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In the belly of the Beast
Jan. 12th, 2007 05:01 pmHeh. I'm tempted to describe it as an epic journey, but actually, what I did this afternoon was crawl under the modular to try to fix that end cap in the duct work of the heating system, which we are continuing to have issues with.
The real "fix", of course, is to remove each section of the ducting and get it properly sealed and cleaned, and replaced where necessary. Ben carefully taped the end cap into place when he was under there a few days ago with... what else? Duct tape.
The duct run is old and pretty dirty, though, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
heavyarms02, who did the original temporary repair, was concerned that the tape wouldn't hold. He had tried using self-tapping sheet metal screws, but likely due to a critter getting in from another open spot in the run, the cap had gotten knocked loose and two of the three screws were lost somewhere in the mud so it couldn't just be re-attached, thus the tape.
Unfortunately, he was right, and the cap fell back off the moment the air pressure of the furnace running hit it. We had a couple of cold days and it sucked because if the furnace wasn't actually running, the cold air was poofing up from underneath through the registers, making the furnace run a lot more often and making a nasty draft. When the wind kicked up, the pilot light kept getting blown out.
Normally Ben would handle this, but he was working all day, he isn't off until like Sunday or something, and we're going to get a cold snap before that. So... I got out the flashlight with the dying battery (need to pick up another battery but haven't yet), a chunk of plastic to kneel on, and a short piece of 2" x 6". I also grabbed a couple of chunks of cinder block to make up the difference in case the wood was too short.
Even though the cap is closer to the other side of the house, it's much easier to reach by crawling under the front. I moved the wood and tarp contraption that's serving as skirting, turned on the light, and sure enough, there's the end cap on the ground.
And thus began the descent...
It's a nasty job, going under there when it's raining. We've done a lot by way of drainage ditches and the like, but there's still an awful lot of trash under there, it's muddy, it's wet, plus there are spots where it reeks of old cat piss (we think there were several feral cats living under there at one point, and they were definitely in the duct work because one of them came up through the heating register and Ben found her in his room.)
It's not a pleasant thing to get under there at the best of times, and it's why we are waiting for Spring to do more extensive work--when the danger of freezing is past in a couple of months, we can open up the underside of the house to let the air circulate and help the ground to dry out more, making the working environment a great deal more pleasant. Certainly it's already better than it was, we have managed to get one corner of the house nicely dried out but there's more ditch-digging that must be done to finish the job.
But I managed. I had obviously worn old clothes for this, piece of plastic notwithstanding, and at one point I actually had to lie in the mud so I could get the right angle and bracing to get the cap on securely since the duct it fits on isn't perfectly round. YUCK!
Once I had it on, I put the piece of 2" x 6" under it, with a piece of that broken cinderblock making it level and snug against the bottom so it wouldn't fall down. I was glad to be finished and crawling back towards the light a few minutes later.
I was so mud-covered that I actually stripped down to bare skin right in the foyer and went straight to the showers. I've got to pick up those clothes and pre-rinse them in the tub or something now so I can get them washed without clogging the washing machine drain with silt, but happily, this seems to have done the trick. There is no longer a chilly draft rising up from the register behind me, and the heat is already not kicking on as often. Perhaps if we get a few dry, mild days, Ben can get back under there to check to see if it's still secure and not leaning or anything, and maybe seal off those edges with fresh duct tape, which I didn't bother with today.
Next year will be much better--getting under there cleaned out and perhaps spreading a good layer of gravel/stone is definitely on the priority list when the weather improves this year!
The real "fix", of course, is to remove each section of the ducting and get it properly sealed and cleaned, and replaced where necessary. Ben carefully taped the end cap into place when he was under there a few days ago with... what else? Duct tape.
The duct run is old and pretty dirty, though, and
heavyarms02, who did the original temporary repair, was concerned that the tape wouldn't hold. He had tried using self-tapping sheet metal screws, but likely due to a critter getting in from another open spot in the run, the cap had gotten knocked loose and two of the three screws were lost somewhere in the mud so it couldn't just be re-attached, thus the tape.Unfortunately, he was right, and the cap fell back off the moment the air pressure of the furnace running hit it. We had a couple of cold days and it sucked because if the furnace wasn't actually running, the cold air was poofing up from underneath through the registers, making the furnace run a lot more often and making a nasty draft. When the wind kicked up, the pilot light kept getting blown out.
Normally Ben would handle this, but he was working all day, he isn't off until like Sunday or something, and we're going to get a cold snap before that. So... I got out the flashlight with the dying battery (need to pick up another battery but haven't yet), a chunk of plastic to kneel on, and a short piece of 2" x 6". I also grabbed a couple of chunks of cinder block to make up the difference in case the wood was too short.
Even though the cap is closer to the other side of the house, it's much easier to reach by crawling under the front. I moved the wood and tarp contraption that's serving as skirting, turned on the light, and sure enough, there's the end cap on the ground.
And thus began the descent...
It's a nasty job, going under there when it's raining. We've done a lot by way of drainage ditches and the like, but there's still an awful lot of trash under there, it's muddy, it's wet, plus there are spots where it reeks of old cat piss (we think there were several feral cats living under there at one point, and they were definitely in the duct work because one of them came up through the heating register and Ben found her in his room.)
It's not a pleasant thing to get under there at the best of times, and it's why we are waiting for Spring to do more extensive work--when the danger of freezing is past in a couple of months, we can open up the underside of the house to let the air circulate and help the ground to dry out more, making the working environment a great deal more pleasant. Certainly it's already better than it was, we have managed to get one corner of the house nicely dried out but there's more ditch-digging that must be done to finish the job.
But I managed. I had obviously worn old clothes for this, piece of plastic notwithstanding, and at one point I actually had to lie in the mud so I could get the right angle and bracing to get the cap on securely since the duct it fits on isn't perfectly round. YUCK!
Once I had it on, I put the piece of 2" x 6" under it, with a piece of that broken cinderblock making it level and snug against the bottom so it wouldn't fall down. I was glad to be finished and crawling back towards the light a few minutes later.
I was so mud-covered that I actually stripped down to bare skin right in the foyer and went straight to the showers. I've got to pick up those clothes and pre-rinse them in the tub or something now so I can get them washed without clogging the washing machine drain with silt, but happily, this seems to have done the trick. There is no longer a chilly draft rising up from the register behind me, and the heat is already not kicking on as often. Perhaps if we get a few dry, mild days, Ben can get back under there to check to see if it's still secure and not leaning or anything, and maybe seal off those edges with fresh duct tape, which I didn't bother with today.
Next year will be much better--getting under there cleaned out and perhaps spreading a good layer of gravel/stone is definitely on the priority list when the weather improves this year!
