And in the laundry room, an original Daniel Edwards
March 18, 2012 4:25 PM   Subscribe

What is this thing on my wall? This is on the wall of our laundry room, and I don't know what it is. I want to add shelving in the area, so can I remove it without causing a problem? NSFW only if you have imaginative farsighted co-workers.

There is text on it that reads "C/O RAPID FIT Enterprise Inc." Searching the name comes up with patents for various drain plugs so I'm guessing it's plumbing related. A stopper of some sort?

It's about 4" in diameter and made of hard plastic, but it seems to be caulked to the wall via silicone (which spurts out the middle). I know, keeps getting better.
posted by jsmith77 to Home & Garden (14 answers total)
 
How high up on the wall is it?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 4:28 PM on March 18, 2012


Is there something (maybe a bracket) across from it in whatever room? It looks like the kind of thing you sometimes see in hotel rooms that has a string that comes out of it to make a "clothes line" kind of apparatus.

Normally, you pull the line out of one side and put the clip on the end of it into a bracket on the other side. Tada, clothes line!

This theory assumes that the line is long gone, the device is not functional, and the piece has been painted over...
posted by milqman at 4:29 PM on March 18, 2012


Looks like it's a door stop to keep the door from banging into the wall, but that all depends on where exactly it's located.
posted by Modica at 4:29 PM on March 18, 2012 [4 favorites]


4" in diameter? Could someone have just plugged a dryer vent they no longer used with some random plug that happened to be the right size?
posted by N-stoff at 4:33 PM on March 18, 2012 [3 favorites]


Painted-over thermostat?
posted by scratch at 4:36 PM on March 18, 2012


I'm going with doorstop, and maybe a drain repurposed for that function. Would the door hit the wall if it weren't there?
posted by misha at 4:41 PM on March 18, 2012


Response by poster: It's a little above four feet off the ground. It's roughly above the water valves/drain in the wall, if that helps.

It's also on the opposite side of the door hinges, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with stopping the door.

We already have a dryer vent that is close to the outside wall, and this thing is three feet away from the outside wall, so I wouldn't think a dryer vent would be there unless this house had Winchesterian builders. Also, if it helps to know, the house was built in 1991.

Thanks for the guesses so far!
posted by jsmith77 at 4:58 PM on March 18, 2012


Best answer: It might be a clean out for the drains- basically an access point in case you have to snake them or get at a plug. I have one and it's newer but similar.
posted by fshgrl at 5:00 PM on March 18, 2012


Response by poster: Also, I should mention that it sits across from the circuit breaker box, so I wouldn't imagine that it had a bracket at one point across the room.

And it's definitely hard white plastic; there's no paint on it at all.
posted by jsmith77 at 5:00 PM on March 18, 2012


Best answer: This seems like a close match for what you have there.
posted by Packed Lunch at 5:01 PM on March 18, 2012 [2 favorites]


It could be some kind of spacer, so that whatever stood there before couldn't be pushed flat against the wall. I've only ever seen such a thing commercially though, and they didn't look like that. Longshot, I guess.
posted by Jehan at 5:07 PM on March 18, 2012


It's hard to narrow it down. Figure out how it is supposed to be removed. Is it mean to unscrew? Pop off?

Something like this, there should be a way to get it off, from your side of the wall, without damaging anything. Take it off and see what's underneath.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:14 PM on March 18, 2012


Response by poster: Hm, I think it is a cleanout plate. I don't know why it's basically glued in place with silicone caulk instead of screwed on like all the others I've now been able to find, but given the other "repairs" the previous owner did, I wouldn't be surprised if he just glued this thing on after it fell off or something.

Guess I will have to rethink my design for a built-in shelf for the room to make sure it's accessible.

Thanks fshgrl and Packed Lunch!
posted by jsmith77 at 5:17 PM on March 18, 2012


Four feet high, and a foot or 18 inches to one side of where the waste comes out of the wall (if applicable), and on the bottom floor of the building? Definitely a cleanout.

Don't make it completely inaccessible (Like covering it up), but don't worry if it's behind some stuff on a shelf. If you really need to use it, take the shit off the shelf.
posted by notsnot at 5:44 PM on March 18, 2012 [3 favorites]


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