We're about to jump on a Victorian that is around 140 years old, so it has a field stone and mortar type foundation. The lot is fla t and the basement is pretty dry, but obviously it weeps a bit as it is deigned to. Now I know that there is no way to turn it into living space, but I wonder what can be done to make it more usable, maybe for a workspace or pool table. The basement on this place is big and not nasty like a lot of them. You can't cover the walls with plaster or mortar can you because the mortar is supposed to crumble over time to preserve the stone? I was thinking of just having the walls white and the floor painted gray kind of thng.

 

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Have an expert look at it. In fact get more than one.

Oh before you buy the house have your own experts look it over especially with that old of a house. There could be major things like the electrical system too which need to be upgraded to code

 

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On one project i was on they had the same situation. They poured a new foundation under the old field stone and mortar. Then they sprayed the old foundation with some kind of concrete fiber mix. Then they just framed it and had a huge space under their building. It was pretty expensive and was office space.

 

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Where is BobVila when you need him.

Can you repour the walls and floors with waterproof cement? I'm building on IMHO's idea only not going under but making the room smaller and going inside.

 

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The load bearing walls will always be on top of the old foundation, so you have to pour under and then brace the old foundation by using the concrete fiber materiel.

 

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Yes you can improve on it and even have a living space down there, but it will not be cheap. It's going to involve a lot of excavation, a new footing being poured, new drain tile, etc.

 

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My grandparents used to live in an old house like that. It had a stone foundation. When it was sold the buyer removed and replaced the foundation totally with a new concrete one and in the process he turned the house around so that the front door instead of facing east faced south. Amazing!

Also another problem of living in a house like that is they can be declared historical landmarks. My grandparents exterior of the house was declared this by the city and they couldnt by law do any major changes to that part of the house.

 

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The General Contractor that did the concrete and fiber mixture re did the foundation of the building next door too. They replace the old foundation with a compete new cement foundation. They had to replace the old foundation 4 feet at a time. The building was to big to do it all at the same time. In the end it was too expensive, that's why they did the Concrete fiber spray on the next house.

 

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I think that this type of old house might quickly become a money pit. I think that you and your wife Azure should be very, very careful before you buy it. I really do think you also need to look at the electrical system too and dont trust anything the realitor says about the house. Also research to see if the house is a historical landmark too.

 

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