I have a walk-out basement, and just noticed what I thought was a couple inches of concrete showing is actually wood and part of it is underground. Could this be the sill? Do I need to remove the dirt and add aother siding board or covering? This is a 20 year old house and so far seems to be OK. I don't understand how the excavator could not have noticed this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Stressed over this in Minnesota

Pressure Treated Wood - Its Uses, Limitations and Safety Considerations from the Natural Handyman home repair and do it yourself website

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Originally Posted by dannac

Pressure Treated Wood - Its Uses, Limitations and Safety Considerations from the Natural Handyman home repair and do it yourself website

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Thanks for the url-it has been very helpful.

You could have a treated wood foundation. Does the wood go up to the band joist and sill? Is it sitting on a gravel footing?

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Originally Posted by ma0641

You could have a treated wood foundation. Does the wood go up to the band joist and sill? Is it sitting on a gravel footing?

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The house is a split level 3 finished levels, with-out a full basement, just a crawl space (1/2 basement) which is all concrete block, and I can see concrete on the othersides too. Just the walk-out part, which is about 20' long seems to have a wood sill. Sorry, I don't know much about house construction so I hope I have answered your question. The builder was a well known builder in this area, who built many houses in this area.

That clears up some things. That is quite common when the grade is below the footing. In my house, Atlanta area, most houses have walk out basements due to the hilly terrain. All of the exposed walls have a treated sill on the slab. There should be 6 inches from ground level to sill. Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by ma0641

That clears up some things. That is quite common when the grade is below the footing. In my house, Atlanta area, most houses have walk out basements due to the hilly terrain. All of the exposed walls have a treated sill on the slab. There should be 6 inches from ground level to sill. Hope this helps!!

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Thanks