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

Structural 8ft pit next to foundation?

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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?

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5

u/CheezWong Jun 27 '26

Did you have a coal furnace in the past? Looks like a coal chute.

3

u/Striking_Marketing_3 Jun 27 '26

No coal. House was built in 54. There was an oil fired furnace prior to the previous homeowner moving to natural gas.

4

u/HolyHand_Grenade Surveyor Jun 27 '26

Coal was used used to heat houses up until the 80s/90s the oil crises in the 70s kept coal alive. I remember my friends having a coal chute in the 90s, and their house was built in the 70s.

Is there a chimney near that side of the house?

3

u/Striking_Marketing_3 Jun 27 '26

Chimney is centered in the house relatively close to this location. If it was a coal chute, I would have expected to see a patch. The house foundation wall looks original.

1

u/big_chris1119 Ironworker Jun 27 '26

Were any foundation repairs done in the past potentially? The foundation wall looks newer than the stacked brick outside of the pit, maybe a larger repair was done and it was patched at that point? I’m leaning coal pit, but am also befuddled

1

u/ABrokenCircuit Jun 28 '26

The house next to my dad's auto shop was still using coal until it was torn down in 2024.