Inspecting an early 20th century commercial building most recently used as a church, which had a small basement area with a brick foundation, which was rather moist, evidently due to a flooding incident, probably from pipes having burst prior to recent updates.
Observed a depression with standing water where basement floor was broken up. The remaining concrete in the general area had an outline consistent with an archaic boiler having been there, and the standing water was slightly oily.
The nasty water appeared to go down a bit, consistent with a large floor drain similar to the sort that would be in a carriage house or garage of the area, but a smaller plumbing floor drain was also observed, and the old cast iron sanitary drain was elevated, and dropped into the floor well away from the area. The jagged perimeter of the slab bordering the basement area was consistent with the basement having been a “Michigan basement”, which had been dug out at a later date.
Wondering what’s most likely going on here. I won’t make any speculative assumptions in my report, so no need for lectures about going beyond the scope of the inspection, but am curious, not having seen anything quite like this in my 20 years of doing inspections.
How did the exterior grading look? What about the roof drainage? Is it possible the water is coming in from the exterior and gathering at a clogged drain? It was hard for me to discern what the pictures were showing. Maybe a photo from farther back would help. Is it possible the floor was jacked up to attempt a repair on a drainage issue?
I agree that the pictures don’t show well. They need some shadows and contrast to tell what we’re looking at and give some sense of depth. I wouldn’t assume burst pipes were the source of all the dampness unless I had seen the place dry before hand. I have never seen a dry brick foundation basement. I think it comes down to the age and construction, they always seem moist and damp. So out of curiosity how did you write it all up.
Appreciate the replies. Alas, I didn’t taste test, Anthony. Slipped my mind. (shrugs)
Most of the solid brick foundations I’ve inspected in Detroit area basements have been quite dry, with only slight seepage at worst. Typically much drier than the subsequent concrete block basements.
The first picture was actually quite enhanced. No indications the floor was jacked up. In fact, the wooden support posts were beginning to rot at the floor, so I recommended reinforcement of the center beam. The foundation generally looked very good, but there was so much condensation I couldn’t tell whether or not there had been any seepage. The
Grading was mostly good, with a well sloped alley in the rear, pavement in front, and the building being on a corner. This was on a side facing a street. There was a weird screened opening below ground level that may have been for boiler room ventilation, though which some water could have entered, but evidently not enough to cause flooding.
The basement was very poorly ventilated, with some literally beautiful mold formations on the walls.
One adjective that came to mind again and again was “interesting.”
Back to reporting, Sunday fun day. Still have held off caffeine, job tomorrow morning.
