# Concrete half wall in the basement by the door: can we tear it out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554 "2011-07-01T21:19:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554/61 "2011-08-27T13:58:48Z")
An update on this would be great. Also knowing if I was wrong/right would be good. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554/62 "2011-08-31T14:32:26Z")
Sorry, no update yet, we’ve been really busy with other projects and haven’t done any more research on this yet. I definitely will let you guys know how it resolves, but it might be a couple of months before we get to it. Thanks again for all the help. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554/63 "2011-09-01T01:16:20Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Looking at the photo, that’s the basement of a late 1700’s or early 1800’s New England house. Am I correct? I know exactly what those like because I had one and have seen many of them. I can’t tell exactly why was ever put there. Walls like that aren’t a standard feature in those houses. If you can’t tell what it was put there for either, you can probably take it down without a problem. That basement has seen many modifications and improvements in its day. The basement shouldn’t have structural problems because it was originally dug into rocky ground and the concrete wasn’t added until much later. Poured concrete walls, metal cross bracing between joists, a pex manifold for plumbing, poured concrete floor, laminate main structural beams supported by a 5" steel support, steel sliders for just above grade windows into the poured concrete walls, new floor joists, new copper manifolds for the boiler… This house looks like it was built _yesterday._ ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554/64 "2012-03-28T17:05:25Z")
Update! Sorry, no answers, though. We tried (not that hard) to contact the old owners, but we know they had credit problems and couldn’t get in touch with them. The town had no info on the house plans. We decided not to risk taking down the wall, and instead did a funky little stair step trim around it. It’s kind of odd, but it works. Pics here of the whole project (we haven’t finished the tile around the wood stove, obviously, so ignore that): [https://picasaweb.google.com/109667390045908457426/Basement#5724993370580180978](https://picasaweb.google.com/109667390045908457426/Basement#5724993370580180978) ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554/65 "2012-03-28T17:26:37Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Update! Sorry, no answers, though. We tried (not that hard) to contact the old owners, but we know they had credit problems and couldn’t get in touch with them. The town had no info on the house plans. We decided not to risk taking down the wall, and instead did a funky little stair step trim around it. It’s kind of odd, but it works. Pics here of the whole project (we haven’t finished the tile around the wood stove, obviously, so ignore that): [https://picasaweb.google.com/109667390045908457426/Basement#5724993370580180978](https://picasaweb.google.com/109667390045908457426/Basement#5724993370580180978) Wow! Quite a difference. It looks amazing, which is giving me some hope because my basement is a lot closer to the "before"picture right now. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554/66 "2012-03-28T17:55:52Z")
Looks good! I think you did the right thing, keeping it - as others said, the bottom line was that no one puts in a concrete wall for shits and giggles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-half-wall-in-the-basement-by-the-door-can-we-tear-it-out/587554.md?page=3)