Official Gramps' Memorial Eternal OT Thread

#30,729
#30,729
McDad said:
Isnt concrete porous? My understanding is concrete slabs, etc need a vapor barrier underneath to prevent seep.
@Orangeslice13. Help us out here, bro.
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Can confirm. Our cellar basement had a concrete floor and during hard rains the water would seep up out of the floor. If the ground under the concrete is wet for prolonged periods it's going to shift and the concrete will crack anyways.

I would make sure the water on the front of your property is being carried around the sides and to the back. A U shaped french drain (or two L shaped ones) would be successful in catching the water before it enters your basement and carrying it to the back of the lot.

Water is one of the most beneficial things and the biggest PITA all at the same time.
 
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#30,731
#30,731
LouderVol said:
If its actual ground water concrete isnt going to do anything. Concrete is not waterproof, which is why it will soak up the water. It may drop the humidity for a bit, but once its soaked thru you are going to have the same issues.

Have you tried digging test holes/wells to see where the water level is on the property? If you dont get standing water/really wet soil elsewhere I would be surprised if the house specifically was having issues with ground water, so digging a hole on the property should tell you a good bit.

If it fills up you have a ground water issue. If it doesnt it may just be that it got wet and hasnt been able to dry out much over time, because there is a house sitting on it.

My list of suggestions would be the following but not in this order.

1. to foam the bottom of your house, the floor of the house, some of that can be waterproof (only do if dried out first). You can dry it out either with a dehumidifier, if it isnt ground water, or it may also be worth installing a exhaust fan down there thru your basement wall.
2.Or at least provide some way for the wet air to get out besides up thru the house. Wetter air has higher pressure than drier air so it should even out over time if given a way. Vents on either side of the house will do this. Highly suggested for radon either way.
3. If it is ground water you may be able to trench or drain pipe it out. A simple trench lower than the rest will allow the water to collect their first before making it to the top soil, depending on the water table this may not have to be too deep. You will need to punch thru the basement wall with some drain pipes. Issue here is you are letting water gather and if it doesnt drain fast enough you arent fixing the issue. The pipes can be those perforated pipes, install them about 6"below the top of the ground at least (deeper is better) and drain those out side the house. I have no idea how you would do this as those would be big holes, and you may have to go under whatever foundation you have if it's a full perimeter wall vs posts down. Which can obviously be an issue.
4. An active pump, you dig a hole under the house, and pump it out, this removes any water but adds a good bit of cost. With this you can do plastic elsewhere.
5. You may need to do some general site grading/drainage way from the house if it's not groundwater specifically. It may just be backfilling from the site somewhere else if there isnt enough drainage.

If there are no vents I would start there as that would be the easiest and is good in general.
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This area abuts the cellar. It's damp, too, but there's never any actual standing water; I could dig a trench to the cellar and put the perforated pipe in, but I don't think it would change anything. My brother in law is a contractor and he's given me the name of a guy to inspect under there, so I'll likely go that route - not wild about the piers used for support under the house either. I will complete the vapor barrier whether I do it or have it done. There are several good foundation vents in place, so ventilation is decent. The problem is that it's not a thriving community (which is what I like about it), but that means major improvements are never going to do much for the value. The walls - even the interior ones are 1x6 inch oak with covered by a loose weave fabric and then multiple layers or some really ugly wallpaper. I used a hole saw to run cables for my son a few years ago - the "core samples" are interesting. I have a feeling if it were easy to disassemble, the parts would be worth way more than the whole.

I was cleaning up the fireplace (very shallow for coal - like perhaps a foot deep) and started wondering why the whole fireplace was like three feet deep with this dinky thing in front. Like was there a real fireplace there at one time that was closed in to put the smaller on at the front. I know one of the bedroom walls had one of those round plates for a coal stove flue. The ceilings are at least 12 ft, and there were transoms over the bedroom doors at one time. You always wonder what kind of secrets a house like that holds.
 
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#30,732
#30,732
AM64 said:
This area abuts the cellar. It's damp, too, but there's never any actual standing water; I could dig a trench to the cellar and put the perforated pipe in, but I don't think it would change anything. My brother in law is a contractor and he's given me the name of a guy to inspect under there, so I'll likely go that route - not wild about the piers used for support under the house either. I will complete the vapor barrier whether I do it or have it done. There are several good foundation vents in place, so ventilation is decent. The problem is that it's not a thriving community (which is what I like about it), but that means major improvements are never going to do much for the value. The walls - even the interior ones are 1x6 inch oak with covered by a loose weave fabric and then multiple layers or some really ugly wallpaper. I used a hole saw to run cables for my son a few years ago - the "core samples" are interesting. I have a feeling if it were easy to disassemble, the parts would be worth way more than the whole.

