I am currently house hunting and run into older houses that have cellars. Around here, that is at least a dirt floor and the walls are either of stone or block. I am wondering how concerned I should be about them. What should I be looking for to know it is a decent one, other than if I see mushrooms (and I have!) that is a bad thing. Are they generally damp? Do they affect the house structure in anyway more so than a complete basement? Also, most times the furnace is down there. Is the air quality of the house affected by the air being circulated from there? Is there anyway to improve them, perhaps seal them off or something if there is a dampness. Someone suggested pressure treated wood. I did send an email to Jon Eakes of HGTV but am unsure of getting an answer. I am putting my faith in the teeming millions!
How are you distinguishing between a “cellar” and a “basement”? Around here, the terms are usually synonymous. But as an owner of an older house with a basement with stone walls (and thankfully, a concrete floor), I can say that there are disadvantages as compared with a poured foundation. You’re much more likely to get dampness and even water in the basement – how much depends on the water table and whether the house has good drainage and gutters. You’re also more likely to get varmints (mostly field mice) because they can find places to burrow through. Over time, particularly if there is poor drainage, a stone foundation can bulge inwards and, in particularly dire circumstances, I imagine it could collapse. Your building inspector will be able to tell if there’s any sign of that kind of failure.
With a stone foundation, about all you can do is point the stones with mortar in an attempt to seal out the moisture. If the foundation is concrete block, I think there are various coatings and sealants you can use to seal out moisture.
You should probably get the house tested for radon, as well.
If you’re in Ontario, as your profile says you are, then you want a cellar. Or a basement. In Ontario, the terms are pretty interchangeable.
Your furnace is expected to be down there. The air it circulates will be fine. You shouldn’t really be concerned at all about the cellar, if the house is old enough–in other words, if the house is 100 years old and hasn’t fallen down yet, you’re probably going to be OK.
Now, if the house is three years old and does not have a sealed foundation, you may have a cause for concern. But it probably does–if I remember my Ontario building codes, all foundations built in the past (blumph) years must have one. But if yours doesn’t for some reason, you can always go back and do it yourself. Dig a trench about 18" to 2’ wide and deep enough to cover the depth of the foundation, around all the foundation, slap tar on it (available from Canadian Tire or Home Depot), seal it with a plastic vapour barrier, and backfill the trench. You’re done! It’s a good project to get a group of friends involved in (as I’ve been before). Just make sure you’ve got beer for them.
A house with a fieldstone foundation and a dirt floor is not a major cause for concern–certainly, in the city of Toronto (where I used to inspect houses), there are many houses like that. You need to look for major leaks, cellar walls falling apart due to dampness, and suchlike. If you do not spot these problems, you’re probably OK. And if you check to make sure that the foundation is sealed, you’re doubly OK if it is.
Your bigger concern in Ontario would be, “Is the house made of brick?” That’s what most Ontarians and their building codes would ask, anyway. The cellar would be an afterthought; although now that you know about sealing the foundation, you’re fine with that.
Thanx very much for all the info, you have greatly alleviated my concerns. Would hate to have to deal with all the digging but would if I had to of course. Why would a bigger concern be if the house is made of brick? The house I currently refer to is new vinyl siding. I would doubt someone would cover over brick but who knows. Just curious.
Surely all houses in Ontario have cellars/basements? The foundation of a house must be sunk below the frost line to prevent the house from shifting with the annual freezing and thawing of the soil. Ontario is far enough north that the frost line would be low enough require a full basement in all occupied buildings.
FWIW, I have seen a few basements and talked to folks about them in general, and the consensus is you cannot seal out moisture from the inside.
If you have a basement wall that seeps/leaks, your choices are to do some rather expensive excavation and repair from the outside or to have a second wall built inside the original, with drains and sump pump to remove the water that gets between them.
(That second option actually can work quite well, if you want a dry basement.)
You could always do what I did and put a gutter on the house to improve drainage. One hundred and forty years and it never occurred to anyone that if you put a gutter on the freaking house, mebbe you wouldn’t get a flood in the basement every time it rained hard. :rolleyes:
BTW, the furnace gets its air from the “cold air returns” throughout the occupied portions of the home.
It should get very little air from the basement, unless the previous owners designed it that way. Easy to fix if it does.