Homeowner Forum / Construction / October 2005

Look at the risk.
If there are no drains in place now, adding them will be difficult.
(Think about running the pipe under the slab and finding a place to
dump the water.)
What is the probability of floods in the area?
What do the neighbors say about the need for drainage?
TB

The basement could have been too low to fit gravity drains...
Id make an issue of it.

Fitting drains now that the house is built will be overly
expensive even if its possible.

However... you can turn one of these holes in the floor into a
sump...and put a pump in it and pump the water to the outside
of the house or the sewer vent stack.   If you want to safe
about it install pumps in two of those holes.

If you want to be ultra safe about it, you can fit a water jet
ejector pump, manual valve opens to operate it, that uses city
water pressure to create a suction that will pull water out of
the basement (back up in the event of a power failure at the
same time you have water in the basement... that will be slow
though)

Phil Scott

Or if the humidifier overflows ..  usually the floor drain is near the
furnace ... and the basement floor is sloped towards it.

These are knock-outs providing access to themain sewer line.   One is
for access to the back water valve.  

No, see above.  But you probably can use one.  Get a plumber to look
at it.

What day this month did he become an inspector?

I'd be a little nervous ... the builder is history and you have a not
very knowledgeable inspector.  

Be cautious.

Ken

Ask the seller to disclose what those holes are for.

They may be forms for footings that never got poured.

When you have a large slab they will sometimes place a footing support
under it and this most often happens in garages but could have been
spec'd in your basement.

They might also be footings to support a pole that would support a beam
that would support the mid-span of your floor joists. Maybe they were
put there by accident and never removed because the concrete truck
showed up and they wernt ready.

I would realy doubt they are for sump pumps and if you wanted to
install a sump pump you would need to increase the size of the hole and
install a pump can. Pump Cans on new houses are usualy put in the
ground with a cap before the pour so the concrete holds it in place by
friction.

whatever those holes are they are probably not supose to be there.

They could be cleanouts for your waste line but it is pretty unlikely.

One way to exclude that is if you have 3 to 4 inch waste pipes along
your basement wall and you can see where they exit through your
basement wall about 4 feet up from the floor.

You can see a sump pump with floor can and a waste pipe in one of my
howtos

www.yourepair.com

good luck
and remember to ask your realtor to have them disclose what those
things are.

bob marencin

how can it be a new home? your the first owner? 2003 and new?
new home and you cant find the builder?
holes in the floor, framed out, filled with sand, hmmmm very odd
take a picture, and post it on a free web site, and the URL here.
it's all a guessing game.

anyway it sounds like you should walk away.

the plans might not show them.
1. I wouldn't  buy it, if the plans are available, why cant you view
them before committing to the purchase.

2. the house some how got pass the C.O. inspection, what you described
sounds like something was unfinished or the builder cut a corner or
was stopped because it is not in the plans or etc, etc.
it's doubtful it is for a floor drain. you don't want an opening that
size if it were.

if you want to bother, even though the sell wont show you the plans,
go to the building department. if it's organized the plans should be
on file.

beware.

You don't say where you are located, but here in the southeast US, floor
drains are not typical if a daylight/open basement, and the type holes you
describe are typically plumbed for either a future bath or sewage pump.

In residential construction, blueprints are not an absolute, but merely a
guide.  Unless drawn for that particular house, I seriously doubt they will
reveal the secret.

s