Crawlspace & Mold

[Stavs]

[quote billb]Coal bin would have had a 18-36" access chute to gravity feed from a dump truck.
That looks more the size of an unfinished bulkhead access.

That's a concrete ceiling with a 4" hole the size of a drain waste pipe?
Or, possibly a stove pipe for a wood stove ?

Regardless;

Is there a concrete floor under that dirt on the floor ?

Why not just open the space up and use it ?
Well there is the concrete behind the drywall...what I do with that? I cant just go breaking that apart...what if its supporting the floor? The more I look at it, the more I enjoy the idea of having more space for storage.

[OWC Jamie]

On top of that concrete wall is a sill.
The sill supports the joists, which support the floor and the wall(s) and roof above it.
You can bust open the width of a doorway and do some concrete patching with a sledge hammer. All the way up to the sill. (as long as there is no sill 'seam' there.

Unless the house and foundation are both really old the sill should be bolted to the foundation, a loss of three or four feet should not be a problem if this bumpout is not at a corner.



You be able to go the whole width of the concrete add-on, But, that would depend on how that 'bump-out' was added to your existing foundation (unless it's all original) . I highly doubt that based on the hole in the wall behind the sheetrock.


Is this a foundation bumpout for a small room above it ?
Ah, kitchen.

You could insulate under the floor, but I'm suspicious that that hole in the ceiling also has a corresponding one to out side. A dryer vent maybe ? That's letting cold air in in the space above the ceiling.

Can't tell what that ceiling is made out of. Looks like concrete in the picture.
With a cold floor, I'd really want to see if there were air leaks from outside under the kitchen floor above that ceiling.

An unfinished project for sure.

I'd want to finish off that space, too.

You want a concrete floor in there. Some places put rigid foam insulation under concrete floors, some places just a plastic film.

[Stavs]

Well, the house was built in 1927. It was completely remodeled in 2001 from top to bottom buy a builder. I bought it after it was done. My question is why would they just close that off and not do anything if they were doing a complete rebuild?

[OWC Jamie]

The existing hole is a bit interesting.
Either the back-hoe punched it when digging for the new foundation, possibibly on purpose, for ventilation.
Or someone started adding an opening and got discouraged with how much work it was and stopped.

Covering it over with sheet rock and not putting a vent/screen at the hole was a mistake.

Do you have a regular doorway from the room above the bicycle to the kitchen?
Or was it opened up and is now open? If it was opened up, the wall load has been transferred to near the corners of that foundation. If it was done right. It should have been, that was a load bearing wall.
I'd not want to remove the concrete wall under that support, without seeing the sill and how it was tied in.

A doorway in the middle would be fine.

[Stavs]

Look at this pic:



The door to the left is directy in front of the wall with the hole. The main living area is on abive the basment/garage level. The finished room is about half the length of the side. Make sense?

[OWC Jamie]

[quote Stavs]Well, the house was built in 1927. It was completely remodeled in 2001 from top to bottom buy a builder. I bought it after it was done. My question is why would they just close that off and not do anything if they were doing a complete rebuild?
Cheapest way.

Actually I'm surprised they went six feet down for the kitchen add on. Usually three feet. Unless you think the kitchen was built on top of the bulkhead opening. My bulkhead opening is not a metal door at an angle. Has a 'room' and roof above it. Keeps rain out better, real door for access to basement. No one goes to that expense any more.


1927.
It has a concrete foundation or mortared stone ?
(Usually bricks above the stone at ground level outside)

1927.
This could also mean your floor joists do not sit on top of the sills, but are mortissed into them.
Rough carpentry construction changed a lot around then.

You don't have porcelen tube wiring I hope.

[Stavs]

All the wiring & plumbng was redone. Its a weird house. Here's a pic of the walls in the garage:



Now here's a shot of the backside of the house. The spot opposite the door would be all the way to the right (only pic I had)



It almost seems like a hodge podge of construction with bits and pieces added here and there. if I were able to put an open doorway in there, that would actually be pretty cool. Line the walls with shelves and be done with it.

[OWC Jamie]

The kitchen is to the left of the the front door (as viewed from outside) ?

I'd have to see your floor joists, but it looks like the room to the right of the front door was once a front porch. (that's an odd construction on that corner where that little tiny roof is over the basement door)
Two basement doors is also odd. Apartment ?
Garage under wasn't common in 1927 either.

Your house appears to have a history with some structural changes along the road.

[OWC Jamie]

Do you live near a lake ?
Within a 15 minute drive to a decent sized city ?

That looks a lot like turn of the century it was a Summer one room cottage and in 1927 they added a year round house onto it.

I'd be willing to bet that foundation was dug out into the side of that hill by hand over the course of a few Summers, the rocks from the digging used for the foundation.
You have what appears to be four 'lines' on the basement wall. I'd be willing to bet that was four Summers of wall building.

[New.Dad]

just dump the dead body in there and fill it up with concrete