so they can be very unobvious if they want - the concrete just looks like a cap on something , its size makes it look overkill as a means to stop a draft - but people do strange things .

But as UT mentions , if your services come up elsewhere , then they`re probably not there as well . Removing it sort of depends on what tools you have , if you have a lump hammer / chisel and can slice it away in lumps , that would be better than just smashing the beejesus out of it . The curtain wire is a good idea .

Sartori

Ponygurl said:

Sartori said:
I`d also rather punch myself in the crotch with a stick than watch `Fifty Shades of Grey` , which ironically is in scene 3 .

....so you're saying you have a "stick" fetish Sartori? That's certainly a new one on me..to each their own. (?)

Ponygurl

^ and you think mine wasn't? Sweet Jaysus...

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories