Our house - built in the mid-1950's and owned at first by an electrical engineer - is full of quirks and surprises. Many of these are located in our (currently unfinished) basement, which is the nerve center of the house. It holds the washer, dryer, boiler (we have hot water baseboard heat) and hot water heater, in addition to pipes leading out the back of the house for reasons I don't understand (the house used to have an in-ground pool, and now has a water feature out back that we've never plugged in or used), and a creepy closet that we are hoping to completely gut at some point over the next few months.
While making some measurements in the basement closet (which, did I mention, is a very creepy place) earlier tonight, I noticed a strange combination of devices. First, there was a secret outlet atop the cinderblock wall of the basement. Our house is a split, the cinder blocks begin at roughly ground level, and the wall faces the front of the house. The outlet seemed relatively new (or at least had been updated) as it was of the grounded three-prong variety. Next to it is some kind of metal box with very thin wires sticking out (I think this might have been a previous doorbell wiring set up, judging by the gauge of the wires, but I am not sure).
The plug attached to the timer, however, seems to be from the 1950's. The wire travels about three feet down the wall and then disappears into a hole leading out, presumably underneath the front yard.
As I write this, it's becoming clear to me that this is an old set up for some outside lighting. Or, I could be wrong. Maybe this is an invitation to put up a ridiculous number of Christmas lights. But how would I find where the wire ends up outside, presuming that it does end up outside? Would I have to dig? How many silverfish would I see throughout the process? (This is why I would make a terrible Bob Vila/detective hybrid; I'm terrified of silverfish.)
So, if anyone reads this who is inclined to think critically about such mysteries, what do you think, and how can I test your theory?
1 comment:
I got about three sentences in and Mark said it's for outdoor wiring, so it sounds like your hunch is correct. If the timer box thing is really big, he said it's probably there to step the voltage down from 120V AC to DC. And yes, he thinks the only way to figure out where the wires go is to dig around near the exit point with a trowel. He doesn't think you'll find silverfish, but you'll see worms. Apparently we have a similar electrical connection to nowhere -- former outdoor lights that lit up our shitty front bushes ("Please, viewers of our home, let us call your attention to our shitty front bushes!" You can see why it's no longer connected.)
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