Hi,

Half of our basement was dug down about 6 inches more than 30 years
ago. I just pulled down some wall panelling in the dug-out section, and

discovered that there is about a 4 inch gap between the bottom of the
foundation wall and the basement floor. I can clearly see earth fills
this gap.

Here are a couple of photos of the gap:

http://jjlloyd.googlepages.com/basement

The house was built in the 1920s, and the foundation is poured
concrete. The basement floor is poured concrete. The earth is very
sandy, and we do not have a problem with water via the gap. There are
no cracks in the foundation wall, nor are there cracks in the exterior
brick of the house to suggest bad settling. I have only uncovered a
small section of the walls so far.

I've had a couple of contractors in who suggest an expensive "proper"
addition of footings. Another contractor suggested the earth be dug out

several inches past the exterior of the foundation wall, and
back-filled with concrete to make a sort of 1/2 footing. Or I was
considering just filling in a few inches of concrete on the inside to
prevent the earth from spilling inwards. But I don't believe that will
add any structural support.

Do I really need expensive several-feet deep footings with weeping
tile, etc., to replace the earth that hasn't moved much in all this
time?

Any opinions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff