Heating a foundation over the winter???

[S.D. Ice Angular]

I recently purchased a house and property that was damaged in the July 1st storm this year.

The house was totaled by the previous owner’s insurance company. I am planning on demolishing everything above the first layer of flooring just over the floor joist then capping it for the winter.

My question is:

Do I need to keep heat in the basement over the winter? The house is 33 years old and has a good water shed. The basement is finished (But will need to be completely gutted at some point). I have been told conflicting stories on this. Some say I need to keep heat in it so it does not buckle when the ground freezes other say it won’t matter at all. It is a block basement.

I would rather not heat it but I don’t want to see any damage done because I was just trying to save a few bucks.

Any advice is greatly appricated.

[CAMAN]

I don't know anything about the answer to your question, but I'd have to believe it has something to do with how high the water table is and if it can freeze then it may cause an issue.

But one thing you will certainly want to do if it hasn't been done already is call in the water company(if it's city water of course) and have them shut off the water at the street, then drain the line. You don't need a frozen water main at this point. If it's a well then shut it off and drain it to the well.

[cavalierowner]

I definately would protect that foundation. I am assuming it's a conventional basement with the floor level at least 3 or more feet below grade outside. Rather than heating, what I have seen done a couple times is put about 3' to 4' of loose hay in the entire basement. That insulates the footings and floor slab and protects from frost heave. You could also use insulating blankets, but I suspect the hay would be a lot cheaper and would do a better job as it will go around stairs, etc. Just a disclaimer, though: I have seen this done only on open foundations where construction was stopped; I have no idea how much of a job it would be to get all that hay in or out!! The advantage of hay is that it's dummy-proof; you don't have to worry about a heater going out and not being noticed.

[tonkapat]

imo I would never shut the heat of on any place with a foundation. The cost to keep it heated to 50 degrees is nothing in comparison to digging the old foundation up and building new. Putting heat in there is cheap insurance.

[walleyeseeker]

I am a contractor and have built houses in the winter before. We have always been required by the building inspector to keep the basement heated all winter. If the foundation were left to freeze, he said it would need to be replaced.

[Surface Tension]

You would be taking a chance letting it freeze.

If it were new construction you'd never let it freeze.

I've worked on buildings that were left vacant and went through at least on freeze cycle without damage to the foundation.

With the amount of foreclosed homes around that is getting pretty common and I'll bet most are not heated.

Amount of moister in the soil and soil type matters.

If there is a sump pump moving water away then I'd imagine you'll have a mess on your hands if left to freeze.

Mess as in water but heaving and buckling as well.

If the footing freezes and heaves it'll be doubtful that heave will be even.

Add a drop footing and walls crack.

[LightningBG]

Do all the people with cabins that get closed up for the winter, with the heat off, not have foundations?

[CAMAN]

I am a contractor and have built houses in the winter before. We have always been required by the building inspector to keep the basement heated all winter. If the foundation were left to freeze, he said it would need to be replaced.

I'm sure this has something more to do with the curing process of the concrete rather than it buckling from the cold.

[cavalierowner]

[quote=CAMAN I'm sure this has something more to do with the curing process of the concrete rather than it buckling from the cold.

[Surface Tension]

Lightning, cabins are usually associated with slabs, posts or piers below the frost line. I've even seen them set on of blocks laying on the ground. No need to heat any of the above.

[Redlantern]

Like some have already pointed out, if you have water(moisture) under the footings and it freezes, you stand a better than average chance of the footings heaving if you don't heat it. I'm not talking about a pond or a river but wet soil. Water expands when it freezes. It can lift an immense amount of weight. Heating the basement over the winter is a miniscule cost compared to having to rebuild the whole foundation.