This is an older house from 1940. There is very limited crawl space access however a portion of the house has poured foundation that current construction the older portion has a CMU block however there is no mortar between the block there is some kind of skim coat on the exterior.
What’s this ever a thing or is this just a homeowners poor attempt at a foundation I’ve never seen anything like this.
Sorry for the crappy picture I think you get the idea
Yes, it was a thing and still is, just not as common.
There was a process to sry-stack blocks with a structural skin, but doubt is was done to the methods and process of the later years. The exterior coating might just have been an exterior parge coat or at best someone added a structural skin product.
Here is information and video on dry-stacked blocks and notice how the blocks are also laid with staggered joints.
https://www.protradecraft.com/video/how-build-dry-stack-concrete-block-wall
