What this Vent for?

[Peter Louis]

Is this vent for basement? Why is it here? This is nice built house.

Thank you

[Bob Knauff]

Hard to say Peter. The porch appears to be tiled. Perhaps they put tile over a wood substrate and to keep the moisture level down under there and to prevent rot they installed air circulation vents to let it breathe. Are there more than one vent. Have you been in the basement and if so is there an air inlet anywhere in the vicinity of the exterior one? Is there a partial crawl space under the porch area that needed to be vented?

[Peter Louis]

Thank you Bob.

There is fully finished basement. I would not expect this vent for finished space because it is too low and a contamination hazard.

I would think it is for the shallow porch or say this patio. But I do not think it helps breath much and is really necessary.

[David Crawford]

Is this vent for basement? Why is it here? This is nice built house.

Thank you

Could be a DIY drainage solution.
Maybe it's connected to a drain system.

[Tom Rees]

Here that area under the front porch is unfinished space that a lot of people use for cold storage. I commonly see that area vented.

[Bob Knauff]

Peter, it looks like someone went to a bit of extra trouble to tile around the opening. If it was not necessary I would think they'd have tiled right over it. Perhaps it's an exhaust vent for a bathroom or clothes dryer or something in the basement? even though something like that shouldn't be at ground level.

Tom, you mean you still find the equivalent of root cellars in use in your area? Cool! (no pun intended) IMHO root cellars were one of the best inventions around. No moving parts, large space compared to a refrigerator, and in case of storms, a great place for shelter.