Old Foundation Question

[Frankie_D]

I live in Michigan and own a 100 year old home. The basement is not very big but does have some usalbe space that I would like to capture. The question is this....the wall foundation is an older style that has a built in ledge with a 45 degree angle down to the floor. Basically it looks like a footer. Parts of this are cracked and crumbling. The cement is not very thick and it is dirt, obviously behind it. Can this 45 degree area be removed and replaced with brick? It would add a significant amount to the floor area. Would this still be structurally strong enough? Any other suggestions?

[TJ1962]

Thank you for your post.

This sounds like a knee-wall, also known as a Michigan Basement. Which was originally a crawl space built on a trench footer at 42". Then someone decided to dig out to build the basement.

The 45% angle and or ledge was constructed at each level during the dig so not to undermine the footer. Be careful!!

Can this be done? Yes but normally it means supporting structure, pouring new footers and rebuilding the wall. Could send digital pictures?

[Frankie_D]

It is basically a Michigan basement. Lower than normal ceilings and all. The photos show some of the areas that are falling apart and one area that is still looking good. The concrete is about 3/4 of an inch thick and is cracked over most of the ledge area also.

[TJ1962]

The flaking concrete is a parge coating finish.

Without rebuilding the entire wall you will still need to build a knee wall. You may be able to grab a few inches.

You will also need to repour a footer with vertical reinforcement tieing into main wall. This has to be done carefully as not to lose the outside trench footer under main crawl level footer.

I would review your options as to worthiness of a few inches. There are several very good contractors in MI whom have done this type of work. Search Foundation Repair Contractors Michigan on http://www.basementquestions.com/