Steven Willis

Great.
"Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlights, people
Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlights, people"
is now stuck in my head! I am fascinated that so many permies live in the Northwest. I'm in what is called the Midwest, but actually just East of the Mississippi (I totally couldn't spell this. M-I-crooked letter, crooked letter- I....) and North of the Ohio. Love me some rivers and lakes. Welcome!

UPDATE-----------Thank you for all your help.

For those of you that told me it was probably "Galvanized steel," wish I had pie for all of ya because, yep. That is what it was. Not cast iron. New watermain pipe had to be installed because the whole thing was a weekend warrior project gone to heck. It WAS a water hose attached to watermain to bridge the gap to the house water system.
The guess of the plumber, I finally got to come out, was that they did this because all they wanted to pay for was the water main addition when they came off of cistern and well water. They didn't want to add or reconfigure to match up with the new city water hook-up.

As for the clogged drainage pipe, well that too was galvanized steel. It also just 'popped' right off its connection. (How was my cellar not a swamp I'll never know.) The clog was the pipe went, nowhere. Well, honestly it comes out in some field a ways off from the house. The end long ago buried leaving the drain to just fill up with everything that went down the sink that wasn't water. New drainage pipe put in and connected to the septic system.

Yeah, that was not fun on me, my wallet, or my poor stone cellar. Thank you all again.

Glenn,
No grey at all. I'll get an image on here as soon as I can. If there is grey, I can't see it. Just a rust color. Well, not flexible. It is a blueish colored water hose and kind of stiffer than a normal hose.  I think there is no clamp, but from what I remember I wasn't very sure HOW the hose attached to the pipe.

Mr. Dean, I wish I COULD replace the whole pipe. But the pipe comes out of the stone wall in a cellar at aprox. four feet below the surface of the ground. This is literally a cellar only under my kitchen. The pipe "appears" to go into the wall and under the formal dining room, four feet underground. Or at least for a good five to ten feet it is under the dining room. The pipe does angle toward the direction of the exterior corner of the dining room closest to the cellar.

Coincidentally, the water connection for the city system, is by the road and only the pipes are metal. The container and cover are hard plastic. The house used a well and cistern for water up until the 90's. The kitchen sink is the only drain in the house that connects to the city sewar system. I'm fighting the elements to build a grey water retrieval for the washing machine, (it just drains into the yard.) and the bathroom sink and the toilet go into a septic tank. (Oh, did I mention the dining room does not even have a crawl space? To access the HVAC ducts, I have to pull the wood planks of the floor up.)

Yay, I'm going to be a terrible layman plumber!   !o{

Afternoon George,

I say cast iron only because it is rusting, badly. I guess it could be something else. The drainpipe for the sink, that IS cast iron. Not sure about the circumference of the water main, but it's small. Maybe about the size of a baby's arm, no bigger. It comes directly out of the stone foundation and connects to the piping of the house in a way I have never seen before. It looks, and I cannot be certain without shutting the water off and undoing the connection, almost like its attached to a water hose. Well, I mean the first couple of feet of pipes in the house IS exactly like a water hose. Like I said, never seen that before.

I also have one of those "keys" (is that the right word?) to shut off the water at the street because that is the ONLY shut off between the leak and the pipe going underground. As for screw threads at the joint, I'm a total novice in pipes. I'm guessing by "joint" you mean where that pipe attaches to the house's pipes? And, no, no screw threads, just what looks like a semi clear rubber joint compound, a lot of rust, and the beginning of the hose that attaches the pipe to my system.

(There is maybe 10 inches of this pipe coming out of the stone wall. And yeah, the stone wall is against solid ground, no airspace behind it.)

Thanks Sam, it is most likely the direction I am going. So far have several ferncos and cement and ordered the blade to cut the pipe. John, I am at work now but as soon as I get home I will grab an image an upload it. Thanks for your guys help.

I've decided to move into a 150-year-old house. I knew there would be issues to progressively tackle, and I am cool with that. Until I am not.

Maybe everyone noticed the major freeze the U.S. had a little while ago? I certainly did and my wood stove was on top of it. Buuuuut, the main water line, where it comes into the stone cellar is just next to the steps coming down from the cellar doors. Ice wind swept into the cellar and froze the connection of the cast iron pipe (coming out of the stone wall) and a hose (???) to the rest of the plumbing system.

