On 15 Dec 2005 07:53:22 -0800, wrote:

I've been inspired by the guy who had pipes outside his house he didn't
know what they were there for!

In my basement (mid-70's construction) there are three places in the
basement floor that drain water flow into. Presumably they're all
joined somewhere under the basement and lead to the county sewer
system. In my house the pipes coming out of the concrete are cast iron
(or some kind of big thick black metal) for a foot or so above the
floor and the ABS plastic drain pipes are coupled on.

But in one place (roughly in the middle of the house near the chimney)
there's some other mysterious pipes coming up through the floor. They
look like cast iron to me. One is like an upside-down U, about a foot
high and two feet long, both ends going into the concrete. The other
looks like maybe is in there as a "future" drain, it's located pretty
much right under a vertical duct where maybe a drain stack might be put
in.

The house was originally built with an oil-burning furnace, but was
converted to electrical heating many years ago. Physically the oil tank
was located outside the house near the attached garage. I think the
original furnace was roughly where all three of these mystery pipes
were.

Any ideas? Maybe it's just conventional to put a drain near where the
furnace goes (for future dehumidifier?) What about that funny U-shape
pipe - maybe for protection, but why would you worry about physically
protecting the oil-burning furnace, it's not like there are forklifts
or delivery trucks driving around in the basement...

If there are no forklifts driving around down there, you must have a
pretty boring basement. In that case, it's a hitching post for people
that kept their horse in the basement.

However, since it's in the middle of the basement, it could be that
the house was brought there with a crane, (basement included), and the
whole house (or just the basement) was lifted by that pipe and set
into place.

The only other possibility is that there is a dead body buried under
there, and the is the vent to their tomb. Beware, that could stink if
you open it.

And lastly, it could be that the builder was nuts, and just decided it
would look funny and drive future owners into a psychiatric hospital.

Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine !!!

Post a picture !!!