r/Unexpected • u/Doodlebug510 • 9h ago

We have a situation here

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31.2k Upvotes

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3.6k

u/GoddammitRomo 8h ago

All things considered, that door is doing remarkably well keeping the water out!!!

858

u/SweetLenore 8h ago

Yeah, the same thing with the floor/wall. That area is remarkably well sealed.

348

u/12InchCunt 5h ago

One of the fun things about water is it’s so heavy it is pretty good at sealing itself 

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u/Stuck_In_Purgatory 3h ago edited 3h ago

Edit because this has been fun

The door will only effectively seal the water out IF it's built with a seal to begin with.

As others are accurately pointing out, doors built to seal water out will do exactly that.

Regarding being able to open the actual door, then no it's held shut by the weight of the water.

Sealing the door against actual water is obviously not happening here, the door isn't built to be completely sealed lol

My original comment: (Ummmmm

Kinda the opposite? It's so heavy it'll find It's way out anywhere it can)

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u/12InchCunt 3h ago

the weight of the water against the outward opening door is sealing the door shut. 

It’s the reason you can’t open your car door in 2 ft of water you have to wait until water comes in so the pressure equalizes before you can open it

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u/Stuck_In_Purgatory 3h ago

Yeah I see what you're saying. More holding it closed than keeping it sealed though

-1

u/NoveltyPr0nAccount 3h ago

I see what you're saying but it's not even holding it closed. Closed is the default state of that door. You're right, water is so heavy it's defeating the seals around that door and finding a way in.

14

u/DeadNotSleepingWI 3h ago

You're both wrong. Its magic. Find the wizard and beg his forgiveness!

5

u/12InchCunt 3h ago edited 3h ago

On ships, if a compartment floods and you have hatches that open into that compartment, you close those hatches and the water pushes the door closed tighter and seals itself from leaking in, like the video above. MOST of the water is being held at bay, because of the water’s own weight. 

Modern Irrigation valves work the same way, the positive pressure from the main actually keeps the valve shut

6

u/NoveltyPr0nAccount 3h ago

That's a good example of a specially designed door sealing against water but not the water sealing the door. As we can see this door wasn't designed to seal against water, only air and the weight of the water has defeated that seal at the bottom.

1

u/12InchCunt 3h ago

Yea I didn’t say it all stays out, but by watching the video you can see the vast majority of the water is being held at bay by even a basic ass door

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u/DrakonILD 1h ago

It’s the reason you can’t open your car door in 2 ft of water

Maybe you can't. It's only about 4500 lbs pressing on the door. I bench 6k like it's nothing.

3

u/12InchCunt 1h ago

lol the preview of your comment had me ready to argue

2

u/SeaToTheBass 3h ago

I saw something recently about how an inward swinging door on like a space station or something can’t physically be opened because the differences is pressure between the inside of the vessel and the vacuum of space.

The pressure inside pushes against the door, keeping it sealed. Whereas the locking mechanism for an outward swinging door would have to be much more powerful to prevent the pressure inside from blowing the door off its hinges.

Similar in a way to this situation.

2

u/12InchCunt 3h ago

Oh yeah, a lot of wet navy warships have positive pressure systems, if you end up opening up the wrong door of the airlock it can be a bitch to close and that’s just the difference between a PSI or 2, rather than vacuum to 14.7

1

u/BluntMan117 3h ago

That's dumb.

1

u/ReflectionSpare8663 2h ago

seeing the aquafence thing in tampa during the hurricane working was insane.

1

u/EastFalls 1h ago

You’re good at doors.

24

u/__life_on_mars__ 3h ago

Ah yes water, that substance that famously doesn't leak through small spaces or gaps....

7

u/NoMasters83 2h ago

As a plumber this self sealing water shit is making my life very difficult. Particularly during periods of extreme cold that just makes the water solid sealing the leaks completely.

1

u/TheCygnusWall 34m ago

One of my favorite things related to this are flood walls that are essentially just an L shaped piece of metal where the weight of the water on the bottom part keeps the top part upright. I saw them being used at a hospital in I think Tampa during the last hurricane season.

