700 Pine Historic Structure Assessment

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3.2 STRUCTURAL SYSTEM FOUNDATION SYSTEMS Description: The house foundation was observed from beneath the main floor within a dug -out basement area. Access to the basement is through an interior wood framed stair that does not meet current codes, located west of the dining room. It is unclear if this access location is original to this portion of the v�house or if it was added after the original construction. Most of the original crawlspace appears to have been dug out after the original construction and the original house would have had a shallower crawlspace, likely 12-18 inches in depth. Portions of the house still sit on top of a shallow crawlspace with CMU retaining walls between the basement and crawlspace depth areas to retain the crawlspace soil. The current basement was likely dug out after the original construction to accommodate the installation of a furnace, as seen by the central chimney that runs through to the basement floor. It is unclear if the crawlspace foundation walls bear on a footing below. The basement depth areas are located beneath the kitchen, and the central portions of the living and sitting rooms, around the chimney location. Crawlspace areas still exist along the perimeter of the house, beneath the dining, the bedroom, the east portions of the kitchen and sitting room, and beneath the covered front patio. There is also an old coal room directly west of the living room. This room was not accessible during the site visit, but the concrete cap is visible from the exterior. DAJDESIGN ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS Transition from crawlspace to basement depth concrete foundation with a CMU retaining wall. The foundation at the front of the house, possibly at the covered patio, is stacked brick at crawlspace depth. This then transitions to what appears to be a concrete foundation at a crawlspace depth, though this might be a layer of concrete on top of an original brick or stone rubble foundation. Moving southward beneath the living room, the foundation then transitions to a board -formed concrete foundation poured to basement depth along the west wall adjacent to the coal room. This is the only basement depth concrete wall. The remainder of the concrete walls only go to crawlspace depth. The transition from the crawlspace perimeter to the basement interior is created with a single -course, 4-inch thick, CMU retaining wall that retains the cut soils at the crawlspace areas. This CMU wall is stepped in from the exterior walls between 3'/2 to 4 feet from the inside face of the original foundation. The CMU walls sit on a concrete slab floor and stop short of the bottom of the floor joists, providing access to the crawlspace areas. It is unclear if the CMU retaining wall is grouted solid or if any of the foundation walls or CMU retaining walls have footings. Creating partial basement areas by digging out original crawlspace foundations was a common practice in the Louisville area to accommodate the installation of coal furnaces in basements. This often included the addition of a coal storage room, as seen along the west side of this house. From the exterior of the house, it appears that a concrete sister wall was poured next to the original foundation around the entire perimeter of the house. This practice can be seen on several other houses in the Louisville area and was done to help with water infiltration through original foundations without replacing the original foundation. The depth of the concrete sister wall could not be determined, but it appears to be 6-8 inches thick and abuts the bottom of the steel siding. 700 PINE PAGE - 12