Noticed a basement with a dirt/sand wall on one side. Yet the other walls were concrete block. There was evidence of major water intrusion through the sand wall. Is this a common building practice in North Florida where basements were dug ?
What is the foundation sitting on in that dirt/sand wall?
Did you take pictures? I’d like to see that sand/dirt wall.
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Me too… …
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Hi Kevin,
Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with pictures. It was a house I used to live in.
Water intrusion was always a major problem.
Regards,
Steve
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The underfloor cavity can be configured in many different ways. Sounds like a stand-up or dug-out crawlspace.
Sounds like it might be a dugout basement after construction.
The majority of houses in Florida are on concrete slabs because of the geology.
I have seen this type of thing in Western Kentucky where farmers dug out their basement to put in new HVAC equipment, specifically oil burner systems. Back in the day, farmers used diesel fuel to heat their homes because they could get it without tax.
Just a thought…
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I believe it was a dug out crawl space, in order to make room for hvac supply ducts to go through. Seemed like a bad idea giving because the wall that was formed by the dugout was sand only. It would seem that the footers would wash out being the sand wall was eroding in the area beneath it.
No pictures makes this a problem. Water entry into a crawlspace is often compounded or caused by poor grading and foundation drain tile failure along the exterior perimeter, cracks in the foundation wall, failing water proofing membrane etc.
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