Tears and fears is what I experienced tonight, and not the band. I had to get into a dusty, dirty, cobwebby, spider infested crawlspace. We are replacing the boiler system with central air, and all of the existing piping needs to be removed so that there is room to run the ductwork.
The crawlspace is tight. Like 12" - 18" tight. Unfortunately, all of this work has caused me to shed a few lbs., so I can actually squeeze into the space. I would much prefer if I had the excuse that I couldn't fit. I'll update this post with some picks of the basement a crawlspace, but all I have right now is what it looked like when I got out.
Just in case any spider, mouse or other critter decided to get close, I had my shirt tucked in, my carhart jacket on, respirator, goggles, and my hood tied tight. The worst thing that happened was that the first pipe I cut dumped a bunch of water on my new flashlight - that bulb died instantly.
Fortunately, I had a head light that my Aunt Vicki had just gotten me. It was perfect for the job. After I got done I decided to walk over to my neighbors and introduce myself like this. No one came to the door, and I don't know why.
Stay tuned for basement pictures.
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I was back in the crawlspace again tonight. There are two. I thought that I was going in the worst one first, but I was mistaken. There were fewer pipes to remove, and fewer cobwebs, but much less room. Like, I couldn't get to the end of the house to get the pipes all the way removed, because I couldn't fit. Also, the dirt was really damp, so I got pretty wet. I'm not positive, but I think that I found a fireplace foundation, and a well head underneath crawlspace #2. Unfortunately, I could get close enough to verify.
This was crawlspace #2. Yes, I fit in there.
Notice the white pipe. I went so far in that my feet passed that, but I still never made it to the end.
Crawlspace #1. I'm not sure why I thought that this was worse than the other one.
The first night in the basement Vanessa stayed to grab pipes that I was cutting, and to be on guard in case I got stuck. Tonight it was CJ and I. He was a huge help. As you can see, in order to do this properly, one must have a pant leg higher than the other.
The pipe carnage. This was about 1/3 of the total piping that we removed from the basement.
Chris