My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

On 9/3/19 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called?

I've always heard trade refer to them as a "****ing utility chase"

Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

No


How long have houses had these things?

Residential pyramids built a quarter bazillion years ago have them.

Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 9:40:33 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

I haven't seen anything like it here in NJ, can't imagine why you want
a big shaft like that. I've said that it would be a good idea with new
construction to run an empty conduit or two like that, for possible
future wire pulls, but they don't even do that.

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.
Definitely would NOT meet today's fire code - at least not without 2
hour fire rated walls and automatic fire doors -- - - - - -

On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 12:02:16 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

We had one that was clearly a laundry chute. It also had a doorbell buzzer attached, purpose unknown. Send down the next load? Look out below? I dunno.

Or, just possibly it could be dumbwaiter, if the house was nice enough to have had servants.

I lived in a college dorm in the 70s that had a laundry chute, and worked in one ten years later that had a garbage chute.

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 12:02:16 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

New construction, big houses around here, with bedrooms upstairs,
some are putting the laundry machines on the second floor. Not sure
that's a good idea, for obvious reasons...

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 10:01:24 -0700 (PDT), TimR wrote:

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 12:02:16 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

We had one that was clearly a laundry chute. It also had a doorbell buzzer attached, purpose unknown. Send down the next load? Look out below? I dunno.

Or, just possibly it could be dumbwaiter, if the house was nice enough to have had servants.

I lived in a college dorm in the 70s that had a laundry chute, and worked in one ten years later that had a garbage chute.

My childhood home had a laundry chute from the kitchen to the basement. Basement was
accessed from the outside. We used the chute.

On Tue, 03 Sep 2019 13:38:31 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 10:01:24 -0700 (PDT), TimR wrote:

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 12:02:16 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

We had one that was clearly a laundry chute. It also had a doorbell buzzer attached, purpose unknown. Send down the next load? Look out below? I dunno.

Or, just possibly it could be dumbwaiter, if the house was nice enough to have had servants.

I lived in a college dorm in the 70s that had a laundry chute, and worked in one ten years later that had a garbage chute.

My childhood home had a laundry chute from the kitchen to the basement. Basement was
accessed from the outside. We used the chute.
Dumb waiter was common in higher end older homes - and there was one
in the farmhouse where my mother grew up, as well asin my other
grandparents'house in town. Great for getting produce from the kitchen
to the cellar and back,

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

I had forgotten that there was a plywood floor at the same height as the
2nd floor floor. So it would not function as a chimney.

When I wanted to run wires from the basement to the attic, I had to lie
on my belly in the attic, add a 1 foot extension to my 6 foot flexible
drill bit and with my arm stretched as far down as it would go, try to
drill a hole in the plywood. The flexible nature of the bit made this
hard, took maybe a half hour. (I had no non-flex bit that long.) Then I
had to come up with some way to pull the wires through the 3/4" hole. I
forget how got the first string through, but after that, I could pull it
back and forth to drag everything else.

I made a mistake in not leaving a "runner" there when I was done.
Because they invented new wires, like maybe satellite feed. Not that I
actually would have run more wires but I still should have made it easy
for myself when it would have taken no effort to do that.

A 3/4" hole isn't enough to encourage or spread fire is it?

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 12:02:07 -0400,
wrote:

On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

My girlfriend at the time who had a much bigger, fancier house than I
did, custom-built, had a bedroom closet right over the laundry room. And
she wanted a chute like mine. Just putting a hole in the floor didnt'
seem like a good idea, but I thought about making a 20" high box with
one of those spring-loaded laundry chute doors. I suppose you can
tighten the spring to mount it horizontally. Better yet, mount the door
in the side, then the top can be a seat or a shelf.

Fortunately for me, we broke up before I started to do this. She really
wasn't worth the effort.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 10:01:24 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 12:02:16 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On 9/3/19 10:05 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.



My 1990 home had one from the second story bathroom closet
floor with a hinged "door" covering the hole
- down to the basement ceiling beside the laundry room.
We did not find it useful in any way so we had it floored-over
when the bathroom flooring was re-done ; and closed off
when the basement was re-done.
As someone else said - it's a one-way convenience -
so not much benefit.
John T.


That was most likely meant as a laundry chute. We had one in a cookie
cutter tri-level where the bath was over the laundry room.

