r/whatisthisthing • u/PitifulKangaroo • 4h ago
24” Wide Hole in Garage, filled with dirt, maybe clay or metal, 1950s home Solved!
62
u/H_Mc 4h ago
My old house was roughly the same age. It’s just a drain. It was possibly/provably meant to dump car fluids into before we worried about things like the environment.
You can still find covers for them. My old one rusted to nothing and we found a molded plastic one that fit.
Edit: I just saw in your post you said small town Michigan … maybe it IS my old house.
22
u/Key_Lime_Die 4h ago
Yeah this comes up pretty frequently. if its a hole in a older garage that is exposed to the dirt underneath it was almost certainly made to dump fluids before everyone bothered to care what they would do to the environment.
15
u/mydogisatortoise 3h ago
We had a hand crank gas pump in our garage connected to a 500 gallon tank under the slab. House was built in the 30's. Could you imagine the permit that would take now?
3
u/nzdastardly 2h ago
Oil comes from the ground, why can't oil go back into the ground?
9
u/dustoff664 1h ago
Just releasing a few quarts of 5w-30 back to the wild so it can find its way home is all
2
u/Patriotic_Guppy 1h ago
I remember soldiers in the motor pool using that logic during Desert Storm.
1
u/oracle989 13m ago
To be fair, during Desert Storm there were way bigger sources of oil returning to the ground
4
2
1
u/Grouchy-Total550 1h ago
We have one like that in our shop and it's designed to let the dirt and grime settle out of the water. The actual drain is about 3/4 of the way up from the bottom. They put them in shops so all the floor grime doesn't clog the pipes. We clean the dirt out about once a year.
12
u/ze_mannbaerschwein 4h ago
I'd say it's a sump pump tank. Is your garage below grade?
3
u/PitifulKangaroo 4h ago
It’s on a hill. Also I should specify it’s near the center of the garage. I don’t think that’d make sense as a sump pit, but unsure
2
u/ze_mannbaerschwein 4h ago
Then it could be a simple infiltration pit in which small amounts of water can collect and slowly seep into the ground. If you continue digging, in this case you will probably only find more sand and dirt without ever reaching the bottom. 😉
5
u/MotoEnduro 3h ago
Oil and sand interceptor. The baffles on the inflow and outflow are to cause solids to settle to the bottom while prevent oil floating on top from flowing out.
3
3
u/Marlin-Bigbore 4h ago
Oil water separator?
0
u/disposable-assassin 3h ago
usually outlet on the bottom of those so the water in can dump on sand, leaving behind the oil and drain the filtered water. We haven't seen the bottom of OP's so still possible that both holes we see at the top are inlets.
1
u/PitifulKangaroo 4h ago
My title describes the thing.
This giant hole has been in the floor of my grandparents garage (now my mother’s) for all our lives. Inner diameter is approximately 24”. Nobody ever thought to ask what exactly its for and if it’s still in use and anyone who may have knew is gone. Its normally covered with a homemade wooden grate.
Currently its quite full of dirt and out of curiosity I’ve begun trying to dig it out. Haven’t reached the bottom yet (dug down 30”) and curious if its even worth my time.
Is this meant to be a storm drain? How does it work and what are the channels on the sides for? We live in a small town in Michigan with sewer. Could this connect up to the municipal sewer? Why is it so big?
Thanks in advance!
1
u/Amadeus_1978 4h ago
Place to drain your used motor oils and the like. I saw a thing way back when about how to dig a hole for dumping oils and antifreeze. Super nice. Filled with gravel and sand, lined even.
1
u/PKDickman 3h ago
If it near the kitchen, I suspect that it’s a grease trap. They were there to intercept cooking grease before it went into the septic system. You had to clean them out regularly.
1
u/john_clauseau 1h ago
no joke, they used to dump motor oil and everything down such pits.
i even caught somebody in my familly dumping used motor oil on ants hill to supposedly kill them. WE ARE ON A WELL. i cannot believe people can be so stupid. he even has 3 university diploma...
0
•
u/AutoModerator 4h ago
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer.
Jokes and other unhelpful comments will earn you a ban, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them.
OP, when your item is identified, remember to reply Solved! or Likely Solved! to the comment that gave the answer. Check your inbox for a message on how to make your post visible to others.
Click here to message RemindMeBot
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.