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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 3:23:27 GMT
I don't think that's what it is. It's actually on the wall right up next to the ceiling. Here are a couple pictures...anyone recognize what it is? Could be access for plumbing. We have two or three places on different walls where there is a metal cover. It is so the pipes in the walls can be more easily reached. That is an odd spot but if there is a drain pipe anywhere near there that might be it.
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Post by cmpeter on Apr 26, 2016 4:07:42 GMT
That's the roof line right above it...second story too. I can't imagine there is a drain or pipe up there. It's an outside wall next to the fireplace.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 4:17:31 GMT
There is a bank of light switches in the master bedroom. Nothing was labeled, so we had to figure out what each one controlled. But there's one we haven't figured out. After 7 years of trying, we've given up. We have the same thing but in the foyer. We have three switches - one for the inside light and the porch light and the third is "just there". The builder of the house lives next door but he is 80 years old and can't remember what it is for. Also the house was remodeled eleven years ago and we bought it before asking what gives. If I switch it by accident I will make the comment - I guess I opening someone's garage door now. (We have a carport).
That switch would turn off the power to the outlet in your hall.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 4:30:00 GMT
We have two master baths on the basement level. And both of them have tubs that fill from the ceiling. WEIRD. Don't even want to think what they are for! Lol
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Post by joblackford on Apr 26, 2016 5:34:25 GMT
Where to start?! 1920 bungalow. No hallways. At all. Every room opens to another room, in a circle. Not an inch of wasted space. (No hall closets though, either) No electrical outlets at all in the dining room. Gotta love old houses. When we moved in there was an electrical outlet right under the cast iron kitchen sick. Like, right underneath. Probably 2" away from the bottom of the sink. And there was an electrical switch inside one of the lower cabinets. To this day we have no idea what it controlled. Maybe a kill switch for the grow operation in the basement? There were polystyrene meat trays stapled to every surface of the basement rafters... maybe some kind of half-assed insulation for their grow?? Up against 1920s knob and tube wiring... there were some disturbing burned bits... Took forever to remove all the trays. Good unusual - we have Douglas Fir woodwork, typical for our area, but it has an original 1920s faux finish painted and shellacked over the top to make it look like expensive honey oak. The finish is probably impossible to replicate at this point. One previous resident started to sand off the old finish on one of the window surrounds - did about 20" before they gave up. It's a bummer that we can't fix it, and we wouldn't want to get rid of the finish because it's quite beautiful... so we just live with the imperfection and history of it. Those are probably the best bits
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Post by anniefb on Apr 26, 2016 5:47:13 GMT
Can't really think of anything. It's a late 1950s house sort of colonial style I guess with window shutters downstairs, but it's been renovated/extended twice - once in 1994 and once in 2000 with the addition of a small second story.
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gsquaredmom
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Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Apr 26, 2016 12:57:41 GMT
I don't think that's what it is. It's actually on the wall right up next to the ceiling. Here are a couple pictures...anyone recognize what it is? That's what those caps look like. Never saw one on the side. Maybe a place to hook in track lighting up there?
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Post by Linda on Apr 26, 2016 13:09:40 GMT
Does it control a wall outlet? We have one switch in our living room that controls a wall outlet on the opposite wall. No rhyme or reason to it. Not that we have found. DH plugged lamps into all the outlets in our room to check. Even our closet and bathroom. Nothing. could it be outdoor outlets? Maybe in the eaves for Christmas lights?
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Post by whopea on Apr 26, 2016 13:12:54 GMT
I don't think that's what it is. It's actually on the wall right up next to the ceiling. Here are a couple pictures...anyone recognize what it is? That's what those caps look like. Never saw one on the side. Maybe a place to hook in track lighting up there? I was thinking some kind of hook for stringing lights or decorations?
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Post by Linda on Apr 26, 2016 13:14:59 GMT
you can't see our house from our neighbours OR from the road.
