Hole in slab

[Michael J. Merino]

These pics are from my sisters house. This is an opening about 1 1/2 inches that opens to about 3-4 inches and is about 15 inches deep. The lip is threaded, and about 2 inches below the lip is an opening in the side. When we get a heavy rain she gets water bubbling out of the hole onto the floor. I suggested that she cap it. But I am wondering about the purpose of the hole. The house is over 100 years old and was a farm house at one time. She does have a sump that was installed many years ago but is not attatched to a drain system, it just collects what flows through the ground.

[Barry Adair]

no idea of what this could have been for

but if water percolates as suggested capping will increase hydrostatic pressure under the floor and may cause cracking, floating and/or structural damage

we've had pools and tanks float out of the ground and all of the pools i've ever built have had a hydrostatic relief at the main drain

you may want to consider this before capping

[rmaday]

Is this in a basement? or slab on grade?

[Michael J. Merino]

Hi Barry,

Good points. BTW I lived in Garland for 8 years, Mill Creek Crossing, Miller and Centerville. Left in 2002.

[Michael J. Merino]

Originally Posted by rmaday

Is this in a basement? or slab on grade?

It is in the basement.

[rmaday]

Originally Posted by mmerino

It is in the basement.

Could simply be a floor drain without a screen.

Does that horizontal run go to the sump?

[Michael J. Merino]

Originally Posted by badair

no idea of what this could have been for

but if water percolates as suggested capping will increase hydrostatic pressure under the floor and may cause cracking, floating and/or structural damage

we've had pools and tanks float out of the ground and all of the pools i've ever built have had a hydrostatic relief at the main drain

you may want to consider this before capping

You got me thinking. Any chance this IS a hydrostatic relief to that the floor wouldn't crack?

[Michael J. Merino]

Originally Posted by rmaday

Could simply be a floor drain without a screen.

Does that horizontal run go to the sump?

Does not run to the sump. It is only about 15 inches deep and the opening is only 1 1/2 inches wide but increases to 3-4 inches wide after the threads.

Ok the more I think about Barry's and Rick's response I got this idea about what it could be.

When the house was built 100+ years ago, I am sure it was a dirt floor. It did not have a sump pump. The concrete floor was added some time later without a sump pump or any drainage tiles. The hole was put there to relieve the hydrostatic pressure, to protect the floor from damage. The sump pump was added about 12 years ago and only drains whatever water seeps through the dirt, it is not connected to any drainage system.
What do you guys think?

[Barry Adair]

standard report verbiage...

This inspection and report is based upon a visual non-invasive general inspection of the subject property. It is a snapshot in time, only while the inspector was onsite and is incapable of reciting previous events or predicting future events.

that being said the appearance of water in the middle of the basement floor around this opening leads me to believe the exterior and sub terrain drainage along with the sump system are not performing their intended function and require immediate evaluation for further repair...otherwise she'll continue to have a mess...you can fill in the rest

hth

[Buck Hartley, CMI]

Is it an air vent for a cristern?

[Harry E. McClard]

I agree with Barry. I've run across things that look exactly like that in some of the 1800's houses up here that had newer concrete floors (probably poured 50+ years ago though). They look like old drain lines and none of them has had any cover on them. The last one I saw, about a month ago, I tried to get my boroscope into it but it was not long enough to see anything; went out to the van and got my electric fish and ran it in until it banged on something that sounded like an iron pipe T so there had to be more stuff under there that I couldn't see. Still think they are old drain "whatchamacallits". Haven't found much in old plumbing archives on the web though.

[tphillips]

Looks like a drain tile system that has degraded to the point of water flowing backwards when it rains. Had this problem in an old house I once owned. Ended up digging it up, filling the pipe with concrete and putting in a sump pump system. Solved my wet basement probs.

Tom

[Frank J. Carey]

Many of the older homes here have them. Just a simple floor drain that either dumped into a bore hole or tapped into the sewer. Based on the location of the house my guess is either bore hole or back yard somewhere. Regardless, it is no longer serving its intended purpose as something must be clogged/damaged downstream.