Drain in former coal store?

[Fitz]

So being in the throws of redundancy consultation I decided I'd smash some stuff up last night.

I decided to finish off a long standing half-done job, which is excavating a six inch strip of concrete from around the house to stop it bridging the DPC. The area I attacked last night is on the outside of where the coal store used to be, now an understairs cupboard. For info, the house is a 3 bed semi built in the 30's.

Hitting the concrete with my trusty sledge hammer (there's nothing quite like a smooth sledge hammer rhythm is there...) I thought one part sounded oddly hollow.

I stopped, lifted the nearby man hole cover to double check the run of the drains and was fairly sure that they are nowhere near where I'm working.

So I carry on excavating until I reach a terracotta pipe. Bugger.

Another careful hour of archeology style excavation and I've unearthed a D section terracotta pipe coming away from the house and it appears to go through the wall into the area that is now the understairs cupboard. The diameter is about 3 inches and it is mortared into a glazed ceramic collar about 4 inches in diameter. Either my hamfisted sledge hammering or the layer of the concrete and rubble has damaged the pipes so they have cracks but are still intact. It is only a couple of brick courses below the current ground level so it's really not very deep.

The only posible explanation I can think of is that there was a surface water drain in the old coal store that has since been concreted over - there's no evidence inside the cupboard. Does that sound feasible? I'm planning to partially back fill the hole with gravel to make it a bit safer. should I bother patching the pipe up with mortar to keep it intact or just leave it or smash it up and block it?

Any thoughts?

[Owain]

Convert the understairs cupboard into a WC?

Owain

[sm_jamieson]

Any local houses still with a coal store that you could have a look at ? Owner will probably think you are a crook trying to con your way in of course ... Simon.

[Fitz]

We had considered that recently, but to use it you'd have to drop your keks, start backing in and start lowering yourself to sitting position whilst pulling the door shut. There's just not enough room...

Besides, either my ham fistedness or the layers of the drive have cracked the pipe, so it's be unsuitalbe for that sort of err traffic.

[Fitz]

We're in one of those streets that was sold off a few plots at a time to different builders. There are only three other houses like ours and all have had the same conversion of the understairs area into an indoor cupboard.

[Lobster]

Definitely a coal store? Not an outside khazi, long since concreted over?

David

[Fitz]

I really don't think the space is big enough to hold a loo. There just isn't enough headroom.

The electricity supply comes in through the floor. When were houses first electrified?

[Aidan]

Pobably housed a long-gone electric cable or water pipe. I've seen lead water pipes run through earthenware drain pipes. The D section is a bit of a mystery. I'd try to preserve it & find out where the other end goes to. It might be useful one day.

[Chip]

On 12 Jul 2006 11:07:42 -0700,it is alleged that "Aidan" spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

It may not be long-gone. Our 1890's 4 bed semi had such a pipe less than 6 inches below the ground outside, 3 inch diameter, 4 inch collars IIRC, pretty similar sounding. It contained the paper insulated, lead sheathed mains power cable. If it's cracked sufficiently to have a look inside, *without disturbing further*, see if there's a cable in there.

Can't tell from the original post if the investigation into the manhole found anything, so if it _is_ connected to the manhole, ignore the above ramblings.