I looked at a house the other day and found one anchoe bolt or jbolt protruding out of the side of the conrete,just under the siding. The concrete was cracked around it and some of it had fallen off. It also looked as though the surface of the concrete had eroded. Any suggestions on what to call it without scaring the potential buyer nuts ?
Robert,
Those bolts you see were utilized to hold the forms together when they poured the foundation. When the foundation cures and they remove the forms, they never remove the bolts from the side of the foundation.
After a while, the concrete usually spalls around the outside of these bolts due to these bolts rusting away. When rusting occurs, the bolts expand and cause the surrounding concrete to spall.
I’ve had many clients ask me why they have small holes in their foundation at the bolt locations and I just tell them what I stated here and all they have to do is hit these bolts with a hammer (up or down motion) and they’ll fall right off. Or they can be grinded off. Then if the small hole (around the bolt) bothers them , they can simply add a parge coat of mortar to level out this area.
I agree with Dave. Up here it’s common practice to pop 'em out as he mentioned, mix up a quick batch of hydrolic cement, grab your troul, and have at the dimples.
Ditto out here.