Just to clarify, for the record.
There’s a trap door under the rug, but it’s not part of a secret hiding spot.
Capt. Throop was an active member of the Underground Railroad (see Rochester newspaper video and local blog ), but his role was as ship captain, ferrying his “passengers” to their next stop or across the lake to freedom. It was up to others to hide the runaway slaves, so we haven’t found any evidence of a secret hiding spot.
But, there is a trap door under the rug in the back hallway now.
I put that in. I need to get access to the small crawl space under this section of the house, and it looks like the only outside access was walled up long ago.
Unfortunately, back in Week 3 – Leak 3, I mentioned that the leaking pipe had a hidden value. In an important lesson in unintended consequences, fixing the leak meant that there was no longer a constant flow of water through the pipe. Unfortunately, that pipe goes through an exterior wall, so without a constant flow, it freezes easily. So, a few weeks after I fixed it – the pipe froze.
That’s when I realized there wasn’t a way to the pipes. The crawl space under the adjacent room is accessible through the kitchen floor, but this section is walled off. So I had to cut through the plywood floor to thaw the pipe. It was a terribly tight fit, and the exercise confirmed that I would not enjoy spelunking. With a heat gun from underneath and a blow dryer from on top, we managed to thaw the pipe before it split.
I’m hoping to avoid more frozen pipes with a temperature-controlled light providing much-needed heat, but I fully expect I’ll need to get under there again. In the meantime, I’ve finally covered the plywood floor with something a little nicer, but I can still get underneath when I need to.