I was cleaning up the fireplace (very shallow for coal - like perhaps a foot deep) and started wondering why the whole fireplace was like three feet deep with this dinky thing in front. Like was there a real fireplace there at one time that was closed in to put the smaller on at the front. I know one of the bedroom walls had one of those round plates for a coal stove flue. The ceilings are at least 12 ft, and there were transoms over the bedroom doors at one time. You always wonder what kind of secrets a house like that holds.
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At the risk of stating the obvious which you've probably already considered, what about a dehumidifier, (or increasing air circulation with a fan) in the crawl space like Louder suggested?
 
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#30,733
#30,733
0nelilreb said:
Moonies is really good BBQ . You lucky dog .
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Texas Monthly Magazine had an article some years ago (2013) titled "The 50 Best BBQ Joints... in the World!"

Of course, all 50 are in Texas! And Franklin topped the list.

Here is the Top Ten:

1. Franklin BBQ, Austin

2. Pecan Lodge, Dallas

3. Snow's BBQ, Lexington

4. Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor

5. The Original Willie's Bar-B-Q (location not cited)

6. Tyler's Barbecue, Amarillo

7. John Mueller Meat Co., Austin

8. La Barbecue, Austin

9. Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Austin

10. Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, Austin
 
#30,734
#30,734
RavinDave said:
Texas Monthly Magazine had an article some years ago (2013) titled "The 50 Best BBQ Joints... in the World!"

Of course, all 50 are in Texas! And Franklin topped the list.

Here is the Top Ten:

1. Franklin BBQ, Austin

2. Pecan Lodge, Dallas

3. Snow's BBQ, Lexington

4. Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor

5. The Original Willie's Bar-B-Q (location not cited)

6. Tyler's Barbecue, Amarillo

7. John Mueller Meat Co., Austin

8. La Barbecue, Austin

9. Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Austin

10. Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, Austin
Click to expand...

If you go plan on going early early and waiting in line ! For real .
 
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#30,735
#30,735
RavinDave said:
Texas Monthly Magazine had an article some years ago (2013) titled "The 50 Best BBQ Joints... in the World!"

Of course, all 50 are in Texas! And Franklin topped the list.

Here is the Top Ten:

1. Franklin BBQ, Austin

2. Pecan Lodge, Dallas

3. Snow's BBQ, Lexington

4. Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor

5. The Original Willie's Bar-B-Q (location not cited)

6. Tyler's Barbecue, Amarillo

7. John Mueller Meat Co., Austin

8. La Barbecue, Austin

9. Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Austin

10. Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, Austin
Click to expand...

Texas Monthly sounds biased. Let's ask hog.
 
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#30,737
#30,737
RavinDave said:
Texas Monthly Magazine had an article some years ago (2013) titled "The 50 Best BBQ Joints... in the World!"

Of course, all 50 are in Texas! And Franklin topped the list.

Here is the Top Ten:

1. Franklin BBQ, Austin

2. Pecan Lodge, Dallas

3. Snow's BBQ, Lexington

4. Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor

5. The Original Willie's Bar-B-Q (location not cited)

6. Tyler's Barbecue, Amarillo

7. John Mueller Meat Co., Austin

8. La Barbecue, Austin

9. Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Austin

10. Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, Austin
Click to expand...
Louie Mueller's is awesome and less than 30min out of town. It's in an old warehouse (Taylor is a very small town), the pits are behind the counter and they slap whatever you want on a piece of butcher paper. I would not wait at Franklin's, it cannot be that much better for hours of waiting. You could eat twice at Louie's before you ever get to order at Franklin's. Or they run out.
 
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#30,739
#30,739
RavinDave said:
Texas Monthly Magazine had an article some years ago (2013) titled "The 50 Best BBQ Joints... in the World!"

Of course, all 50 are in Texas! And Franklin topped the list.

Here is the Top Ten:

1. Franklin BBQ, Austin

2. Pecan Lodge, Dallas

3. Snow's BBQ, Lexington

4. Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor

5. The Original Willie's Bar-B-Q (location not cited)

6. Tyler's Barbecue, Amarillo

7. John Mueller Meat Co., Austin

8. La Barbecue, Austin

9. Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Austin

10. Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, Austin
Click to expand...

Proud to have tried 80% of this list. Can attest to the quality.
 