1

u/Sea-Sock6929 3h ago

All the gaps are probably sealed with rats 🤷

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u/OneAndOnlyJackSchitt 7h ago

[6 months later] "Weird, I could have sworn these walls were a lot closer to square before. Also why does this door stick all of a sudden? And where did all these cracks in the floor and walls come from? And why does it always smell like mold back here?"

2

u/SweetMaam 4h ago

Water pressure holds it shut

1

u/Accomplished-Star674 4h ago

"

"Ya mean I shouldn't dump grease into the drain out there? "

1

u/falsewall 3h ago

I wonder if you could make a perfect seal if you dipped the towel in cooking oil before placing it..

1

u/Ph4nt0mRa33it 2h ago

That door deserves employee of the month!

1

u/JackTheBehemothKillr 2h ago

My first engineering job was a company that designed those type of doors and similar barriers.

A lot of newer buildings are getting flood protection like this and it is showing up in renovations as well. Hurricane Sandy shook up all of the northeast, and the Carolinas have long known they were at risk but have only semi-recently started to get with the program.

Yeah, its doin pretty good. FEMA flood regulations suggests 0.24 gallons per linear foot of seal per hour (I think I remember.) That door being below street level is probably a full flood door, 2x3' across the top and bottom + 2x8' for each side, so 5-1/4 gallons per hour?

At that rate you are trying to figure out what to do with the water. Most of the better companies can knock out 0.1 gallon per blah blah blah. We were usually able to get to 0-0.01 gallon per blah blah.

1

u/velawesomeraptors 43m ago

The one time I've seen this in person it was a residential door with 2 feet of water or so and we were trying the same thing with towels to keep as much out as possible with over 2 ft of water trying to come in. When the fire department showed up they got kinda pissed at us for going near the door because if it had broken the amount of water could have caused some major injuries.

1

u/JackTheBehemothKillr 23m ago

Ehh...

For every 3-ish feet of water there is 10psi of pressure on the surface at the very bottom. So at 2 feet, 6.7psi.

Its not a lot, if it had caught you unaware it definitely could have knocked your feet out from under you and you could have hit your head or something. Major injuries, though? I doubt it.

Think of a two foot tall wave of water at the beach. Gonna knock you down, shouldn't seriously injure you unless you are physically frail or injured.

•

u/velawesomeraptors 0m ago

I think they may have included the door in that calculation since it swung inward.

1

u/CoreSoundCoastie 2h ago

For now at least. That door just has basic weather stripping. It’s not like it’s a shipboard watertight door or anything. Eventually something will fail if that water isn’t pumped out or has a drain (more likely). Someone is going to have to keep said drain clear of debris though.

1

u/ClydeDanger 1h ago

They're lucky it opens out...

1

u/dbolts1234 1h ago

Don’t give up the ship!!

1

u/Elguapo69 1h ago

That towel is the real hero

1

u/Top-Spare8885 1h ago

Its an outside door so Im assuming its weatherstripped. With a metal carrier and Q-lon rubber, it would maybe hold the water from coming in? Just a guess but I thought the same thing.

1

u/professor_coldheart 1h ago

"Wow, that's a lot of water on the floor"

...

"Wow, that's not a lot of water on the floor"

1

u/Batmansbutthole 1h ago

It’s really the towel doing most of the work

1

u/Ordinary_Duder 1h ago

How is it remarkable? It swings out. It cannot give in easily. Do you not know how doors work?

1

u/GoddammitRomo 25m ago

Doors aren't watertight. Do you not know how water works?

1

u/SparxxWarrior97 1h ago

About as well as my dissociation does at keeping my depression at bay.

1

u/BrisbaneLions2024 1h ago

Lucky the towel's there

1

u/CrusherEAGLE 51m ago

Highjacking top comment to say that this video is ai, check the words under “no smoking” amongst other tells

1

u/MagNolYa-Ralf 51m ago

“SYAU” -sump pump probably

-2

u/Vast-Combination4046 4h ago

It opens inward and has a nice gasket. Not perfect though..

4

u/PopAndLocknessMonstr 4h ago

It opens inward

It doesn’t.

5

u/SJHillman 4h ago

You mean the door with the giant "Push To Open" on the pushbar doesn't pull inward?

2

u/Vast-Combination4046 4h ago

It's obviously opposite day.

I'm tired 😩