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Posted By: renosteinke House Supports - 08/19/07 10:54 PM
When one enters a crawl space, one tends to assume that the house will remain standing while one is under it. After all, crawl spaces can be scary enough as it is....

Ever wonder what holds a house up? Ever wonder why used cars NEVER have their jacks? This picture will answer both your questions:

[Linked Image]

frown
Posted By: TOOL_5150 Re: House Supports - 08/20/07 04:00 AM
Yeah, Crawling under houses is definately one of the 'bad' things about being an electrician. Ive seen all sorts of things under a house from a cat to a sewage leak. The cat startled me quite well, I just crawled down the hole, feet first and was shining my flashlight around and saw 2 eyes, man it got my heart pumping.

What is the strangest thing you guys have seen under a house / in an attic?

~TOOL_5150
Posted By: Theelectrikid Re: House Supports - 08/20/07 04:20 AM
My old trailer wasn't even that bad...

Ian A.
Posted By: wire_twister Re: House Supports - 08/21/07 02:31 AM
worst things around here are snakes. I have never seen a snake under a house, seen a snake skin, but not being used by the snake at the time
Posted By: gfretwell Re: House Supports - 08/21/07 02:35 AM
Snakes are usually the good guys. They eat rats. Given the choice I take the snakes.
Posted By: ChicoC10 Re: House Supports - 08/26/07 05:31 PM
Don't forget black widows.
Worst crawl job I did was a rewire crawling all the receptacles from below. I'd got all the boxes popped out and the holes trimmed for new boxes and had my wife standing by to catch the wires as I pushed them up.(she was actually reading a book and would have been fired if I were paying her)
As I crawled to the first location I noticed big fat black widows were EVERYWHERE!!! Went and got some bug spray and breathed a lot of it trying to get that one done.
Vince
Posted By: Rewired Re: House Supports - 08/27/07 04:02 AM
I was under the girlfriend's parents cottage and all I saw was chipmunks.. Got lucky there mind you the purpose for me being there was to " see why the composting toilet and water pump are tripping breakers"!

A.D
Posted By: energy7 Re: House Supports - 08/28/07 03:11 PM
I remember an old house I crawled under. The access was typical of old homes-so small you have to wedge your belt buckle past the frame. It took me a couple of minutes of contorting to get in. I shone the light around and saw a black pile in the corner about 10 feet away. Black fur, White stripe just visible. I was back outside in less than 15 seconds.
The lady who owned the house said to come back in a couple of days; she'll just throw moth balls under the house and any critters will leave.
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: House Supports - 08/29/07 07:19 AM
1. Gents, a warning. Spiders are immune to some of the 'modern', safer insecticides- because they're not insects.

2.Gents, er...do NOT use mothballs to get rid of critters. A guy I know had a foine - the european stone marten, a mini-wolverine and not to be messed with - nesting in the roof of his cottage. He ordered his builder to throw a couple of boxes of mothballs around up there before finishing off a roof repair. Result: a]. Foine left home. b]. The house stinks permanently and powerfully of mothballs, but he can't remove them as he has no access into the roofspace.
Posted By: NORCAL Re: House Supports - 09/02/07 02:24 PM
Originally Posted by Alan Belson
1. Gents, a warning. Spiders are immune to some of the 'modern', safer insecticides- because they're not insects.

2.Gents, er...do NOT use mothballs to get rid of critters. A guy I know had a foine - the european stone marten, a mini-wolverine and not to be messed with - nesting in the roof of his cottage. He ordered his builder to throw a couple of boxes of mothballs around up there before finishing off a roof repair. Result: a]. Foine left home. b]. The house stinks permanently and powerfully of mothballs, but he can't remove them as he has no access into the roofspace.


Same thing for not using bait to kill mice & rats, they crawl off into some inacessable space and someone gets to enjoy the wonderful aroma.
Posted By: renosteinke Re: House Supports - 09/02/07 05:30 PM
As mentioned, crawl spaces are plenty scary, all by themselves.

My favorite story comes from "Field and Stream," in an article titled "An Asp With Class."

Seems the gent had a summer cabin, upon which he did his own maintenance. Over the course of several summers, he became acquainted with the snake that lived, and grew, under the cabin. The snake would even crawl near him as he worked, watching his every move with great curiosity.

Well, along came the day when he had a problem he could not handle himself. Calling the local plumber, the father & son team wasted no time performing the 'plumbers' wiggle' to squeeze through the hatch, and into the crawl.

He forgot to mention the snake.

A few minutes later, he hears screams from beneath the cabin, followed by the rocketing of the plumbers back out of the hatch .... leaving a very confused snake behind. Heck, he was only trying to be friendly....
Posted By: gfretwell Re: House Supports - 09/03/07 01:42 AM
I have a blacksnake living in the wall of my house. He doesn't bother anyone.
Posted By: SvenNYC Re: House Supports - 10/11/07 06:09 PM
Originally Posted by NORCAL

Same thing for not using bait to kill mice & rats, they crawl off into some inacessable space and someone gets to enjoy the wonderful aroma.


I'll take the smell of camphor balls to a decomposing cadaver any time. sick eek

Seven years ago, I lived in a flat where one of the closets smelled like something had died in the walls. And it reeked even after a year. I think whatever decomposition byproducts had soaked into the old wood frame of the building. cry

That apartment has been bought and sold three or four times since I had to leave there. I was renting from the co-op owener at the time.
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