It had a door in the wall of the bath. Could be a fire code issue but
then so was the stairway ;-)

We had one that was clearly a laundry chute. It also had a doorbell buzzer attached, purpose unknown. Send down the next load? Look out below? I dunno.

Hmmm. I used to live in Brooklyn in what had been a luxury building
when it opened in 1930. Ten-foot ceiligns, hardwood floors everywhere,
parquet floor in the dining room, french doors to the dining room and
living room, from the hall, cedar closet in the hall, 2 BR plus maid's
room, with 2.75 baths**. and a dumbwaiter in every apartment.

There was a doorbell so that the concierge in the basement could ring
when he was sending up a package, and a button so that the tenant could
ring him when sending something down. (Not trash. There was a trash
chute in a small closet in the outer hall for all 5 aparments on the
floor.)

They were gone by the time I got there, but it used to have a doorman,
switchboard operator (who accepted the mail. No mailboxes), elevator
operator (not sure if there were a separate operator for the rear
building that had only 3 apartments per floor, one a studio), and a
concierge in the basement. I think the elevator operator delivered the
mail when no one needed him to run the elevator (which was automatic by
the tiem I got there in 1973.

We still had some of either the original tenants, or at least they moved
in when the building was fancy, and now they were old ladies, in their
80's. They had not paid a security deposit because with people like
that, you didn't need security. Three of them gave me old things when
they finally moved out, one of them was an end-table radio, case
designed by Norman Bel Geddes** (which must be good because they put it
on a sticker). It had broken in 1950 and not been played since then, but
it worked for me the first time I turned it on around 1980, and gave v.
good sound through its 10 or 12-inch speaker. However it never worked
again. I still have it, but I was better at fixing tvs than radios.
All its tubes are good.

****father of Barbara Bel Geddes. Do any of you remember her?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bel_Geddes The United States Postal
Service issued a postage stamp honoring Bel Geddes as a "Pioneer Of
American Industrial Design".

**Two full baths, one right off the maid's room, with bathtubs so big
that after I disabled the overlow***, I could float with only one square
inch of my butt touching the bottom. The master br had its own
bathroom but with only a shower, not a shower/bath.

***Never had an actual overflow and I removed the tape just before I
moved out.

Or, just possibly it could be dumbwaiter, if the house was nice enough to have had servants.

I lived in a college dorm in the 70s that had a laundry chute, and worked in one ten years later that had a garbage chute.

On Wed, 04 Sep 2019 01:44:54 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

I had forgotten that there was a plywood floor at the same height as the
2nd floor floor. So it would not function as a chimney.

When I wanted to run wires from the basement to the attic, I had to lie
on my belly in the attic, add a 1 foot extension to my 6 foot flexible
drill bit and with my arm stretched as far down as it would go, try to
drill a hole in the plywood. The flexible nature of the bit made this
hard, took maybe a half hour. (I had no non-flex bit that long.) Then I
had to come up with some way to pull the wires through the 3/4" hole. I
forget how got the first string through, but after that, I could pull it
back and forth to drag everything else.

I made a mistake in not leaving a "runner" there when I was done.
Because they invented new wires, like maybe satellite feed. Not that I
actually would have run more wires but I still should have made it easy
for myself when it would have taken no effort to do that.

A 3/4" hole isn't enough to encourage or spread fire is it?

A better solution would have been to shove a piece of EMT (conduit)
between floors with covered metal boxes at both ends. That is code
compliant. Draft stopping is just that, you are stopping the flow of
the products of combustion between floors (Hot gasses and smoke). They
really want penetrations sealed. A fire would quickly make that 3/4"
hole much bigger. Smoke is unburned fuel.

In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 04 Sep 2019 02:42:24 -0400,
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Sep 2019 01:44:54 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

I had forgotten that there was a plywood floor at the same height as the
2nd floor floor. So it would not function as a chimney.

When I wanted to run wires from the basement to the attic, I had to lie
on my belly in the attic, add a 1 foot extension to my 6 foot flexible
drill bit and with my arm stretched as far down as it would go, try to
drill a hole in the plywood. The flexible nature of the bit made this
hard, took maybe a half hour. (I had no non-flex bit that long.) Then I
had to come up with some way to pull the wires through the 3/4" hole. I
forget how got the first string through, but after that, I could pull it
back and forth to drag everything else.

