Foundation Slits

[Mike Lamb]

What do you suppose this slit in the foundation is for? There were two in this 1980's crawl.

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[Jim Katen]

My guess is that it was a simple mistake. Someone laid a board at the bottom of the form to use it as a nailer. After stripping the form, the board remained and no one cared. Some years down the line, the board rotted. Voila! A slit in the foundation.

[John Kogel]

Sometimes the spreaders are left in and the wall forms rest on them. But that looks wider and thinner than the usual planks used.

[mjr6550]

It looks similar to what is sometimes done when a crawl space is adjacent to a basement. They stop the footing short of the overdig and then bridge the foundation wall over the opening.

I think I recall seeing this done when connecting interior and exterior drainage systems with a pipe passing through the footing. Normally the slab would be poured high enough to cover the opening.

[Mike Lamb]

More of the same in a different crawl. Must be a good reason. One slit is at outside wall, the other at attached garage.

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[kurt]

Stepped footing? Is it somewhere near the transition from main basement to crawlspace? Basically, what Reinmiller is asking/pointing out.

Looks like the void everyone leaves where the crawl steps (up or down) to the main foundation footing.