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Grex > Dwellings > #47: The Ball Residence
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ball
The Ball Residence Mark Unseen   Oct 1 18:19 UTC 2007
As mentioned elsewhere, we recently bought a single story brick house
in Illinois, USA.  The most pressing issues are structural:-

  * A post in the crawlspace supports the main beam of the floor, but
    that post lacks a proper footing.

  * A piece of concrete footpath has sunk, tilting towards the house.

  * The roof requires a little reflashing work.

Then there are a few electrical issues:-

  * Every "grounded" outlet in the house, isn't.

  * Some important wires that should be in conduit, aren't.  They also
    happen to be just inches away from dubious-looking water pipes.

  * There is no 240V outlet for an electric clothes dryer.

Of course there's plumbing too:-

  * The brickwork around the well needs re-laying and some way must be
    found of locking or bolting the cover in place.

  * Did I mention that we have a well?  There has been some discussion
    about putting the house onto city water.  It's not clear yet
    whether there would be any cost or quality benefit.  It would be a
    big project.

  * The water heater is in the attached garage.  It needs to be raised
    by about 18" and to have its flue fixed.

Outdoor projects will mostly be discussed in the Gardening conf:-

  * A Mulberry (I'm told) tree has been planted too close to the house
    and is busy dropping leaves and blocking guttering.

  * Three HUGE connifers eliminate light from most of the back yard
    and take up quite a bit of space.  I'm thinking of having them
    professionally murdered.

This item is for the discussion and of the above projects and other
challenges that lurk undiscovered.
86 responses total.
ball
response 1 of 86: Mark Unseen   Oct 1 18:34 UTC 2007
Today I had to go out and buy incandescent bulbs for use with a
ceiling fan.  The magnetic field from its motor interacted badly with
the ballast built into compact-flourescent bulbs, causing an ominous
and obtrusive buzzing noise.

I finally got around to hooking up the ice maker on our fridge/freezer
only to discover that what looked like at first glance like a
convenient valve and connection point, turned out to be a vampire tap
with no obvious way of shutting off the water supply.  If I try to
disconnect the old, mangled semi-rigid fridge line, water squirts out
into the cupboard.  :-(
keesan
response 2 of 86: Mark Unseen   Oct 1 21:39 UTC 2007
Mulberry trees plant themselves and grow fast.  Unless you really like
mulberries, it should probably get murdered too.  Have you considered a
clothesline instead of an electric dryer?  A sunporch dries clothing nicely
in the winter.  Have fun with the wiring and plumbing.  I think there is some
way to add grounding to an outlet if you have an appliance that really needs
it - I can ask if you want.
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