Still, not a big deal. A space heater and curtain to block the inside entrance of the cellar from the wind and the water flowed again. Buuuut... the seal was damaged, and water has been leaking from, not actually the connection, but the edge of the cast iron pipe just BEFORE the connection to the hose. Okay, it's an old house and this was bound to happen. I was already dealing with a blocked cast iron sewage pipe for the kitchen sink. The plumber I brought in, long before the freeze, estimated to clear the block and replace the cast iron and marry it to PVC would be over $700. He had replaced the pipes under the sink (which was not what I had asked him to do, but my fault for not micromanaging) and charged me $400 for that! (I called him to clear the block. No, it still isn't clear.)

I know, I veered off there. Since this new leak could be very costly, I called the plumber. No response, no voicemail. Called another. No response, no voice mail. Called another. This one told me to procreate with myself because I was 45 minutes away from his location. (I live in a very rural area.) Another said I could go on a waiting list but she didn't think they would ever come out my way. The final option I had was a national company, that would schedule me, then cancel hours later. (I argued with the lady the last time it happened, and she basically told me I was a waste of time and money because I was too far.)

So now I have a leaking water main. Well, I duct taped the heck out of it so now it slowly drips, but that still counts as a leak. And I have a sewage pipe that is blocked. Both are cast iron. If it were copper, or PVC, I'd have no issue attempting to replace/repair myself, but they are big, rusty, cast-iron pipes. I'm not sure I won't make the situations worse. But I don't know really how to fix them. I checked the forums and found nothing on cast iron pipes. (Maybe I didn't look hard enough.) But I was thinking of trying to cut and replace the kitchen sink pipe, where it connects to the sewage with PVC and marry it with a Fernco coupling? I think that is right.

I think if I screw that up, it's a drain and a sink. A pain, sure, but not the end of the world. If I successfully fix it, then I could try the main? I don't know. Is there another way to fix a cast-iron pipe that is rusted through? And what do I use to cut the pipe?

I appreciate any suggestions.

Tony, good morning!

I believe you were very good at explaining what you'd like to do and whom you are looking for. I wish nothing but luck for you.

However, now you have my brain bouncing out of my cranium to find out the plan to get the world to a better and brighter place. You talk about automation and reinvesting in the business that will, inevitably build the path to a much better world for all people. I am just wondering if you can give me a look behind the curtain? Maybe a quick overview of your idea. I just got curious about it. Thanks and once again, good luck!

Afternoon Mr. Oswald,

A quick but common misconception corrected. Edison did NOT invent the light bulb. ;o)

Though Thomas Edison is credited as the man who invented the lightbulb, this revolutionary technology was in fact developed by several inventors. It was Edison's innovation of an already existing system and his knack for self promotion that has led to what we "knew" of as the modern light bulb. (Knew because many of the bulbs used today no longer use filaments. An improvement in filaments was Edison's contribution.)

But you are right. I could have tried with religious based communities, except I am not in any way even spiritual so that won't work. Or maybe a vegan based community. Except I am not a vegan. Or perhaps a place where "family" is the most valued thing (family meaning children.) Except I do not want nor do I particularly enjoy children.  

You see where I am going here?

Thousands of intentional communities could be tried perhaps. Except many will not be a good fit. They could be in Europe and I am not ready to leave the country. Many on the ic.org website either do not yet exist or no longer exist. Many just want you to buy into a family community and many are very religious by design. It narrows the choices.

When I say I tried to  make contact with and set up a visit with four, I mean I did my due diligence and narrowed the field on purpose to find the best fit. This isn't throwing spaghetti at the wall. It requires a bit more before you reach out to the communities.

But yes, you and everyone are right that I can just apply to, as you said, to a "thousand" communities until one invites me to visit. Maybe, just maybe it would be something I could come to like one day even if it ends up being a group that is waiting for a comet to pass by the Earth and then catch a ride on a space ship hidden in it's tail?

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Jim Fry wrote:Steve,
There are hundreds, probably thousands, of places just begging for folks to come live with them permanently. You just have to do the research to find the right one for you. Spend time reading on ic.org. Or even just read the many "community" listings here on forums.  ~~~ Or, you can keep making excuses why getting on the land won't happen for you. Your choice.

Yeah, that's a great idea, in theory. Thing is, the several I applied to do a test experience (see if we are a good fit, me and them, them and me) all rejected me because I lacked one quality they were looking primarily for.
I'm not female.
Four ic's I attempted to visit. Two responded with thanking me for my interest and how they were very glad I thought the community may be a good fit, however, currently the population of the community heavily leaned toward the "XY" chromosomes direction when the community  really needed and wanted more "XX" members. Seriously, they told me they were only accepting visits from female applicants.
A third responded with a thank you and they had a lot of applicants and will get back with me and never did. And a final one never responded.  

So, there are lot's of obstacles to even going that route.

On the positive note, I am currently at a point where I am searching for land to purchase and actually can. That's always been my goal.  So it is a win for me.