I could use them right about now.
We have a bolt on our basement floor. It just sticks out of the floor, right in the pathway between the door and the washing machine. It has some sort of electromagnetic force field that draws your foot to it, which means there's a lot of swearing coming from the basement because I always step on it.
It didn't correlate to any parts on the old furnace, though it had been retrofitted for gas at some point, so maybe the original configuration used it?
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| Original furnace |
Greg tried to unscrew it but the thing wouldn't move. It's all of one piece, which makes me think it was put there when the slab was poured.
See how it's right where you want to walk when you're carrying a load of laundry from the dryer?
Anybody seen anything like this is an old house? Is this a portal to hell? An important bolt for an underground natural gas line? Does it involve the post right there? Any ideas? My foot is bruised and sore and I'm ready to take a jackhammer to it.
Don't try to unscrew it. If you take the bolt out, your entire house folds in on itself. What if you spraypaint it neon so you see it better? Would that help save your foot? My toes hurts just reading this post. Sympathy toe.
ReplyDeleteWe're actually thinking about cutting a tennis ball in half and glueing it to the floor, over the bolt, since asking me to see the things in front of me is a nearly impossible request. Have you not yet seen me run into a wall? I swear they jump out at me.
ReplyDeleteWhere was the old oil tank? If the furnace was retrofitted, a tank must have been in its past. Usually bolts like that are related to utilities - gas, oil, sewer.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the bolt that keeps the house anchored to the ground in cases of total loss of gravity ;-)
ReplyDeleteSomething related to an oil tank is not a bad guess.
ReplyDeleteYou can probably figure out if it has something to do with the gas line pretty easily. Start at the gas meter and just follow each of the lines until you figure out where it goes. If all the lines are accounted for, you can guess this is not part of the gas system.
You could also pick up a metal detector and figure out if it's attached to a pipe that runs somewhere under the slab (e.g. if you can follow the pipe with a metal detector and it leads directly to the sewer stack, you know it's some unused drain). Or, if it sounds like there's something giant and metal everywhere underneath, that's another indication that there may be an oil tank there. Although, if it's an oil tank, you should also be able to find the fill tubes sticking up out of the ground outside the house somewhere.
Good luck.
Maybe it's an anchor bolt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_bolt) that secured the furnace to the floor? Maybe the builder was afraid some force of nature (earthquake? tornado?) would move the furnace around and break a gas line?
ReplyDeleteI'd be tempted to build the floor up around it. Maybe with those foam floor mats or something? Making it more visible wouldn't help me much since by the time I carry the dirty laundry downstairs the pile is roughly 12' tall.
ReplyDeleteOur oil tank is buried in our side yard, so it's not that. I like the idea of getting a metal detector very much . . . Thanks for weighing in!
ReplyDeleteI'm convinced that if you unscrew it your house will fall down.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the commenters who say it is the bolt that holds your house to the ground so it won't float away. And I agree that making it more visible won't do a thing --- your feet don't have eyes. But I like the idea of raising up the floor with foam mats, so it doesn't stick up, or maybe even a pallet walkway over it.
ReplyDeleteI think the secrets of life and how to succeed in business are hiding under that bolt!
ReplyDeleteWe love this idea! Cookies for you. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt really does feel like the bolt belongs to the furnace and yet it's far away from where the original furnace ended. I think I need to call Ask This Old House.
ReplyDeleteThat means I should be able to get anti-gravity insurance now, right? I miss your face, by the way. :)
ReplyDeleteThe oil tank is buried next to our driveway, though this bolt could certainly still involve it in some way . . .
ReplyDeleteWe love the idea of building up the area around it and now we're talking about topping it with one of those squishy mats that grocery store cashiers stand on. You all are so full of good ideas. :)
ReplyDeleteA mat such as those used in restaurants would be perfect. They are rubber and have a honeycomb-like texture. The thickness is probably perfect for covering up the offending bolt. There are several restaurant supply houses in town where you can find them. And they're cushy, mmm.
ReplyDeleteBridget
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