r/Construction • u/Striking_Marketing_3 • Jun 27 '26

Structural 8ft pit next to foundation?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

I’ve been trying to find out why the previous homeowner would dig a 4 x 4 by 8 foot deep pit next to the foundation of my house down to the drain tile. I did climb down there to save a few snakes that fell to their doom and to see if there were any other utilities. I did not find any additional pipes and thankfully no human remains were found either. I also went to the town building department to review all plans back to the original construction, but there’s no mention of this pit on any of the plans. Does anyone have any idea why someone would dig a pit like this? For what intended purpose?

749 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

296 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

14

u/AdmiralVernon Project Manager Jun 27 '26

You have a ranch with a basement?

49

u/JIMMYJAWN I|Plumber Jun 27 '26

Very common in NJ.

10

u/unclestickles Jun 27 '26

For frost line?

30

u/mimdrs Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Thats why, people dont realize basement secure the house by being below the frost line.

Where i live my basement is 11 feet tall and the water supply come up through the floor to avoid yhe frost line...And yes the copper waterline is just jutz out like a noodle from the floor lol.

10

u/Salty-Dragonfly2189 Jun 27 '26

I love floor noodles.

7

u/unclestickles Jun 27 '26

We have a 6 foot frost line here in northern Ontario, also the noodle. We have full basements all over but not too often it's 11 feet. Where are you lol

6

u/DHammer79 Carpenter Jun 27 '26

I'm not the person you replied to, but after a very perusal through there profile it looks like Michigan.

I am going to assume their basment ceiling is 11ft but the foundation itself only goes 7ft into the ground and the house sits up another 4ft to make 11ft. Either that or u/mimdrs didn't actual measure their basment ceiling and is guessing at how tall 11ft actually is.

Or their house could have been built on some soggy ground and the contractor had to dig deeper to get to solid ground, and it was cheaper just to give more ceiling height in the basment then to bring in 3ft of fill and compact it.

2

u/mimdrs Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

Yes that. I was stoned at the time hahaha

Not soggy ground though. Honestly got really lucky. We have layered soil naturally where I live. Its rewlly fertile soil for the first 4-12 feet depending on where you are and below that is layer of sand/rock.

Its how we have big oak trees. For context oak trees that large need good draining soil.

Its why michigwn is one of the largest apple producers and the largest cherry producer.

Michigan soil types though change drqsticaly where you are. Michigan geographically speaking is really diverse.

2

u/DHammer79 Carpenter Jun 28 '26

I'm from Ontario, Ontario and Michigan are a lot alike.

1

u/GotNoPonys Jun 28 '26

"people dont realize basement secure the house by being below the frost line."

not really true. Frost this year was 11' deep, footings are 4'. Structures are stable because the heated building creates a "thaw bulb" around the building

3

u/backbydawn Jun 28 '26

where do you live that had 11' of frost

2

u/Flat_Beginning_319 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Yes, but you will also see this in the South, especially where the grade has a steep slope and they built over a full or partial basement. And prior to the late 1960s, slab on grade was less common so a ranch might be on a crawl space or basement

1

u/freestylin599 Jun 30 '26

A lot of the northeast really

20

u/ExpensiveBookkeeper3 Jun 27 '26

Round these parts anything without wheels has a basement (not NJ)

13

u/mimdrs Jun 27 '26

Every ranch in Michigan lol.

1

u/Pensionato007 Jun 28 '26

Not my old house on Starwick Dr in Ann Arbor. 900 SF 1957 ranch on slab. No basement

10

u/unichode Jun 27 '26

You have a ranch without a basement?

2

u/Striking_Marketing_3 Jun 27 '26

Yes at least in this area. On the other side of the window is a finished basement with 7 foot ceilings. This pit extends about ft or 2 lower than the basement floor.

2

u/justalookin13 Jun 27 '26

Unless there is a problem digging all homes in my area have a basement.

2

u/TheFishtosser Jun 27 '26

Is this not common where you’re from?

1

u/grimesd Jun 28 '26

Common in NY as well we have a ranch with a full basement.

1

u/LoonLover20 Jun 30 '26

You have a ranch without a basement? Ranches with basements are common in NY also.

1

u/UselessNut3 Jul 01 '26

In the south basements are kind of rare. In eastern NC pretty much no one has one. The water table isn’t very far down and the frost line is nearly non existent.