I have a townhouse. I have district heating via a homeowners' association, a single-pipe system, and a basement that hasn't been drained in 50 years. All the other houses here look the same, and nobody has even thought about draining because no one has problems with the basements. If it ain't broken don't fix it regarding the drainage.
Now, the staircase down to the basement is against the exterior wall, framed with wooden studs and insulation. I've removed the drywall, and it looks good, dry, and nice. Under the framing in the floor corner is the single-pipe system that runs around the entire townhouse in the basement exterior walls.
I would like to remove the single-pipe system under the stairs and reroute it differently but no longer there. I'm wondering if the pipe system helps the wall and wooden studs to dry out if there is any moisture. And if I remove the pipe, the possibility for heat to rise and keep it dry and nice disappears.
You should know that on the outside of the house, the ground slopes heavily outward, and we have an enormous roof overhang that protects the ground there from rain. The roof extends about 2 meters from the house.
Do you think it will be a problem if I remove the pipe and reroute it elsewhere?
I want to remove the pipe and then seal the wall completely so it's entirely sealed against the wall. The reason is that we have silverfish and want to seal all cracks and hiding places, and this is one of those places.
At the same time, we would like to reroute the heating pipe in a different way while we're renovating.
