Old House Construction Mystery

We have a 3 story plus basement townhouse – no cellar. We’re having to repair some plumbing in the basement and so have dug down in the dirt floor a bit. There are pockets for joists at the level of the dirt. Does anyone know whether this is a thing that was done and, if so, why? Alternatively does anyone have thoughts about what they might have been used for if not joists? If it’s helpful the house doesn’t seem to have a foundation in the front. We haven’t gone down far enough to know on the sides or in back.

Thanks

arewedoneyet

in General Discussion 1 year and 3 months ago

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arewedoneyet | 1 year and 3 months ago

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It’s entirely possible there was a long gone wood floor that fed the termites. The joists aren’t there and when we got the place there was a little cement, plywood, linoleum on the floor. There is no sign of the joists, just the pockets. I don’t know if they’d completely disappear in 140 years if they’re in the ground.

I don’t see a masonary foundation. The front brick wall ends on top of compacted dirt where I can see it. We haven’t excavated a lot so there may be a break in the foundation for the sewer lines.

hkapstein | 1 year and 3 months ago

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Occasionally you may find a clue if you pull the physical folder at DOB. If you decide to, pull the file for any matcher houses nearby as well. A possible guess is that they were used to support a scaffold during wall construction. As cate points out, if the floor is cement, perhaps there was once a wooden floor at that level.

cate | 1 year and 3 months ago

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You have a masonry foundation? Could the pockets in the foundation be there for the purpose of joists to hold up floorboards for the flooring for the garden floor?