Dirt floor in basement (flooring, foundation, furnace, hot water heater)
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I'm looking at a 100+ year old house with a dirt floor in the basement. The basement is used for the oil tank, hot water heater and furnace - nothing else. What issues do I need to look out for? Is it a must that I pour concrete?
If it was / is muddy I would probably look elsewhere unless there was such a bargain that the moisture issues could be addressed but a nice hard packed dry basement is not an issue for an home of that era. If you wanted to get estimates on having a concrete topper coat pumped in you might even be able to get that worked in as part of the deal on an otherwise over priced home...
Nothing wrong with a dirt floor as long as you are not using the cellar. What is important, however, is the foundation walls. Inspect for cracks and shifting. No doubt these are stone and will show their movement through different eras of mortar (some newer, some older) or missing mortar or mis-alignment of the stones.
Thanks so much. Moisture isn't a problem as far as my untrained eyes can tell. I'll leave the foundation evaluation to the inspector. Thanks for the radon tip.
Off the top of my head-
*Mold (especially on the floor- but inspect the flooring system above)
*Efflorescence
*Radon (Westchester County has a "low potential")
*Thermal tracking (especially if there is access from the interior of the home to the basement)
*Termite tubes within the stone foundation (if that is in fact what you have)
*Rot (when a floor system is exposed to changing air temps and moisture condensation can occur. The result can be a rotting floor system)
*Sump pump (failures can lead to contamination of the surrounding soil)
*Sewage spills (failures can lead to contamination of the surrounding soil)
*Fuel spills (failures can lead to contamination of the surrounding soil)
Also 100yo houses are usually ballooned framed- this construction method is notorious for the "stack effect". Which means that any and possibly all contaminates from the basement that can become airborne, will be found in all parts of the house. An obvious solution to a potential moisture problem is a vapor barrier.
Upon further inspection today by the broker and me, it looks like the floor is actually mostly concrete (just very dirty) and stone in parts (some big glacial rocks in the area). But this is helpful for when we're going through the inspection.
You had an inspection; that tells me you are pretty serious about this house. If you do get it, you can level the floor off as best you can and install interlocking paving stones or other types of pavers to have a nice solid floor.
I can't imagine why anybody would want a house with a dirt floor in the basement. First thoughts are the bugs, snakes, rodents. blah
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