We have four acres and the outer two are wooded (centre two are cleared and that's where the house is. Our property is sandwiched between two larger properties and there's an easement driveway that runs from the road, through the front neighbour's property and through ours to the back neighbours.
The oddest thing is probably the wiring...the bathroom lights, the inner wall of the living room and the fridge outlet in the kitchen are all on the same circuit. The other circuits are similarly oddly configured. It's always a bit of a guess what will turn off when we flip a circuit breaker
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 13:29:36 GMT
Not that we have found. DH plugged lamps into all the outlets in our room to check. Even our closet and bathroom. Nothing. could it be outdoor outlets? Maybe in the eaves for Christmas lights? No, we've found all the switches for outdoors. And then promptly labeled them so we don't forget!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 13:41:18 GMT
Our living room/dining area is one big L-shaped room. The back wall has 2 sliding glass doors to the back patio. Why would any room need 2 sliding glass doors? It's really hard to put furniture in the room to where it looks good. Then our family room, which is really small has no empty wall space to put furniture against. It's in the front of the house off the kitchen. The wall that attaches to the kitchen is mostly doorway. The wall to the left has a fireplace with built in book shelves that takes up the entire wall. The wall across the room as yet another sliding glass door to the front patio. The wall to the right has big double doors that go out into the front hallway. That room makes no sense to me at all. To put furniture in there you have to block something. Either the sliding glass door or the double doors to the front entrance hallway. The sliding door to the front patio isn't needed either as there is roughly only 5 feet between that door and the front door. You can access the patio from the front door. The first floor of this house is a decorating nightmare to me. I'm sure someone who has more decorating sense than me can make it look good, but it always looks awkward to me, LOL.
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Post by lbp on Apr 26, 2016 13:44:29 GMT
We have a "panic" room. A small room hidden that an intruder wouldn't find if they broke in and we could get to the room. It is accessed in a very convenient place, but you would never know there was a door there.
All the walnut woodwork in my house was made from trees cut down from my grandparents farm. If the people who own my house after I die paint this woodwork I will haunt them forever!
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breetheflea
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Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Apr 26, 2016 13:49:37 GMT
All the outlets but one were upside down when we moved in. The one that wasn't upside down is a normal outlet (next to the fireplace) and doesn't turn on and off with a wall switch (for a lamp).
Every time we have someone work on the house (electrical) the electrician turns the outlet they are using right side up (without asking) so now we have 3 right side up outlets. I have gotten used to the upside thing, so now the right side up ones throw me off.
It takes about 3 times as long to get hot water to the kitchen sink than any other faucet in the house and the sink isn't farthest from the water heater. I think the water pipes must make some long circuit and the kitchen sink is last on the track...
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Post by mlynn on Apr 26, 2016 14:21:46 GMT
We have a mystery switch in the living room. We think there used to be a wood stove in there and that maybe it had to do with that.
Our kitchen has a couple oddities. The upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. There are two levels of doors. The top ones are maybe a foot high. The one closest to the stove has a perfect round circle cut out of it. The circle is maybe 4" diameter. We had free flight birds. One of them would fly up there and use the circle to get into the cupboard and hide out in there. That is until we blocked it with some tag board.
Over our range hood, there are two cupboards with two shelves in them. The one on the left has an outlet in it. It is in a box up near the ceiling. You have to climb up on a chair and really reach to touch it. Who the heck needs an outlet on their kitchen ceiling inside a cupboard? If you were to plug in a small appliance, it would dangle above the range. It would not even reach far enough to be usable.
The owner of the house two doors down thought he had a mystery switch. He mentioned it to the owner between us. He also mentioned how much his power bill was. The switch was to a heater under the driveway that would melt the snow and ice. When trying to figure out what it was for, they had left the switch in the on position so the heater was on 24/7 during warm weather. It was just a fluke that the old man who used to live there had told me about the driveway.
