MariaSwatson45
Member
Hi everyone,
I'm creating this thread to document and get feedback on a foundation repair that I'm going to start on the home that I live in.
I purchased this home in February of 2020, knowing about the problem. Prior to putting the home under contract, I brought in an engineer to give his opinion of the wall and I felt comfortable with his advice and agreed that impending catastrophic failure wasn't an immediate concern.
A little of my background and objectives in this project - I am a licensed contractor - but masonry and foundations are not my niche by trade. Some of you may tell me to leave this to the pros but I wouldn't be where I am today if I haven't dug into something I knew little about. I do believe there is a line that has to be drawn on when to bring in professional help. The first steps in the process will be for investigation, and determine potential paths. I ask for your patience.
The home is a 2600 SF, "L" shape ranch, with a partially finished basement. I will draw a basement layout at some point showing the problem areas. From what I can see from inside, the two problem areas are along the front faces of the house. One CMU wall that is under our living room is the primary concern. The wall is approx. 27' long, and 2/3 of the wall bas a bow, with the largest deflection point being around 1-7/8". I found this by shooting a laser parallel to the wall and measuring at 3 points (sill, mid-point, and bottom of the wall).
From the top of footer to the sill is about 8'. There is a horizontal crack that runs at 4' elevation for the above mentioned 2/3's of the wall. There are also a few step cracks. Horizontal displacement is no greater than 1/8" at any point. Where the wall "T's" into the foundation for the "L" runout of the house, there have been previous repairs with what looks like parging. There's a shelf attached to the wall that I will removed for further investigation.
The second problem area is under our master bedroom. Same wall height and issue as described above but deflection no grater than 3/16" for the entire height of the wall. While this is minor, I plan to dig out the front of this section as well and repair it while I'm deep in this project. My plan is to also inspect the footer drain/french drain and repair/improve as necessary.
Engineers comment summary: he sees this frequently in the area we live in. Expansive soil was likely used as backfill and freeze/thaw cycles and hydrostatic pressure have caused the wall to push in. His recommendation was to excavate the exterior to remove the soil, he believes the wall will move a little back into place when the soil is removed, and then add carbon strapping to the interior, and backfill with rock.
The next steps for me:
1. expose more of the footer from the inside to see if the block has shifted from the top of footer, or first few courses.
2. Remove soil from front corner of the house to look at the brick ledge, foundation drain, and condition of the exterior foundation. I will start in a place where the wall hasn't moved in. This step is more for me to learn about the method of construction. From looking through my code book, I believe that the top course of block is a half width, which provides the brick ledge.
In the picture, you can see the 27' length of wall, and the repairs attempted by previous owner. The horizontal crack has what appears to be hydraulic cement, or parging applied to conceal. The step cracks have been caulked, and painting, as another attempt to conceal. I'm curious as to how the fillings in the cracks will effect the wall potentially moving back into plane.
Feedback appreciated. Wish me luck!
I'm creating this thread to document and get feedback on a foundation repair that I'm going to start on the home that I live in.
I purchased this home in February of 2020, knowing about the problem. Prior to putting the home under contract, I brought in an engineer to give his opinion of the wall and I felt comfortable with his advice and agreed that impending catastrophic failure wasn't an immediate concern.
A little of my background and objectives in this project - I am a licensed contractor - but masonry and foundations are not my niche by trade. Some of you may tell me to leave this to the pros but I wouldn't be where I am today if I haven't dug into something I knew little about. I do believe there is a line that has to be drawn on when to bring in professional help. The first steps in the process will be for investigation, and determine potential paths. I ask for your patience.
The home is a 2600 SF, "L" shape ranch, with a partially finished basement. I will draw a basement layout at some point showing the problem areas. From what I can see from inside, the two problem areas are along the front faces of the house. One CMU wall that is under our living room is the primary concern. The wall is approx. 27' long, and 2/3 of the wall bas a bow, with the largest deflection point being around 1-7/8". I found this by shooting a laser parallel to the wall and measuring at 3 points (sill, mid-point, and bottom of the wall).
From the top of footer to the sill is about 8'. There is a horizontal crack that runs at 4' elevation for the above mentioned 2/3's of the wall. There are also a few step cracks. Horizontal displacement is no greater than 1/8" at any point. Where the wall "T's" into the foundation for the "L" runout of the house, there have been previous repairs with what looks like parging. There's a shelf attached to the wall that I will removed for further investigation.
The second problem area is under our master bedroom. Same wall height and issue as described above but deflection no grater than 3/16" for the entire height of the wall. While this is minor, I plan to dig out the front of this section as well and repair it while I'm deep in this project. My plan is to also inspect the footer drain/french drain and repair/improve as necessary.
Engineers comment summary: he sees this frequently in the area we live in. Expansive soil was likely used as backfill and freeze/thaw cycles and hydrostatic pressure have caused the wall to push in. His recommendation was to excavate the exterior to remove the soil, he believes the wall will move a little back into place when the soil is removed, and then add carbon strapping to the interior, and backfill with rock.
The next steps for me:
1. expose more of the footer from the inside to see if the block has shifted from the top of footer, or first few courses.
2. Remove soil from front corner of the house to look at the brick ledge, foundation drain, and condition of the exterior foundation. I will start in a place where the wall hasn't moved in. This step is more for me to learn about the method of construction. From looking through my code book, I believe that the top course of block is a half width, which provides the brick ledge.
In the picture, you can see the 27' length of wall, and the repairs attempted by previous owner. The horizontal crack has what appears to be hydraulic cement, or parging applied to conceal. The step cracks have been caulked, and painting, as another attempt to conceal. I'm curious as to how the fillings in the cracks will effect the wall potentially moving back into plane.
Feedback appreciated. Wish me luck!
