engineer1969
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- Sep 23, 2012
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I've attached 3 photos of a hole we have in our basement. The hole was covered during our initial home inspection and the first time I saw it was during our final walkthrough. At the time I didn't think much of it, but now I have growing concern after a home improvement show I recently saw.
My first concern is that I don't understand the purpose of the hole. It appears to be some sort of draining mechanism. It is about 2 feet in depth, has brick sidewalls (but not squared up), has two cement pipes coming in near the top and a single metal pipe coming straight up from the bottom and angling 90 degrees towards the shower drain in the next room. The bottom is damp earth. I am not certain if it is solid underneath. I can barely reach through the bars with my arm without getting stuck or scratching myself. The shower drain feeds into the main sewer drainage line under the toilet in the same bathroom.
My second concern is that angled metal pipe appears to be flaking/rusting/degrading. What is it for and will this be a problem.
My third concern is that there appears to be mold growing. Humidity isn't much of an issue in our basement except for the summer months when it is oppressively humid outside. A portable dehumidifier does the job to keep it under control. The rest of the year we do not have issues. I think the mold is contained to the hole itself.
I have only seen water in this hole on one occasion. We had a heavy spring snow storm followed immediately by 70 degree days. The lawn had percolating springs which you could hear during this period. There was at least a foot of water in the hole but there appeared to be no danger of flooding at the time.
Any ideas on how I should proceed. I haven't had much luck searching on what this hole might be or how to handle it.
Thanks.
My first concern is that I don't understand the purpose of the hole. It appears to be some sort of draining mechanism. It is about 2 feet in depth, has brick sidewalls (but not squared up), has two cement pipes coming in near the top and a single metal pipe coming straight up from the bottom and angling 90 degrees towards the shower drain in the next room. The bottom is damp earth. I am not certain if it is solid underneath. I can barely reach through the bars with my arm without getting stuck or scratching myself. The shower drain feeds into the main sewer drainage line under the toilet in the same bathroom.
My second concern is that angled metal pipe appears to be flaking/rusting/degrading. What is it for and will this be a problem.
My third concern is that there appears to be mold growing. Humidity isn't much of an issue in our basement except for the summer months when it is oppressively humid outside. A portable dehumidifier does the job to keep it under control. The rest of the year we do not have issues. I think the mold is contained to the hole itself.
I have only seen water in this hole on one occasion. We had a heavy spring snow storm followed immediately by 70 degree days. The lawn had percolating springs which you could hear during this period. There was at least a foot of water in the hole but there appeared to be no danger of flooding at the time.
Any ideas on how I should proceed. I haven't had much luck searching on what this hole might be or how to handle it.
Thanks.