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Post by mlynn on Apr 26, 2016 14:23:44 GMT
That's the roof line right above it...second story too. I can't imagine there is a drain or pipe up there. It's an outside wall next to the fireplace. Given the placement, could it be a cover plate for an old smoke alarm (possibly the wired in kind) that was taken down?
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TXMary
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Jun 26, 2014 17:25:06 GMT
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Post by TXMary on Apr 26, 2016 14:33:52 GMT
There is a bank of light switches in the master bedroom. Nothing was labeled, so we had to figure out what each one controlled. But there's one we haven't figured out. After 7 years of trying, we've given up. We have been in our house for 17 years and we still have one light switch that we have no idea what it does. I have given up too but every once in awhile, I try it again.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Apr 26, 2016 15:35:52 GMT
We have a full bath with two doors. One door opens to the main upstairs hall and the other door opens to the master bedroom. It is silly! In my defense, it was in the original house plan and not my idea plus I was just 22 years old when we built it. My house is like this also. 1922 home with one bath. Entrance from hallway and master.
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breetheflea
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Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Apr 26, 2016 15:41:33 GMT
We have a mystery switch in the living room. We think there used to be a wood stove in there and that maybe it had to do with that. Our kitchen has a couple oddities. The upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. There are two levels of doors. The top ones are maybe a foot high. The one closest to the stove has a perfect round circle cut out of it. The circle is maybe 4" diameter. We had free flight birds. One of them would fly up there and use the circle to get into the cupboard and hide out in there. That is until we blocked it with some tag board. Over our range hood, there are two cupboards with two shelves in them. The one on the left has an outlet in it. It is in a box up near the ceiling. You have to climb up on a chair and really reach to touch it. Who the heck needs an outlet on their kitchen ceiling inside a cupboard? If you were to plug in a small appliance, it would dangle above the range. It would not even reach far enough to be usable. The owner of the house two doors down thought he had a mystery switch. He mentioned it to the owner between us. He also mentioned how much his power bill was. The switch was to a heater under the driveway that would melt the snow and ice. When trying to figure out what it was for, they had left the switch in the on position so the heater was on 24/7 during warm weather. It was just a fluke that the old man who used to live there had told me about the driveway. Is it possibly for an above the stove microwave because that is what our outlet in the cupboard above the stove is for.
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Post by mlynn on Apr 26, 2016 15:45:44 GMT
Over our range hood, there are two cupboards with two shelves in them. The one on the left has an outlet in it. It is in a box up near the ceiling. You have to climb up on a chair and really reach to touch it. Who the heck needs an outlet on their kitchen ceiling inside a cupboard? If you were to plug in a small appliance, it would dangle above the range. It would not even reach far enough to be usable. Is it possibly for an above the stove microwave because that is what our outlet in the cupboard above the stove is for. No. There is no space for a microwave between the range and the cupboard. And the cupboards over the range are not wide enough to accommodate even a small microwave.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Apr 26, 2016 16:04:03 GMT
I don't think that's what it is. It's actually on the wall right up next to the ceiling. Here are a couple pictures...anyone recognize what it is? ^^^ to me, it looks like a ring that a chain for a swag lamp would hang on... the chain (and power cord) would swag from the light fixture over to the wall then it would hang down to the outlet. Is there an outlet on the wall below that thing, and when was your house built?? (if that's not it, then I got nothin')
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Post by compwalla on Apr 26, 2016 16:14:57 GMT
We have a huge game/sewing room that used to be the patio. The previous owners closed it in but they didn't replace the doors leading to the new room so they are still lockable outside doors. It's weird but I kind of like it because the noise of either me sewing (and singing) or the kids playing video games doesn't leave that room. It's like a soundproof chamber and that has been really nice because in all our other houses the sound of boys yelling into gaming headsets about drove us mad.
