Why were the wall bottom plates placed on gravel and dirt?

[bungalowrescue]

Hello there. We recently found mold and decayed wood in our finished basement, and after taking off some walls, learned that the wall bottom plates were not placed on the concrete slab. Rather, there appear to be some trenches, and the bottom plates were placed directly on top of the gravel and dirt. Obviously with whatever water has come through over the years (the house was built in 1923), the wood has completely decayed. Now we're left trying to figure out what to do. So question is two-fold -- why would anyone do this, and what should we do about it?

 

[bud16415]

Hello there. We recently found mold and decayed wood in our finished basement, and after taking off some walls, learned that the wall bottom plates were not placed on the concrete slab. Rather, there appear to be some trenches, and the bottom plates were placed directly on top of the gravel and dirt. Obviously with whatever water has come through over the years (the house was built in 1923), the wood has completely decayed. Now we're left trying to figure out what to do. So question is two-fold -- why would anyone do this, and what should we do about it?

View attachment 26244

Welcome to the forum.



It is hard to say why people did what they did back during the depression years or even before. Chances are there was a log or something under there that had turned to dirt over the years. The room may have been added as a temporary room to use as some kind of storage and over the year slowly got changed. People built with what they could find or make.



As to fixing it you might have to take some of the flooring back as well and see how far the damage is.

 

[Jeff Handy]

The concrete floor probably came later.