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#30,742
#30,742
McDad said:
At the risk of stating the obvious which you've probably already considered, what about a dehumidifier, (or increasing air circulation with a fan) in the crawl space like Louder suggested?
Click to expand...

I may have to go that route; I even have wild thoughts from time to time about making the cellar into a storm shelter. Of course that would mean trying to get a couple of old water heaters out of there - my parents put an enclosed porch in that includes the cellar pull up door - seems like nothing is easy. At least the sump pump is reasonably new and sits in a proper well now. I took care of that years ago when my dad called for help about an outlet that wasn't working. Got all prepared with electrical stuff and went over. After I got there - this was on a 4th of July and he called at a time of the morning when he was never up - he also mentioned he thought he could hear water running. His hearing was better than mine even then because I didn't hear it, but when I looked to see that the sump pump and the outlet for the TV were the only things listed on the circuit, bells went off. I opened the cellar door and didn't see anything wrong at first - then I saw the reflection. The cellar was about 4 ft deep in crystal clear water - leak in a water line above the water heater and a sump pump clogged by mud and debris which shorted out as soon as the water got deeper. Good thing there are Home Depots almost everywhere and they are open on holidays.
 
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#30,743
#30,743
DancingOutlaw said:
Louie Mueller's is awesome and less than 30min out of town. It's in an old warehouse (Taylor is a very small town), the pits are behind the counter and they slap whatever you want on a piece of butcher paper. I would not wait at Franklin's, it cannot be that much better for hours of waiting. You could eat twice at Louie's before you ever get to order at Franklin's. Or they run out.
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Good point. There's too many good places to wait in line at Franklin or anywhere else.

My favorite BBQ joint in Houston is in the Rice Village area - Goode Company. Been going there since about 1980 but they're not even in the Texas Monthly Top 50 list.

The only one on the Top 50 list in the Houston area is Corkscrew BBQ in Spring which is not that far from my neighborhood (it's on the north side) but also a place you may have to wait in line a long time and I haven't been there either. Wanted to try them a couple years ago but they were in the process of moving... about that time I got my pellet grill...
 
#30,744
#30,744
RavinDave said:
Have you been to Franklin?
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No we didn’t get there early enough and the line out the door was insane . They said it’s always like that . I was looking at my pics and remembered this one little hole in the wall I found in Kansas .. I tried to buy the pig but he would sell it to me , I guess his grandfather has it made 40 something years ago ..

22502F25-ABCB-440F-A8D4-4E2C28A0F436.jpeg
9BCB7FB2-CD31-4667-8AE0-B618C9CBBC58.jpeg
 
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#30,745
#30,745
0nelilreb said:
No we didn’t get there early enough and the line out the door was insane . They said it’s always like that . I was looking at my pics and remembered this one little hole in the walk I found in Kansas .. I tried to buy the pig but he would sell it to me , I guess his grandfather has it made 40 something years ago ..

View attachment 289401
View attachment 289402
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Posting pictures like right now that falls under "cruel and unusual". Got to get to work, and see if I can erase that from my mind.
 
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#30,747
#30,747
DancingOutlaw said:
Louie Mueller's is awesome and less than 30min out of town. It's in an old warehouse (Taylor is a very small town), the pits are behind the counter and they slap whatever you want on a piece of butcher paper. I would not wait at Franklin's, it cannot be that much better for hours of waiting. You could eat twice at Louie's before you ever get to order at Franklin's. Or they run out.
Click to expand...
Just going back over the first couple pages of that Texas Monthly article they mentioned the first time they listed the top BBQ joints in Texas was in 1973 - their first year of publication - and then they only listed the top 20 and singled out as the two best - Kreuz Market in Lockhart (which had dropped to #33 by 2013)... and Louie Mueller in Taylor...
 
#30,748
#30,748
AM64 said:
Posting pictures like right now that falls under "cruel and unusual". Got to get to work, and see if I can erase that from my mind.
Click to expand...

You should see the steak ones from my trips or the fish and chips one from Maine . I think I even have one of my first real Philly cheese steak , from I guess is supposed to be one of the best places in philly to get one .
 
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#30,750
#30,750
0nelilreb said:
You should see the steak ones from my trips or the fish and chips one from Maine . I think I even have one of my first real Philly cheese steak , from I guess is supposed to be one of the best places in philly to get one .
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I used to call on a Sunoco refinery near downtown Philadelphia. Sold them a lot of catalyst between 1990 and 2010...

Don't remember the name of the place but I used to get some excellent cheesesteaks at one of the best places there.
 
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