Forbes Forum

Our house was built in 1895 by William Alswede (who's grandneice we have met). The foundation is poured concrete and includes a cistern located in one corner--under the kitchen. The only access to it is a 12" X 24" hatch through which it is just possible to lower a 5' step ladder. I have been there before, when I re-plumbed the kitchen and added a vent pipe that helps the drain to run properly. Since the house is made with "balloon construction", I was able to cut a hole in the floor and shove a 1 1/2" pipe from the cistern to the attic right up the void between the wall studs. I did that years ago. At the same time, I filled in the hole through which water used to come from the eves. Rain water used to fill the cistern. I also stopped up the over-flow pipe, and insulated the space between the foundation and the floor.

Even so, that corner was the coldest corner in our house, each winter it is so cold that the pipes to our dish washer freeze. This summer, we had foam insulation blown into the walls of the house, with special attention to that corner. But it is still cold. So over Christmas break, I went back into the cistern (with all the spiders) and put some thin foam insulation in the bottom side of the floor joists. Here are some of the pictures of that operation. The test will be over the next couple of days when it is predicted that temperatures will go perhaps to -20. Thats MINUS twenty degrees. That will be the test. I am hoping for the best!