With all of the Castle projects, renovations, and improvements that have been planned over the years, sometimes projects will surface that are not at all planned. This is exactly what happened in the month of February with two different unplanned projects requiring attention. During some intense thunderstorms on the night of February 2nd, water leaked into the electrical box from the exterior of the house causing the entire circuit panel to be shorted out. Luckily, the incident did not result in a fire, but the entire circuit panel was completely fried (see picture below). Clear Lake Electric in Angola came out first thing in the morning, and power was restored by the early afternoon. The external conduit from the meter base to the house was replaced, and the entire breaker box was replaced as well. As a follow up to the electrical work that was done, the house circuit mapping that has been talked about in the past will be conducted soon in order to assess any other electrical issues that may exist.
Barely a week later, another issue presented itself. The basement started to become backed up with sewage. This is something that has happened in the past, and periodic professional cleaning has kept it at bay until now. The line was cleared and scoped to analyze the cause of the build up. The connection to the city sewer is a clay line, which had swelled and cracked significantly preventing drainage. The entire line will need to be dug up and completely replaced. The Board is currently gathering quotes for the work that needs to be done, but either way, it's going to be a significant cost. The goal is to get the work done as soon as possible, but due to the fact that College Street will need to be blocked off to be worked on, the work may be postponed if possible.
