Old oil tank mystery

ajs5153

Please see the link to pictures. House used to have oil heat and is now gas. But I see signs of the old oil tank, I wonder if it's buried or if it used to be in the basement and was removed. In the pics you can see two holes in the foundation about 2 inches in diameter which are above grade. There is a pic of where the holes were patched on the exterior. The final pic is the fuel line in the concrete basement floor. It extends to near where the boiler currently sits.

There are no pipes outside in the ground. There are no crimped copper pipes on the inside. Thanks in advance.

https://imgur.com/a/hIDV2mk

DCContrarian

My vote is there used to be a tank in the basement and it was removed. The big holes are for the fill pipe and air vent, they wouldn't go through the wall if the tank was outdoors. With a buried tank you usually just have the 3/8" copper going through the wall.

But don't take my word for it. Where I am underground tanks are a big deal, they have to be removed when the property is sold.

mattmia2

Is there another stub of that pipe in the floor sticking up somewhere near the holes in the wall?

ajs5153

No there is not. That "stub" leads to near the where the boiler is now. I can tell because the channel in the concrete slab ends there.

mattmia2

where is this end? keep in mind that a tank is about 4' x 6' and it wouldn't be uncommon for there to be 2.

ajs5153

I don't know what you mean by end, sorry. It goes from where you see it in the picture to the boiler. So it starts about a foot away from the foundation wall and goes to the boiler. It's about 8 feet long.

bburd

Based on the evidence, almost certainly you had a basement tank that has been removed.

mattmia2

ajs5153 said:

I don't know what you mean by end, sorry. It goes from where you see it in the picture to the boiler. So it starts about a foot away from the foundation wall and goes to the boiler. It's about 8 feet long.

Ok. It wasn't clear where the end that wasn't at the boiler was. There was most likely a tank or 2 sitting on the basement floor where those holes for the fill and vent are and where the stub of the pipe is. You can probably see marks on the floor from the feet for the tank if you look carefully.

ajs5153

@mattmia2 , indeed I do see something down there. Check out this picture. Are these marks indicative of where the feet used to be? They are in the same general area of the other pics I posted.

https://imgur.com/a/kNfp2OB

mattmia2

They look like about the right spacing so I would say probably. Looks like the tank was there before the floor so when they removed the tank they had to patch the holes in the floor. Dirt basement floor were pretty common before WWII or so.

ajs5153

I'm still puzzled because I only see two marks, not four. Anyway, thanks for the information. Very helpful.

mattmia2

I'm puzzled by why it looks like the floor was poured around the tank but it looks like the floor was torn up to run the oil line to the boiler, unless it was buried in the floor when the boiler was replaced with a second oil boiler or something.

HVACNUT

A gopher and a fat worm.

If the tank was in the basement, there would be no little hole, unless there was a seperate oil line run to another location outside, like an oil fired pool heater, or generator. Probable. Not likely. 

If the tank was buried, the little hole would be there, but not the big holes.

Is there Bingo or golf or anything by you? You seem very bored.

ajs5153

@HVACNUT haha sure you could say that. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. I can’t seem to read between the lines of your comment. What conclusion have you drawn?

Intplm.

Two 2 inch holes are a dead giveaway. You probably had an oil tank in your basement. The smaller hole could be anything. It probably was a oil line at one time.
@ajs5153 are you worried about something? If you are, what is it?

mattmia2

HVACNUT said:

A gopher and a fat worm.

If the tank was in the basement, there would be no little hole, unless there was a seperate oil line run to another location outside, like an oil fired pool heater, or generator. Probable. Not likely. 

If the tank was buried, the little hole would be there, but not the big holes.

Is there Bingo or golf or anything by you? You seem very bored.

I think the op is interested in if there is tens of thousands of dollars of potential liability in their yard or not.

The small hole is in the floor not the wall, right?

ajs5153

@mattmia2 correct. Yes it’s in the floor not the wall. 

Ok so I may have a resolution here. I called the local company that removes tanks, showed them the pics and had a conversation. They have removed tanks from several of my neighbors. All were in the basement. He said my set up all indicates a basement tank was removed. He has not run into any underground tanks in this neighborhood. I asked him if I should get a tank scan to be sure. He said it’s up to me but in his opinion don’t bother. I should seal off that small hole in the floor though. That should have been done when the tank was removed. 

HVACNUT

ajs5153 said:

@HVACNUT haha sure you could say that. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. I can’t seem to read between the lines of your comment. What conclusion have you drawn?

The conclusion I have drawn (in crayon) is, go back upstairs and read a book.

Intplm.

ajs5153 said:

@mattmia2 correct. Yes it’s in the floor not the wall. 

Ok so I may have a resolution here. I called the local company that removes tanks, showed them the pics and had a conversation. They have removed tanks from several of my neighbors. All were in the basement. He said my set up all indicates a basement tank was removed. He has not run into any underground tanks in this neighborhood. I asked him if I should get a tank scan to be sure. He said it’s up to me but in his opinion don’t bother. I should seal off that small hole in the floor though. That should have been done when the tank was removed. 

Your local building department might show where your tank was? Contacting them might be helpful. The info might show up in the building specifications
But before you do, ask the local company that you have worked with if the building department might know. Ask them first. If you ask the building department first it can sometimes open up an unnecessary can of worms.

ajs5153

@Intplm. I think the local guy satisfied me. Basically he said the clues all indicate basement tank removal. And there is zero to indicate underground tank. If underground there would be other stuff there like the smaller pipes coming through the wall, or pipes coming up in the yard, or copper pipes out of foundation. And the big holes wouldn’t be there at all. That coupled with the guy saying he has never seen an underground in this neighborhood is enough to put me at ease. 

Erin Holohan Haskell

HVACNUT said:

ajs5153 said:

@HVACNUT haha sure you could say that. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. I can’t seem to read between the lines of your comment. What conclusion have you drawn?

The conclusion I have drawn (in crayon) is, go back upstairs and read a book.

@HVACNUT, your comment is sarcastic and rude. Please follow site rules and be respectful.