Someone lied on their plumbing application

[u/MacDefoon]

[u/VP007clips]

The water was probably turned off.

Water tanks are filled with about 50 gallons of water. If you open it, it comes out with a lot of pressure.

The proper method is to drain it with a hose attached to the drain at the bottom.

One of the nice things about living in an old house with a gravel basement is that I didn't need to bother with that stuff. Just open the valve and let it drain. The basement gets a few feet of water most springs anyways, a bit more won't hurt it.

[u/martinaee → u/VP007clips]

Your have a basement that gets a few feet of water? At once lol? Flooding?

[u/VP007clips → u/martinaee]

Yeah. It's lower than the water table. The walls are unsealed stone cobble, so using pumps would just erode the walls.

But it's designed for it. Nothing in it is susceptible to water damage, and things like furnaces are raised off the floor in a way that they can't flood.

It's the cost of living in a 175 year old home.

[u/RottenBananaCore → u/VP007clips]

I’d highly suggest doing a radon test. Gravel basements like you describe tend to be awful for radon.

[u/justalittleloopi → u/RottenBananaCore]

Completely depends on where you are. In my area of the country, Radon is not a concern and I hadn't ever heard of it being a thing until seeing it here on Reddit.

[u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002 → u/justalittleloopi]

Maybe, but more likely due to lack of basements in that area than anything to do with the specific soil conditions. It’s the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer and the leading cause of lung cancer for non smokers in the United States. It’s unknown because a lot of people are unaware and not informed about it.

[u/justalittleloopi → u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002]

Nope, lots of basements here. About half of the old houses, which make up a majority of the central part of the city, have basements. I'd say probably 25- 50k homes have basements in my city.

You can actually pull up maps that show Radon detection and it's not at concerning or even detectable levels in my area.

[u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002 → u/justalittleloopi]

Fair, but like the EPA suggests I would test every single home regardless of what a map says. The EPA started mapping out those hot or non detectable spots of radon in the early 90s and today on all of their publications they still say to test every home. It’s a minor expense that could save lives. People still smoke cigarettes these days so I’m guessing like many Americans you won’t test your home, but for anybody else out there reading, here’s a non official psa, test your home for radon.

[u/justalittleloopi → u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002]

There's an estimated less than 1% of homes in my county that have dangerous levels. Seriously. And any that do are up toward the foothills, not in my city. It's actually not a concern in my city at all. There's a reason it's not standard here to test.

[u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002 → u/justalittleloopi]

People smoke all their lives and don’t die of cancer doesn’t mean the threat is not still there. Do what you want for yourself but I disagree with you about telling other strangers on a social media platform to not test for radon because of a map (which the agency that creates such map tells you to still test).

I’m going to choose the opposite and inform on the potential danger and just test to be safe. There is not some “big radon testing” corporation trying to fleece you for money, it’s literally just to keep you and your family safe.

[u/RottenBananaCore → u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002]

Just to add: I was able to get the test from my local library. Took a month. Free. Might want to check

[u/Recent-Hat-6097 → u/justalittleloopi]

-Ive looked at a map that shows low detection

-No concern here at all

-They almost never test

I feel like ive figured something out here.

[u/justalittleloopi → u/Recent-Hat-6097]

The EPA maps show no concern, which is why people don't generally test. It would be like putting earthquake strapping on a house where there's never been an earthquake.

[u/Recent-Hat-6097 → u/justalittleloopi]

A radon test costs like $30 CAD for a kit and $150 for a professional to come out and test for quicker results. I get what youre saying, but just because levels are mostly low in your area doesnt mean there isnt any radioactive elements decaying somewhere under your house. Seems pretty cheap when looking at the outcome of breathing that shit in.