ambrosia

Hi, I have visited a house recently. The house was built in 1963. The house use a oil furnace with forced air. I've noticed that the furnace has two exhaust pipes that are exiting through the basement wall. Around one of the exhaust pipe there is a fair amount of efflorescence. Do you have some idea what could be the cause of this? I didn't find any other efflorescence except at this specific spot. Thanks for your help!

Hi Guys, Thanks for your replies. To answer your questions: - Yes, I live in Montreal which had many cases of pyrites. - This house was built in 1960. - I did not see any signs of dampness but there used to be a crack in the foundation wall next to where I took the pictures. The crack caused water infiltration but it was fixed by injection in 1984. There are some elements that I forgot to mention. These pictures are all taken from the laundry room. There is another area where the basement floor is unfinished, and in this second area there is small cracks but no white powder at all. This make it even more credible that this is a case of efflorescence rather than pyrite. Thanks again, you are very helpful!

Hello. I am considering to buy a house. The house was built in 1960. During the visit I found many small cracks on the unfinished basement floor. There is also some spots of white powder. I've uploaded a couple of photos from the floor at this address: http://www.philippedelage.com/photos/120-pendennis/ I heard about Pyrite. I'm wandering if these photos are a sign of Pyrite under the basement floor. The main reasons why I'm not sure is that in most cases the white powder is not located at the same spot as the cracks. Also, there is no heaving below the cracks. It does not seems like something is pushing from under. Do you guys think this is a sign of pyrite? And if no, what could be the white powder? If I buy the house, I will have it inspected by a professional. But I would like to clarify this part before I move forward. Thanks. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, Thanks for your responses. It gives me a very good starting point. From the outside of the house, it seems like most of the measures you’ve mentioned were already in place. The grading had a slope going away from the house The water from the downspouts was redirected away from the house In picture 4, we can see that there is some black coating on the lower part of the foundation. I assumed this was an external membrane used to waterproof the foundation from the outside. However, I still don’t know if there is a footing drain. I’ll try to find out if these measures were implemented by the current owner. Especially, since you are saying that it is an ongoing problem. Thanks to you all, and don’t worry, if I put an offer on the house I will have it inspected. Philip

Hello. I am considering to buy a house in a waterfront and found many cracks in the basement cinder block wall. Some are vertical and some others are stair step crackings. The house is built in 1948 and once there was water infiltration through the basement walls, but never afterwards, that is what the real estate agent of the seller side says. I attached a couple photos of the cracks below. First 3 photos are from inside the basement and last 2 photos are from outside the house. You can see some cracks patched up. Image Insert: 50.9 KB Image Insert: 64.92 KB Image Insert: 79.12 KB Image Insert: 51.51 KB Image Insert: 45.48 KB What do you guys think is the cause of those cracks? Is this a settlement problem? If so, how serious is it? Is this good idea to buy this house? I am concerned if the cracks would give more problems after we buy it. Thanks. Your advice is greatly appreciated.