What Is This Thing?
 

62 year old home renovated about 3 years ago. This portion of the interior basement was
left alone. What is this - an old coal chute perhaps?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

As you can see it is seeping moisture. I suspect the interior box has corroded and
is now leeching moisture into the basement and then setting up mold.

So...

1) What is it?

2) Any concern about opening it up and looking inside?

3) How to remediate?

TIA,
Tim

What Is This Thing?
 

On Thu, 21 Feb 2019 20:58:17 -0600, Tim Daneliuk
wrote:

62 year old home renovated about 3 years ago. This portion of the interior basement was
left alone. What is this - an old coal chute perhaps?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

As you can see it is seeping moisture. I suspect the interior box has corroded and
is now leeching moisture into the basement and then setting up mold.

So...

1) What is it?

2) Any concern about opening it up and looking inside?

3) How to remediate?

Is it under a chimney, or was it at one time? It looks like a
clean-out door.

TIA,
Tim

What Is This Thing?
 

On 2/21/19 9:08 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
Is it under a chimney, or was it at one time? It looks like a
clean-out door.

May have been, I'll have to look.

Remedies?

What Is This Thing?
 

On 2/21/2019 8:58 PM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
62 year old home renovated about 3 years ago. This portion of the interior basement was
left alone. What is this - an old coal chute perhaps?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

As you can see it is seeping moisture. I suspect the interior box has corroded and
is now leeching moisture into the basement and then setting up mold.

So...

1) What is it?

2) Any concern about opening it up and looking inside?

3) How to remediate?

J Clarke nailed the "what"; looks like that is the chimney stack above
it to me in all likelihood.

"Remediation" means finding out what the source of the water is -- is it
groundwater around the foundation pooling or condensation from
combustion? Looks like an exhaust duct into the chimney, perhaps?

Not enough context to tell what we're actually looking at other than it
is an ash pit door--now whether somebody did something really, really
stupid with an ash pit door that has nothing to do with intended
function is something we can't answer. :)

But, I'm sure it's not a coal chute...

Other than perhaps some minor water and ash when opened, doubt there's
anything really serious behind there--if there were standing water of
large amounts, it would show much more symptoms..."spiders and snakes!"
of course, depending on just what is on the other side of the
brick....is it a wall or the chimney we see...we don't know for certain
but with the door one presumes the latter more likely.

--dpb

What Is This Thing?
 

On 2/21/2019 10:17 PM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
On 2/21/19 9:08 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
Is it under a chimney, or was it at one time? It looks like a
clean-out door.

May have been, I'll have to look.

Remedies?

It looks like a clean out door on a chimney. From the picture it may
no longer be used as it appears quite close to the pipe going into the
chimney.

What are you using for heating? Coal, Natural gas, Electricity, .........?

Unless you are still using coal, I would clean it out and brick it shut,
After confirming that it is no longer needed with your current heating
system contractor.


OR

You could do what my brother did about 60 years ago when he was about
10; store your firecrackers in the space behind the door.

It could also be used to store that bottle of "secret" ingredient, if
your wife is a teetotaler.

--
2018: The year we learn to play the great game of Euchre

What Is This Thing?
 

Tim Daneliuk writes:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

We have those for our chimneys, one per shaft (we have a three-holer).
They're used when the chimney sweep cleans the chimney. If you have a
fireplace, there's likely an ash door in the floor of the fireplace that
leads to this, but for a furnace it's a straight shot to the sky. The
water might just be rain.

In any event, contact your local chimneysweep and have the system
cleaned and inspected; they often have remote cameras and such for these
tasks. Adding a rain shield (with screen, for critters/birds) to your
chimney may help.

Or just open the door and look. That's what it's there for.

What Is This Thing?
 

On Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 10:01:04 PM UTC-5, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
62 year old home renovated about 3 years ago. This portion of the interior basement was
left alone. What is this - an old coal chute perhaps?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

As you can see it is seeping moisture. I suspect the interior box has corroded and
is now leeching moisture into the basement and then setting up mold.

So...

1) What is it?

It's something worth about $32.

https://www.amazon.com/STOVE-COD8-Ch.../dp/B0044UT6M0


2) Any concern about opening it up and looking inside?

Are you afraid of creepy, crawly things? There's about a 100% chance that
you'll find some form of life within.


3) How to remediate?

Send another picture after you open it and we may be able to offer some
advice. Real hard to tell what the issue is just by looking at the closed
door.



TIA,

YWFN

Tim

What Is This Thing?
 

On 2/21/19 9:37 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 2/21/2019 10:17 PM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
On 2/21/19 9:08 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
Is it under a chimney, or was it at one time?Â* It looks like a
clean-out door.

May have been, I'll have to look.

Remedies?

It looks like a clean out door on aÂ* chimney.Â* From the picture it may no longer be used as it appears quite close to the pipe going into the chimney.

What are you using for heating?Â* Coal, Natural gas, Electricity, .........?

Heating is natural gas. I suspect that either there is some kind of foundation water leak
(it is right above sill plate leve) or there is a chimney cap missing that is allowing water
to come down. The latter is less likely because there isn't really a lot of moisture there.


Unless you are still using coal, I would clean it out and brick it shut, After confirming that it is no longer needed with your current heating system contractor.

Yep, that sounds like a plan.



OR

You could do what my brother did about 60 years ago when he was about 10;Â* store your firecrackers in the space behind the door.

It could also be used to store that bottle of "secret" ingredient, if your wife is a teetotaler.



I like this plan better :)



Thanks everyone for your swift responses...

What Is This Thing?
 

On Thu, 21 Feb 2019 20:58:17 -0600, Tim Daneliuk
wrote:

62 year old home renovated about 3 years ago. This portion of the interior basement was
left alone. What is this - an old coal chute perhaps?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

As you can see it is seeping moisture. I suspect the interior box has corroded and
is now leeching moisture into the basement and then setting up mold.

So...

1) What is it?

2) Any concern about opening it up and looking inside?

3) How to remediate?

TIA,
Tim

1 Chimney clean out door, 2 maybe it is badly corroded and falls apart
(2A have a replacement available) 3 refer to 2A. Newer gas furnaces
make a lot of moisture that is acidic.

What Is This Thing?
 

On 2/21/2019 9:17 PM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
On 2/21/19 9:08 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
Is it under a chimney, or was it at one time? It looks like a
clean-out door.

May have been, I'll have to look.

Remedies?


Is/Was there a fireplace above it? It's an ash cleanout (at least
that's what the door was designed for. AFAIK, it would NOT be used for
any fuel other than wood.

Definitely not a coal chute. Those always were mounted to the outside
wall allowing for coal to be dumped (typically from canvas sacks in the
city) into the coal bin located in the basement. Dimensions on a coal
chute door were roughly 20" x 16"

What Is This Thing?
 

On Thu, 21 Feb 2019 20:58:17 -0600, Tim Daneliuk
wrote:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#
That's a flue cleanout.

What Is This Thing?
 

On Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 10:01:04 PM UTC-5, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
62 year old home renovated about 3 years ago. This portion of the interior basement was
left alone. What is this - an old coal chute perhaps?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/v070ra...coalchute.jpg#

There is noting on the exterior of the home to indicate this is present.

As you can see it is seeping moisture. I suspect the interior box has corroded and
is now leeching moisture into the basement and then setting up mold.

So...

1) What is it?

2) Any concern about opening it up and looking inside?

3) How to remediate?

TIA,
Tim

As stated by others...access to clean out FP or chimney droppings. Likely to find skeletons/remains of birds/squirrels/bats, etc...May not be for the squeamish...
Chimney cap is in order, imho