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Cold room flooring help (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 month ago by TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works to c/diy@lemmy.world

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Hey, I've got a cold room in my place that is concrete on all sides, I'm going to be framing it in and insulating and I don't really need any help there unless there's anything cold room specific I should know, however.

As you can see I have a floor that appears to be a stepped concrete pit, filled with quite a lot of dirt, and what I believe is probably a tie in to the sewage drain.

Can I just get rid of the dirt? The whole room spells like petrichor because of it.

Assuming the pit continues to step down, can I just build the floor over it regardless, and do I need to support the pipe in some way if the dirt is removed?

Or, if I'm completely off base please let me know what I should be doing.

Thanks

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sometimes inexplicable stuff has a reason everyone forgot decades ago...

It's real fucking weird to have poured walls and a dirt floor, there has to be some type of reason for it, and it's worth it to have a plumber look at the tie in and what's going on.

You might have a giant cistern down there that was back filled with dirt. The age of the house would help narrow down possibilities

[–] TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

its not terribly old, built in the 70s (in eastern canada fwiw). the house is on a septic system that we know not to be located anywhere near this cold room as well if that means anything.

It has also crossed my mind that it may be possible this "dirt" is literally all just well rotted wood. The floor is sitting on completed rotted out legs, many of the undersides of the board are rotted out and there was a piece of board looking mid-disintegration on top of the pile that appears to just be becoming one with the dirt.

The main reason I dont think that can be the whole story is just because of the volume of it.

Thanks

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

the house is on a septic system that we know not to be located anywhere near this cold room as well if that means anything.

Do you not have a well anywhere?

If there's no well and OG owners had to have septic...

They had to get water somewhere too, and that's a cistern. And it would be away from septic deliberately

It can't all be rotted wood, but a cistern filled with dirt would make the room "cold" and the high moisture content would make the wood rot.

I guess one thing to do is just see how deep it goes? Like, there is absolutely no way that's just raw earth and you can dig a tunnel to the surface. Check if downspouts have a weird tunnel/pipe thing by them, or ask neighbors with similar age homes if they have one.

But in my uneducated opinion, you got a giant concrete waterproof room down there filled with dirt.

[–] TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

Your uneducated opinion agrees with mine so I want to listen to you. That's dangerous

[–] TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

Oh no we also have a well, the whole home is properly serviced hot and cold running water off the well, no issues