wingless’ Okie Doakie Sales Inc. EBAA Water Meter Box

winglessMember since Nov 2017Dec 19, 2021 6:53 AM CT

There has been a long ongoing ordeal to replace my crumbling concrete driveway w/ slate colored Belgard Catalina Grana pavers.

The driveway width was changed from one car wide to two cars wide.

This southern Florida home has the water meter and water main near the surface. The meter was located adjacent to the driveway, but would now be within the wider driveway.

Fortunately, this house has the patented Okie Doakie Sales Inc. water meter box, cast by EBAA Iron Inc. Many homes instead have a concrete water meter box w/ a small cast iron door.

The Okie Doakie Sales Inc. water meter box instead has a large / deep / thick / strong composite box frame, plus a ductile iron top w/ a hinged door. This is designed to tolerate heavy loading, of at least 20,000 pounds on the top plate.

This water meter box has been removed and replaced many times during this project. During one I fortunately discovered / replaced a deteriorating galvanized steel fitting before that operation became “impossible” by being covered w/ the new paver driveway.

Another time was when a paver crew drove a pickax into the water main adjacent to the water meter box.

Once this was finally placed I wanted to clean up / paint the ductile iron for better appearance. I sanded the surface using my Festool RO150FEQ rotary / oscillating sander. That sanding got the flat surface into great condition for painting.

But all the recessed hatch grooves, text and logo still was filled w/ rusty crud. I used a small conical grinder w/ a ¼” shaft and a rotary tool to clean up all those recessed details.

The ductile iron was painted w/ Rustoleum Satin Protective Enamel in coastal gray color, the best match available from the local big box store.

This part now has a finished appearance.

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winglessMember since Nov 2017Dec 19, 2021 8:06 PM CT

wingless wrote:

13 hours ago, wingless said:

Fortunately, this house has the patented Okie Doakie Sales Inc. water meter box, cast by EBAA Iron Inc. Many homes instead have a concrete water meter box w/ a small cast iron door.

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

This image shows the concrete water meter cover w/ small cast door that is typical for other houses in my area.

Boy, did I luck out…

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winglessMember since Nov 2017Jan 18, 2022 10:02 AM CT

wingless wrote:

On 12/19/2021 at 6:53 AM, wingless said:

This water meter box has been removed and replaced many times during this project. During one I fortunately discovered / replaced a deteriorating galvanized steel fitting before that operation became “impossible” by being covered w/ the new paver driveway.

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

The waaay cool buried plastic box frame is a Oldcastle Precast Enclosure Solutions MSBCF-1324-12-D high density Polyethylene one piece molded frame, black on top for UV protection and white below to increase visible light refection to aid meter reading.

It is superior to the concrete frames that are used in other homes.

Eric – TIAMember since Jan 2010Jan 21, 2022 10:54 AM CT

Not sure how I missed this post last time. Looks awesome, nice job