Three weeks ago, I got a call from an acquaintance (Jack) that I have not spoken to in a few years. He says, “I may have a job for you.” I respond, “what kind of job?” His response, “The radiators exploded in a house I take care of.” We went over some of the details and set up a time for me to visit the site.
As I got close to the house, which was on a busy street, I slowed my truck down so I could read the house numbers. I found the house and noticed the driveway was covered with snow. The house looked like it was abandoned and had a dilapidated “for sale” sign out front. In my experience doing estimates, these first impressions are never a good sign. I decided to attempt to get into the driveway, let’s just say I was glad my truck is equipped with four-wheel drive. When I got out of the truck I glanced at the back of the 1920’s colonial style house and noticed the back entrance door was wide open. I thought this was odd as the outdoor temperature was hovering around twenty degrees.
As I approach the snow covered rear steps I am greeted by the caretaker, Jack. Jack is very calm and begins to tell me the story of the house. Just for reference, the back door is still wide open and there are two small electric heaters running on low. Jack suggests it is getting warm inside; I keep my mouth shut as I can see his breath and mine as we converse. I glanced over at the original T87 thermostat on the dining room wall and the indicator is pinned at the bottom of the scale on the thermometer. I’m guessing it was around thirty five degrees inside the house (glad I was wearing my good thermal underwear and thick coat).
Jack explains he and his wife became friendly with the woman who owned this house about a year after they moved to the neighborhood back in the 1980’s. The woman was never married, had no children and was a little different. Apparently, this lady was brilliant and earned an engineering degree back in the 1950’s. I gather not too many women were becoming engineers back then. According to Jack, she put herself through college after convincing the people at Steven’s Institute to allow her to attend. Due to her odd personality and unusual demeanor, her family shunned her. She had no contact with them for the rest of her life. I suspect this woman was not the most social person, maybe a little eccentric but a great person inside. Once she graduated from engineering school, she struggled to get a job. Finally, she landed a position in Manhattan and slowly got the respect she deserved from her peers. I gather she worked at the same company for approximately fifty years.
Each radiator was missing the top corner of the first section, and every unit was filled with a solid block of ice. Image courtesy of Scott Secor
Apparently, this lady was a workaholic. She left her house at 5am to catch the train Monday through Saturday and came home at 7pm or 8pm. On Sundays (during the warm weather), she would spend the entire day working on her flower gardens and her well-manicured lawn. I’m told it looked like a florist display from April until October. I gather the lawn looked like a golf course.
When this lady got older and eventually retired at seventy five years old, she decided to get into the stock market. I guess being a true genius works when picking stocks. She invested wisely and within a few years she became wealthy. Jack also had some money invested in stocks before he ever met this woman, and they shared investment strategies. Jack’s portfolio had grown to a few thousand dollars, this woman’s portfolio grew to a few million dollars.
The woman died suddenly and unexpectedly. Soon after her death Jack and his wife get a letter that they are now in charge of this woman’s estate. They were amazed to learn about the stock portfolio and the properties were worth over five million dollars. Jack and his wife assumed she may have a little more than they did. Without telling anyone, she had already started numerous charities to help others. Despite being a little odd, this woman was very generous. Today Jack manages her charitable trusts, her real estate investments and whatever other assets she owned. I gather some of the charities are for the churches, college tuition, women in business, female engineers, local schools, etc.
Now that I knew the history of the former owner it was time to look at the entire heating system. We started upstairs on the second floor. Each room was fitted with a single 1920’s style cast iron freestanding radiator. Nothing special about these hot water radiators, except each one was missing the top corner of the first section and every unit was filled with a solid block of ice. A chunk of cast iron that came off the radiator was thrown about ten feet in each room. The original steel supply and return piping looked fine, but the radiator fittings were anything but typical (see photo). I suppose this was an early attempt at diverter style tees.
All the heating pipes were covered with very flaky insulation, most likely asbestos. All the overhead pipes in the basement were dripping water on our heads. Image courtesy of Scott Secor
We walk down the stairs to the first floor and notice the same thing, every radiator missing a piece of cast iron the size of a baseball. The missing chunk was sitting in the opposite corner of the room. Again, every radiator was filled with ice and was fitted with a diverter tee. The kitchen stove was missing as was the refrigerator, I did not ask why.
We walked down to the basement and noticed the 1950’s oil fired cast iron boiler. My back started to hurt as I looked at the boiler while crouching down below the ceiling joists. Next to the boiler was a 1970’s gas fired water heater. I gather the water heater stopped working in the 1990’s. Jack did not see a need to replace it as no one was living there. To prevent further damage to the house, Jack shut off the gate valve on the water line from the street and disconnected the water meter. He used electrical tape to strap an old trouble light to the incoming water line so it would not freeze. All the heating pipes were covered with very flaky insulation, most likely asbestos. All the overhead pipes in the basement were dripping water on our heads.
Oddly, I did not notice a circulator pump, nor was I looking for one. It may have been there, but I did not see it while standing in the dark shing my flashlight with a dying battery. The mains for the heating system were one inch steel, not two inch or larger pipe that would be typical for a 1920’s house fitted with a gravity heating system. To be honest the circulator is not important as the entire heating system must be replaced.
It is my understanding that the burner failed to fire for some reason. No one visited the house for days (or weeks) and the temperature continued to drop inside the home. Eventually the house hovered in the teens and the entire heating system froze. It appears that the domestic piping (and the non-working water heater) were also subject to these same conditions.
We have installed many cast iron radiators over the years. However, we have never installed new radiators for an entire house. We would also need to replace all the steel piping in the basement, and inside the walls. The boiler and water heater would also need to be replaced as well.
We took measurements of every room, including the windows and doors, etc. and performed a heat load calculation. We submitted our proposal and have not heard back from Jack. Based on our conversation, I am certain the estate has the money. However, I suspect Jack and his wife are trying to decide if the house is worth all that money into it or selling it as is.