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Post by utmr on Apr 26, 2016 16:22:40 GMT
There is a bank of light switches in the master bedroom. Nothing was labeled, so we had to figure out what each one controlled. But there's one we haven't figured out. After 7 years of trying, we've given up. Hey we have those too! Switches that go to nothing and a fan we had to have rewired because even the electrician couldn't figure out which switch ran to it. Plus everything is custom (read non standard and nothing fits). Cabinet handles at Home Depot are 3"? Ours are 2.75". So we kept the ugly ones instead of patching sanding painting and re-drilling all the cabinets. Patio doors are crazy tall and can only be replaced with custom doors, nothing at lowes. Basically anything that is a standard, easy to find at Home Depot/Lowes will not fit. Lol
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tduby1
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Jun 27, 2014 18:32:45 GMT
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Post by tduby1 on Apr 26, 2016 16:36:28 GMT
There is a bank of light switches in the master bedroom. Nothing was labeled, so we had to figure out what each one controlled. But there's one we haven't figured out. After 7 years of trying, we've given up. An outlet?
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zztop11
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Oct 10, 2014 0:54:51 GMT
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Post by zztop11 on Apr 26, 2016 16:39:57 GMT
Did you ever take the cap off to see what is underneath? Could it be the cover for a doorbell?
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Post by woodysbetty on Apr 26, 2016 16:42:47 GMT
My house has a (tiny) secret room, hidden behind a cupboard in a closet. That's pretty cool! Do you know why it was built?
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Post by miominmio on Apr 26, 2016 17:20:10 GMT
My house has a (tiny) secret room, hidden behind a cupboard in a closet. That's pretty cool! Do you know why it was built? No idea, and it's not exactly a safe room, but at least I have somewhere to hide valuables when we're not at home.
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Post by wonderwoman on Apr 26, 2016 17:42:44 GMT
My 1922 house has Amityville Horror 1/4 windows in the attic and a red room in the basement. The red room used to hold the coal for the boiler, now it's storage and home to our chest freezer. omg that movie scared the s#@% out of me when I was a kid.. I would never go in the basement..lol
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Post by bigbundt on Apr 26, 2016 18:08:01 GMT
We have the same thing but in the foyer. We have three switches - one for the inside light and the porch light and the third is "just there". The builder of the house lives next door but he is 80 years old and can't remember what it is for. Also the house was remodeled eleven years ago and we bought it before asking what gives. If I switch it by accident I will make the comment - I guess I opening someone's garage door now. (We have a carport).
I might know the answer to this one. We have three switches in the foyer too, but we know the one connnects to nothing. We had the option of having the house wired for 1. Christmas candles in the windows. Flip the switch and all the candles would light. 2. lowering the chandelier (two story foyer) so that it could be cleaned and bulbs changed. We didn't want to pay the extra money for either one so we have one switch that does nothing. Our builder was surprised because he said most people went for the Christmas candle option. I would have gone for the lowering chandelier option! We had a few mystery switches. We figured out that two switches (one in living room the other in the master bedroom) were because the builder pre-wired the switch to work light kits if they were ever to be added to the fans. We are the third owners of this house and it amazes me that that for the first 12 years this house didn't have overhead lighting in those rooms! And it wasn't like we had a switch hooked up to an outlet for lamps, that means they had to physically turn on the lamps. No thank you! We had them put up within a couple of months of living here. Same with the bedrooms/bonus room upstairs, the rooms were wired for fans with lights (two switches) but only boob lights were installed. But maybe that is the norm for my area? When we were house hunting there were many houses without overhead lighting. I also have a 2500 square foot house with a small kitchen. It doesn't sound as small as some others here but it is still very small, especially when we have people over.
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tiffanytwisted
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Post by tiffanytwisted on Apr 26, 2016 18:29:55 GMT
One of the previous owners decided to put a fireplace in the basement family room. Instead of going the extra mile and running the flue out thru the foundation (or whatever it is that you should do when adding a fireplace), they ran it directly up thru the house. It ran thru the corner of the master bedroom, up into the attic and out the roof. Of course, it leaked. When we replaced our roof, we took it out but the crazy half-assed closet they built around it in the bedroom is still there. A project for another time.
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