below the grade concrete perimeter around house
by jefro from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4YPJ4)
Here is some building oddity I can't figure out. Maybe someone knows the reason.
My brother-in-law bought a 100 year old waterfront house on a salt water bay in tropical South Texas. The original footprint of the home has a below grade concrete berm around the outline of the house starting at ground level. It's about 9 inches wide at top and goes down about 2 1/2 feet. Similar to a footing and about 2 feet away from the house.
My only idea is that it is a rat barrier of some kind.
Other people's guesses are it could be to stop roots or sand blowing or even hold some sort of pesticide.
Has anyone ever seen such a thing?
My brother-in-law bought a 100 year old waterfront house on a salt water bay in tropical South Texas. The original footprint of the home has a below grade concrete berm around the outline of the house starting at ground level. It's about 9 inches wide at top and goes down about 2 1/2 feet. Similar to a footing and about 2 feet away from the house.
My only idea is that it is a rat barrier of some kind.
Other people's guesses are it could be to stop roots or sand blowing or even hold some sort of pesticide.
Has anyone ever seen such a thing?