With our new footings dug and our beams replaced/ reinforced/ strapped down on our home's south and west walls, It was time to open up the easier walls to the north and east (easier because they're the "daylight" sides of our daylight basement, and not holding up a ton of earth uphill). Chad demolished the drywall and framing, which was 12" in from the exterior wall of the house, presumably to cover up the plumbing main. Once the wall was gone, though, we quickly discovered that the plumbing was not the only thing hiding. There was also a gigantic hole in the slab, underneath which was standing groundwater.
In addition to the standing water, Chad noticed a half-inch gap between the edge of the slab floor in the basement, which meant that this groundwater issue had caused some erosion, making the wall of the house move away from the slab. Yikes. This was not, in fact, going to be the easy wall.
