On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 10:08:40 +0100, Chris Bacon wrote:
| Dave Fawthrop wrote: | > On Wed, 05 Oct 2005 21:05:10 +0100, Chris Bacon | > wrote: | > | > | In my concrete sectional garage, used as a workshop, is a manhole | > | cover some 8" below the surface of the concrete floor. The edges | > | of the hole are rounded over, from when whoever installed the | > | garage and floor, something like this: | > | | > | | > | ##### ##### | > | ###### ###### | > | ####### ####### # = concrete floor. | > | ####### ####### | > | #######------ --------####### - = cast iron cover. | > | *******= =******* * = hardcore, I imagine. | > | *******= =******* | > | %%%%%%%= =%%%%%%% | > | %%%%%%%= =%%%%%%% % = subsoil, I should think. | > | %%%%%%%= =%%%%%%% | > | %%%%%%%= =%%%%%%% | > | %%%%%%%= =%%%%%%% | > | %%%%%%%= =%%%%%%% | > | %%%%%%%=######V#######=%%%%%%% V = drain | > | %%%%%%%=##############=%%%%%%% | > | | > | | > | Anyway, the cover is cracked, and the deep hole in the middle is | > | dangerous. Sometimes, the smell is unpleasant. I want to bodge this, | > | not spending money. If I stitch-drill around the top, or zap it with | > | my Stihl saw, break out some concrete, and put in a frame of 4x2 | > | treated, muck up behind the frame, batten and cut a piece of | > | shuttering ply to fit, will that do the job? Any better (cheap) ideas? | > | > Manholes need to be properly sealed, The bodges you suggest are not a good | > idea. | > | > I you jump on the cracked manhole cover do you feel worried? | | I wouldn't step on it, let alone jump on it. Th idea above, which | may not have been well explained, is to leave the thing where it | is, 8" below floor level, and put a "cover" over the whole thing, | flush with the floor, which can be sealed. At the moment, there's | a loose sheet of ply on the floor, which has edges which one may | trip on. | | | > If not, put a sheet of thick polythene under the manhole cover and seal it | > with grease. You will have to replace it eventually, which is *not* | > expensive or difficult. | | If I was to replace it, it would be with one flush with the floor | level, which would mean getting a cover about 8" bigger all around | than a "!standard" one.
I assume that the = sign above is brickwork. If it were mine, I take off the manhole cover and surround, build up the brickwork to just below the height of the garage floor, and put in a new cast iron cover the same size as the original at the level of the garage floor. I have added a few layers of bricks to a manhole and it is not difficult, or expensive.
If you are unhappy with the above, I would definitely try to seal the existing cover with thick polythene and grease to trap the smells. Any bodges above would not be part of the sewer and are not that important.