Sump pump, part the first

While standing in the basement during a rain storm the other day (checking to see where seepage was worst - as expected it's near where the gutters have problems and water puddles near the house) I heard the sump pump come on and glanced over to see it in action. Turns out the hose, which the previous owner mentioned was getting near needing to be replaced, had a few small holes in it - on the basement side of the wall. I watched bemused as the table and bricks to the right of the pump got a shower, then switched of the breaker and went in search of a new hose.

First off, I need to learn to look closer at things. The pump manufacturer says this is a 1.5" outflow, so I bought a 1.5" hose. You'll note that the old hose (below) is attached not to the pump directly, but to an adapter of sorts that I can only assume makes it 1.25". Anyway, with some extra tightening of the screw clamp the new hose fit fine.

This is your sump pump after who knows how many years under water. This is your sump pump hose, cleaved to the adapter even after the clamp is removed.

Unfortunately, upon securing the new clamp, turning the power back on, and resubmerging the pump, it did not... pump. Some light surgery revealed that either moisture had finally gotten in to the power housing and corroded the connections or something was wrong in the motor section which I can't access due to severe corrosion and buildup around the screws holding the main housing.

Long story short, $110 at Lowes got me a new pump and a one way check valve that allowed me to connect the hose to the pump.

Few things make you feel so much like a homeowner as having to say 'Ben, I'm going to be late - I'm up at Lowes buying a new sump pump so my basement doesn't flood.'

Stuck

These photos - and this project - have been sitting around for a week and a half or more. When opening this lovely window to look at the underside of the bottom sash I apparently raised it too far and now it won't close. The top of the sash - maybe even the rope tie point - is past the inset wheel in the frame, and I'm pretty sure what's happened is that the rope has come off the wheel. My friend Hans examined the window at some length and noticed that the rope appears slack in the crevice between the side of the sash and the frame, and goes even more slack when we raise the sash further. Between that and the feel of where the sash catches when we try and move it, I think the rope-off-wheel theory is sound enough to test.


So the current plan is to lift up the counterweights enough to create some slack on both sides of the wheel, then attempt to fish around from the top of the sash with a heavy paper clip or some similar hook and try and catch the top of the rope loop, lift it, and guide it back on the wheel.


Option 2 is to get a Dremel (I've been thinking about buying one anyway) and saw a square through the plaster and two or three of the lathe boards underneath up towards the top of the channel where the wheel is. This would, in theory, let me reach right in and do the same thing as above but without trying to imitate Huck Finn.

And in other news, these two nails just do not want to come out of the rosette:

The context:

I bought a 110-year-old house with some nice architectural accents, many needed cosmetic upgrades, updated plumbing, partly updated electrical, and dreams of fixing things up whilst whistling jauntily on the bright days of summer.

Needless to say I underestimated everything.

This blog is a chronicle (of sorts - I'm notoriously bad at keeping up with things like this over long stretches) of the relationship between me, my house, my tools, and the wealth of knowledge on houses that can be obtained from friends, relatives, and the local library. Projects and problems, and problems with projects, will be described. Options will be discussed. Progress may even be made.

As of this moment, the house is still standing.