I made a mistake in not leaving a "runner" there when I was done.
Because they invented new wires, like maybe satellite feed. Not that I
actually would have run more wires but I still should have made it easy
for myself when it would have taken no effort to do that.

A 3/4" hole isn't enough to encourage or spread fire is it?

A better solution would have been to shove a piece of EMT (conduit)
between floors with covered metal boxes at both ends. That is code

At both ends? There's no way I could have done that while lying on my
belly 8 foot above the plywood. IN fact even skipping the boxes,
there's no way I could have shoved the conduit through the hole, unless
the hole was so big it slid right through, and then there would be air
around the outside.

compliant. Draft stopping is just that, you are stopping the flow of
the products of combustion between floors (Hot gasses and smoke). They
really want penetrations sealed. A fire would quickly make that 3/4"
hole much bigger. Smoke is unburned fuel.

Okay. I'll try harder not to have a fire.

On Wed, 04 Sep 2019 01:49:44 -0400, micky
wrote:


Fortunately for me, we broke up before I started to do this. She really
wasn't worth the effort.


I think maybe she got to reading your usenet posts .. :-)
John T.

On 9/4/2019 2:51 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 04 Sep 2019 02:42:24 -0400,
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Sep 2019 01:44:54 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

I had forgotten that there was a plywood floor at the same height as the
2nd floor floor. So it would not function as a chimney.

When I wanted to run wires from the basement to the attic, I had to lie
on my belly in the attic, add a 1 foot extension to my 6 foot flexible
drill bit and with my arm stretched as far down as it would go, try to
drill a hole in the plywood. The flexible nature of the bit made this
hard, took maybe a half hour. (I had no non-flex bit that long.) Then I
had to come up with some way to pull the wires through the 3/4" hole. I
forget how got the first string through, but after that, I could pull it
back and forth to drag everything else.

I made a mistake in not leaving a "runner" there when I was done.
Because they invented new wires, like maybe satellite feed. Not that I
actually would have run more wires but I still should have made it easy
for myself when it would have taken no effort to do that.

A 3/4" hole isn't enough to encourage or spread fire is it?

A better solution would have been to shove a piece of EMT (conduit)
between floors with covered metal boxes at both ends. That is code

At both ends? There's no way I could have done that while lying on my
belly 8 foot above the plywood. IN fact even skipping the boxes,
there's no way I could have shoved the conduit through the hole, unless
the hole was so big it slid right through, and then there would be air
around the outside.

Last house I wired we did just that. One difference though, it was put
in during construction, not an after fit.

On Wed, 04 Sep 2019 01:44:54 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:40:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 9/3/2019 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called? Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

How long have houses had these things? Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.

Could be a utility chase. Sounds like it would be good to have if there
was a fire in the basement. It would be able to get flames to the attic
faster to engulf the entire building. Not sure it would meet code today.

I had forgotten that there was a plywood floor at the same height as the
2nd floor floor. So it would not function as a chimney.

When I wanted to run wires from the basement to the attic, I had to lie
on my belly in the attic, add a 1 foot extension to my 6 foot flexible
drill bit and with my arm stretched as far down as it would go, try to
drill a hole in the plywood. The flexible nature of the bit made this
hard, took maybe a half hour. (I had no non-flex bit that long.) Then I
had to come up with some way to pull the wires through the 3/4" hole. I
forget how got the first string through, but after that, I could pull it
back and forth to drag everything else.

I made a mistake in not leaving a "runner" there when I was done.
Because they invented new wires, like maybe satellite feed. Not that I
actually would have run more wires but I still should have made it easy
for myself when it would have taken no effort to do that.

A 3/4" hole isn't enough to encourage or spread fire is it?
By code it should have DuctSeal (DUM-DUM) around the wire

In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 04 Sep 2019 02:06:21 -0400, micky
wrote:


We still had some of either the original tenants, or at least they moved
in when the building was fancy, and now they were old ladies, in their
80's. They had not paid a security deposit because with people like
that, you didn't need security. Three of them gave me old things when
they finally moved out, one of them was an end-table radio, case

Made in 1930

designed by Norman Bel Geddes** (which must be good because they put it
on a sticker). It had broken in 1950 and not been played since then, but
it worked for me the first time I turned it on around 1980, and gave v.
good sound through its 10 or 12-inch speaker. However it never worked
again. I still have it, but I was better at fixing tvs than radios.
All its tubes are good.