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Any idea what this is buried next to house?I found a small concrete slab in front of my house after ripping out some bushes. I'd like to remove it, so that it will be easier to plant new bushes. While I was digging around to see how big the slab was, I came across this white plastic thing. It is totally filled with water - all the way up to the small hole in the middle. I didn't have time to dig further last night... It looks to me like it could be an old drain of some sort for a gutter? Also, the concrete pad seems very deep (at least two feet), and looks like it may have been poured at the same time as the foundation... if that's the case, I assume it won't be easy to remove it... |
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maybe a clean out for the drain tile? |
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to rapamatic
How old is the house? |
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The house was originally built in the 40's, with a major addition/renovation in '98 and again around '07... I bought it last year, so I don't have much good information on the various renovations.... This part of the house is the original from the '40s, although I suspect (given the slab) that this may have been the front door at the time... |
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1 recommendation |
OldCableGuy3 to rapamatic
Anon
2014-Jul-31 9:37 am
to rapamatic
It looks like a statue buried upside down. Lots of people bury a St Joseph statue next to their house in the process of attempting to sell. |
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said by OldCableGuy3 :It looks like a statue buried upside down. Lots of people bury a St Joseph statue next to their house in the process of attempting to sell. Wow... I bet that's it - it does look like it could be the bottom of a statue! Since we just bought the place, and don't want to sell it, I better remove the statue  Anyone have any ideas on how to best remove the slab? If it is tied in to the foundation (likely poured at same time) are there any special concerns... I'd be happy to rent a jackhammer and try to hack it out myself, but I don't want to mess up the foundation or make it leak... is this best left to a pro? |
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OldCableGuy3
Anon
2014-Jul-31 9:45 am
None of your pictures actually show the slab although the one with the child you can make it out, besides that, I can't really provide advice without a better photo showing the slab. |
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said by OldCableGuy3 :None of your pictures actually show the slab although the one with the child you can make it out, besides that, I can't really provide advice without a better photo showing the slab. Here are the photos I have on my phone now, I can take more tonight... in some of the original photos above you can see some of the concrete (stained black from tar?) and the corner between the foundation and the concrete (I couldn't detect a seam, but didn't look very closely). |
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6 recommendations |
to rapamatic
Obligatory: " You moved the headstones but you left the bodies!" |
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OldCableGuy3 to rapamatic
Anon
2014-Jul-31 11:07 am
to rapamatic
Someone else will have to chime in because I am far from an expert but but I do not thing that would be part of the foundation of the house. |
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OldCableGuy3
Anon
2014-Jul-31 11:08 am
Sorry my Google spoken keyboard really screwed up the last post. I don't think that's part of the foundation of the house. |
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 DataDocMy avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium Member
join:2000-05-14
Hedgesville, WV ·StarLink
 ·HughesNet
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to rapamatic
St Joseph |
I think OldCableGuy is right. |
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If it is a statue it is.huge. I had never heard of doing this till about 15 years ago but it always involved a small statue, inches in height max. |
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to rapamatic
Concerning the slab... looking at the one picture it doesn't look like it is really attached to the house. If it is partially attached when it was poured a couple quick whacks from a sledge hammer will break it off. Should be a clean break because where it meets the foundation wall is the weak point. |
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to rapamatic
If that slab is that large, it was intended to hold something quite substantial. Are there any houses close by built like yours? Do they have that slab and you can see what it does? Perhaps a long time neighbor may be able to offer some insight? |
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neighbor's house |
said by doechsli:If that slab is that large, it was intended to hold something quite substantial. Are there any houses close by built like yours? Do they have that slab and you can see what it does? Perhaps a long time neighbor may be able to offer some insight? The houses on either side of mine were torn down and rebuilt about 15 years ago. There is a house up the street that I think is still original to the 40's design, and there is a ground level front porch in that general area (see the attached google streetview snap)... I may be able to get more info from the file at the village building department... They have some microfiche blueprints from the various additions done to my house... |
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sparks
join:2001-07-08
Little Rock, AR
1 recommendation |
to rapamatic
do not take it out of the ground.
I heard that evil spirits will come out.
wait maybe that was a skull, are you digging a pool.
LOL
It almost looks like a face can't really tell from the picture.
is there one on the other side of the slab?
it looks like an entrance that was removed on a remodel. |
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said by sparks:is there one on the other side of the slab? Nope, I checked on the other side, nothing. My money is on St. Joseph -- I'll find out tonight or tomorrow... said by sparks:is there another slab lower and in front of that one? Nope, I was digging quite a bit in front of the slab to try to gauge its depth (so far went down about 16 inches without finding bottom). |
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 bewholeI Am Here
Premium Member
join:2000-08-08
Alfred, ME |
to rapamatic
That slab looks like one that you put propane tanks on. Looks like they wanted to get below the frost line so it would not move up or down. If it goes below the 24" mark then they over built it.If you can get a pic of the side of it where it "Connects" to the foundation about 6 to 10"s then someone may be able to tell you if it is connected to the foundation. The statue is just "strange" never heard of doing that. |
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to OldCableGuy3
said by OldCableGuy3 :It looks like a statue buried upside down. Lots of people bury a St Joseph statue next to their house in the process of attempting to sell. Would you believe somebody ACTUALLY sells a "home sales kit" that includes a St. Joseph statue? Actually two of them. The one that is not holding Jesus has a hatchet and it looks very similar to what is visible in the upside down picture posted above. » www.stjosephshomesaleskit.com/ |
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 SparkChaser
Premium Member
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA |
said by printscreen:said by OldCableGuy3 :It looks like a statue buried upside down. Lots of people bury a St Joseph statue next to their house in the process of attempting to sell. Would you believe somebody ACTUALLY sells a "home sales kit" that includes a St. Joseph statue? Actually two of them. The one that is not holding Jesus has a hatchet and it looks very similar to what is visible in the upside down picture posted above. » www.stjosephshomesaleskit.com/ Another why didn't I think of that. I knew the St Joe trick. I thought it was an Italian Catholic thing. AND it says - Professed to work for all Faiths and Denominations |
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said by SparkChaser:
AND it says - Professed to work for all Faiths and Denominations
HAHAHAHA....and if you don't believe in ANY of that religious hocus pocus it's just another way for someone to get money from folks for absolutely NO benefit at all. LOL It's like a pet rock. A rock is only a pet if you believe it's a pet. |
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 Jim7
Premium Member
join:2003-02-10 |
to rapamatic
Perhaps the slab was for a brick chimney?
Either that or, as someone else mentioned, a former entrance although it doesn't look like a finished step to me. |
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OldCableGuy3
Anon
2014-Jul-31 3:24 pm
The chimney idea actually might have some merit... |
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said by OldCableGuy3 :The chimney idea actually might have some merit... I'm not so sure about the chimney - there is one that was at the back of the original house (now in the middle of the house)... I don't think they would have built it with two chimneys, especially one in the middle of the front of the house... |
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DataDocMy avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium Member
join:2000-05-14
Hedgesville, WV
3 recommendations |
to rapamatic
Forget the slab! Pull St Joe up and give him some air! |
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to rapamatic
First I ever heard of this! |
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mk_416
Anon
2014-Jul-31 7:36 pm
If that concrete goes down much further I would check the inside wall for signs of previous repairs as it could be a foundation pilaster used to repair a bulge in the foundation wall.
Even if the wall inside doesn't show any damage/repair work, you might want to check with realtor/previous owners or keep digging down till you reach the bottom of it. You will want to know for sure if there was a previous issue with the foundation that wasn't disclosed/noted. |
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 Hall
MVM
join:2000-04-28
Germantown, OH |
to rapamatic
When I saw the pictures, my first thought was it's something ornamental and likely forgotten. I would have NEVER thought of that St Joseph statue thing (I only heard of it the first time in my life a few years ago, plus I'm not Catholic). Nonetheless, this is no doubt what it is. I found this: The St Joseph Prayer to sell a house requires that you buy a St Joseph statue. Once you've acquired the statue, you must bury it in your yard, within three feet of your For Sale sign.
Bury the statue upside down, but facing in the direction of the house that you're trying to sell. Once this is done, say the following prayer... The "within three feet" of the for sale sign looks questionable, but the upside-down part is pretty clear in your case !! Can't tell if it's facing the house though. Now, my question is, and the link I found the above didn't say, do you leave it buried (by custom) ? I would think you dig it up and take it with you, but what do I know ! |
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OldCableGuy3
Anon
2014-Jul-31 8:02 pm
I've helped a few people sell a houses, people usually end up doing this when they're getting desperate to sell, FSBO types who google things like "tricks to sell my house"
...and from what I've seen you're supposed to leave it when you move out. I agree this one is exceptionally big usually it's pretty small. This is also the first of the "3 feet from the for sale sign" I've ever heard. Usually people in Iowa bury it near their house like in the OPs case. |
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