While renovating my Dad's deck we pulled up all the deck boards. We were astonished to see a ~1' wide hole in the ground in the corner of the deck adjacent to the brick wall. It was odd, but could not figure it out. We just filled in the hole and finished the deck.
Now a year later I was leaving stepping off his deck down the sidewalk and noticed the dirt was all undulated. Sort churned looking. If it were liquid it would look like water boiling. There was also a lot of moss all around. All this adjacent to the same brick wall as described above. I wish I took a picture.
I went into the crawlspace. The ground was dark brown (moist) under the vapor barrier. No actual liquid water. The pipes in that area all looked dry.
Heaving dirt and moss next to the foundation. Any ideas?
It probably was an animal that dug the original hole. Who knows if something else have made the soft dirt their home or if the weird look is caused by weather.
Here are some photos. The first is the dirt abnormality I am speaking of. Notice the heaving of the earth along with all the moss. I could be wrong, but I really don't think this is an animal digging.
The second photo is taken just to the left of the first on the same wall.
Someone asked my location. We are in the South. Just North of Nashville, TN. Summers are hot and humid. This wall is on the shady side of the house if it has anything to do with it.
Agree on the moss. I have a lot of the stuff on the shady side of my house as well. As far as the heaving, it sounds like this may be the natural freeze/thaw cycle.
Thanks for the sanity check guys. I can tell my Dad to stop worrying!
I have an old chimney stack that starts in the cellar, as in the pic. I want to patch the brick hole, and make it similar to the patch in the second pic. How do I do it? Prep it? What type of cement do I use?
FYI the hole was just to check for a leak condition coming down from the chimney at the roof, which was fixed. The chimney and PVC pipes are now terminated below the roof line in the attic. (The PVC pipes were old furnace vents which are no longer used). No fireplace exists either, and the chimney serves nothing. Thanks!
[img]https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/20210420_171737_fe31b7cdf6400dda5202c859d569b5880646b762.jpg[/img]
[img]https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/20210420_172030_a4af89f949f0b19af2b5e24209ae8be9980543b0.jpg[/img]
I came across a house today that was entirely done with the mortar extending past the bricks. It gave it a really striking appearance. Is there a name for this, and how do you do it?
[img]https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/92aa0b08_e8c2_496a_8eca_4da385111e91_ba657ef42d932917129962eebed3b11f3026f90f.jpeg[/img]
04-26-21, 02:13 PM
