youse.da.force
New Member
Hello, I recently moved into a house in Cleveland, OH built in 1936 . There is a cold water pipe run straight into the basement floor, with no apparent outlet anywhere. I'm trying to figure out what purpose it might serve (or have served). Maybe it's obvious why that would be there, but if not I'll try to give enough information that someone can give an educated guess?
The pipe is a 1/2 copper line, entering the floor the base of the central load bearing masonry wall, in a utility area near the rear and about 25 feet away from where the main enters in the front. There is another, now-disconnected galvanized pipe entering the floor a few feet away from this pipe, also connecting to no fixtures I can identify. That galvanized pipe was disconnected from the water lines 20-30 years ago and this copper pipe was connected to that same fitting. Every other supply line in the house was replaced with copper, including every basement fixture (half bath, the old boiler, former laundry and sink). However, this one section of galvanized was left connected to the copper, with a number of nearby capped off branches that formerly supplied an outdoor hose bibb, and basement and 1F baths. I can trace every fixture in the house back to the main, none are supplied with this line.
There is a shutoff valve for this line, and, curious, I opened it slightly. The line fully pressurized in under a second, with no sounds of flow or apparent movement at the meter. I can't see that the pipe heads in any particular direction after entering the floor unless I remove of the slab. There aren't any signs that the floor was dug up to connect this copper line to anything pre-existing. But I also can't be 100% sure since someone put down outdoor carpet and there is a thick layer of brown glue everywhere.
From searching around on these forums and reddit, best suggestions I have seen are:
1) Some sort of early precursor to an expansion tank, if it's connected to the drains or sump pump and ends in a relieve valve. This seems unlikely, since there is no water movement when I open the valve and no sign that the newer copper pipe was reconnected to anything in the ground.
2) A secondary grounding location for the water/electrical systems. This is strengthened by the old telephone and old breaker box ground wires being clamped to the galvanized pipes nearby. The newer utility grounds are all clamped near where the water main enters the basement on the other side of the house, and the more recently upgraded electrical service is also connected to exterior ground rods.
Some more possibly helpful information on the house and plumbing:
* The previous owners lived in the house for twenty years, the work pre-dates them, and they have no idea why it's there. The owners before that lived here for around forty years and had total remodels of the kitchen and all bathrooms done around 1990. Based on that and the various paint layers, this pipe was probably switched from the galvanized to the copper at the same time.
* There is no sprinkler system and the prior owners don't know of an older one.
* The house had boiler heat until this year. The last one was installed in the 80s.
* The basement is mostly finished, likely since it was built (all lath and plaster).
The pipe is a 1/2 copper line, entering the floor the base of the central load bearing masonry wall, in a utility area near the rear and about 25 feet away from where the main enters in the front. There is another, now-disconnected galvanized pipe entering the floor a few feet away from this pipe, also connecting to no fixtures I can identify. That galvanized pipe was disconnected from the water lines 20-30 years ago and this copper pipe was connected to that same fitting. Every other supply line in the house was replaced with copper, including every basement fixture (half bath, the old boiler, former laundry and sink). However, this one section of galvanized was left connected to the copper, with a number of nearby capped off branches that formerly supplied an outdoor hose bibb, and basement and 1F baths. I can trace every fixture in the house back to the main, none are supplied with this line.
There is a shutoff valve for this line, and, curious, I opened it slightly. The line fully pressurized in under a second, with no sounds of flow or apparent movement at the meter. I can't see that the pipe heads in any particular direction after entering the floor unless I remove of the slab. There aren't any signs that the floor was dug up to connect this copper line to anything pre-existing. But I also can't be 100% sure since someone put down outdoor carpet and there is a thick layer of brown glue everywhere.
From searching around on these forums and reddit, best suggestions I have seen are:
1) Some sort of early precursor to an expansion tank, if it's connected to the drains or sump pump and ends in a relieve valve. This seems unlikely, since there is no water movement when I open the valve and no sign that the newer copper pipe was reconnected to anything in the ground.
2) A secondary grounding location for the water/electrical systems. This is strengthened by the old telephone and old breaker box ground wires being clamped to the galvanized pipes nearby. The newer utility grounds are all clamped near where the water main enters the basement on the other side of the house, and the more recently upgraded electrical service is also connected to exterior ground rods.
Some more possibly helpful information on the house and plumbing:
* The previous owners lived in the house for twenty years, the work pre-dates them, and they have no idea why it's there. The owners before that lived here for around forty years and had total remodels of the kitchen and all bathrooms done around 1990. Based on that and the various paint layers, this pipe was probably switched from the galvanized to the copper at the same time.
* There is no sprinkler system and the prior owners don't know of an older one.
* The house had boiler heat until this year. The last one was installed in the 80s.
* The basement is mostly finished, likely since it was built (all lath and plaster).
