Digging a pit

[mlasko]

Anybody ever have to dig a pit to put an exterior chimney up and out of the basement...the grade comes right up to the top of my basement walls all the way around the house...going up through the floor, through the upstairs ceiling, and then through the roof seems like a lot more work than digging a 2 1/2 foot pit, going through the wall and then teeing up the side of the house...any experiences with this?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

What will you do with water and snow? Then also comes the problem when it comes time to clean the pipe, etc. Personally, I would not do it.

 

[Cazimere]

If you build a retaining wall surrounding your pit with a drain in the bottom
to drain water away from your foundation, it should work.

 

[fossil]

There are commercially availabe window wells made of heavy corrugated galvanized steel, or other materials, commonly used for "daylight" basements. They are sort of half-oval with flanges to bolt to the wall. They come in various sizes. The pit beneath is dug deep and filled with gravel or small rock to constitute a drywell, or you could install a piped drain to daylight if your topography allows. They can be painted for preservation/matching the house prior to installation. Back fill is put in place around the outside to grade. They will collect leaves/frogs/spiders/whatever & need cleaning out once a year or so, unless you modify one of the available covers to fit around your chimney. Rick

Here's just one of many examples of what I'm talking about. This one's not metal: (google window well)

http://www.windowwellpictures.com/