Hello! Today’s inspection revealed a hole in the crawlspace that I suspect was used to excavate some prior HVAC equipment. My question is; does the hole need to be shored up? Will this have an influence on the sill plate and support on that side of the house. The house is a 868 sq ft, 2/2 on a crawl, built in 1950. I suspect it will need some type of reinforcement, perhaps review by a foundation specialist. My thinking is that the remaining block can fall and the sill plate sag which would mean a loss of support up the wall. Any input is appreciated!
Looks like standard access to the crawlspace. You can’t see much with the plywood in the way though.
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Any pictures of the hole without the plywood?
It may have a header that can’t be seen.
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I’m afraid the plywood was secured in place at the exterior. I wasn’t able to remove it. This was the actual opening to the crawlspace.
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Was it secured in place at the interior? If it was, how do you know if there’s a hole if you cannot see the hole?
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Agreed…. but judging by the cut of that plywood I don’t have a lot of faith in the guy doing the job 
Looks like he used a chainsaw!
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Hey Richard, no, it was not secured on the interior. Only the exterior. The view of the plywood is from the interior looking through the hole to the plywood on the exterior.
Hey Matt, I’m not sure about a chainsaw. In the last photo you can see the plywood fastened to the exterior of the foundation. No cutting necessary.
That makes sense….. and with that in mind, yes it’s a problem as there’s no header/lintel and the blocks are hanging in space unsupported.
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Here’s a couple more photos. Not the best, but maybe they’ll provide more info. In the first one you can see the sill plate on the top row of block.
Hey Matt, thanks for the confirmation. That’s what I was initially thinking. Appreciate it.
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Ok, yes now I see it.
Yes, absolutely. That needs attention!!
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Vents,a cut opening for ventilation, although too many, is my wag.
Crawlspace not encapsulated.
Appears like the lot requires regrading in areas.
Some updating and lot maintenance would be recommended.
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Yes after clarifying those photos from the interior that definitely needs to be repaired, new CMU’s. You can see the blocks at the top row sagging.
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What appeared to be a jagged piece of wood on the inside, was actually an optical illusion of the outside piece, it now makes sense and as others have already mentioned, it should be written up.
Good find, Anthony.
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That hole in question appears to have very little weight on it. The wall with the hole runs parallel with the floor joists, so no floor weight is on that wall. It appears this is a hip roof, but the wall and roof are very short. Probably not much weight from the roof transferred down to the point where the hole compromises the load bearing capacity of the foundation wall.
With all that, I don’t see this as a structural issue. If the block “header” is sagging, it’s probably sagging because there is no iron lintel and that this particular row of block is not bond beam. The hole could be framed with treated lumber and probably be fine forever. Add an iron lintel if you’re totally paranoid. Another is to cut out the block that is sagging and frame the larger opening with threated lumber, including a lumber header.
If my understanding of the actual conditions is correct, I’d make a recommendation for a license building contractor to evaluate the sag of the block in the opening and reinforce it so things don’t get worse. It’s not a structural issue by my understanding of what is there.
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The hole is on a wall running parallel with the floor joists.
Hence the rim joist above it will act as a header for the minimal weight of the minimally load bearing wall above it.
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Hey Larry, that makes sense; I didn’t consider that. Will the size of the hole being ~1/3 the total length of the wall make any difference? To me, that sound like a lot of area unsupported.
Anthony, it looks like the floor joists are 2x8s. A 2x8 spanning 42” to 48” (estimating hole width by blocks) can carry a substantial amount of weight, especially considering the wall diaphragm and minimal weight above with no snow load in Alabama.
Personally, I don’t see a load issue. I see crappy block work.
I may refer it out to a qualified professional to assess and make corrections for structural integrity of the jerry-rigged block wall opening.
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I would report it as if the plywood was not there. Would the block foundation be okay without the plywood? Someone made the hole to do some work in there, as the access looks pretty small. They should have fixed it once the work was done. The hole looks to be at ground level, so any significant rain or snow melt will get into the crawlspace and rot out the plywood.
Wood touching the ground also attracts termites and other WDI’s and WDO’s.
Recommended a foundation contractor for correction.
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