Hello everyone,
I have a somewhat unusual shaft in my basement (house built in 1910, hillside location) and would like to hear your opinions on what it might be or how it was originally intended.
The shaft is tiled and is lower than the main basement floor. The water level inside stays constant at a certain height.
Here are some observations:
There is a drain through which water flows outside.
Two pipes come out of the floor, from the floor drain of a former coal cellar.
There is also a pipe that runs upwards (apparently added later for a garden hose).
The shaft depth is 107cm (42 inches) to the floor, with a water level of 78cm (31 inches) in the middle.
The shaft is roughly in the middle of the house on the hillside side.
To me, it seems like some kind of old drainage or collection shaft intended to gather and control water from the hillside. Because of the shaft, there is high humidity, but the walls remain dry.
Unfortunately, no building plans are available, as they were severely damaged by flooding in 2002 at both the main house of the owner and the local authority. The house itself did not experience flooding where this shaft is located.
Now my questions:
Is this typical for hillside houses from around 1900?
Could this originally have been a drainage collection point?
Is it better to leave such a system unchanged, or are there recommended measures for optimization?
I am attaching pictures for better assessment.
I have a somewhat unusual shaft in my basement (house built in 1910, hillside location) and would like to hear your opinions on what it might be or how it was originally intended.
The shaft is tiled and is lower than the main basement floor. The water level inside stays constant at a certain height.
Here are some observations:
There is a drain through which water flows outside.
Two pipes come out of the floor, from the floor drain of a former coal cellar.
There is also a pipe that runs upwards (apparently added later for a garden hose).
The shaft depth is 107cm (42 inches) to the floor, with a water level of 78cm (31 inches) in the middle.
The shaft is roughly in the middle of the house on the hillside side.
To me, it seems like some kind of old drainage or collection shaft intended to gather and control water from the hillside. Because of the shaft, there is high humidity, but the walls remain dry.
Unfortunately, no building plans are available, as they were severely damaged by flooding in 2002 at both the main house of the owner and the local authority. The house itself did not experience flooding where this shaft is located.
Now my questions:
Is this typical for hillside houses from around 1900?
Could this originally have been a drainage collection point?
Is it better to leave such a system unchanged, or are there recommended measures for optimization?
I am attaching pictures for better assessment.