Foundation repair

[Bert_]

Just thought I'd post about one of my winter projects.

Have a shallow foundation under a small part of my house. It has settled some before I owned it but the dry couple years have made it worse. Decided I want to pour walls under the existing footing. Not a big enough area to make it worth getting equipment down there. Cut a doorway then just get to work.

 

[strutaeng]

Nice project. Is rock under there? Or what does footings bear on in your area?

Is undermining a concern?

 

[Bert_]

These footings are barely 3' deep and sits on black dirt. No wonder it's settled. Rest of the house has nice basement with footings 6-7' deep on good hard clay.

Got it dug within a couple feet of the footing. Then dug a foot wide trench under it about every 4 feet. Missed getting a picture of that. Took a little while to come up with the posts. 1 1/2" pipe and 3/4" bolts with long threads.

 

[WisJim]

What fun! A friend of ours bought a house with a shallow minimal basement, and he's a tall guy. He ended up digging out the floor a couple of feet and deepening the foundation all the way around, a little at a time, and then pouring a proper slab. He worked on it for years, hauling dirt out in buckets.

 

[captain14]

What are your future plan for the “new” room? Is the room above it colder than the rest of the house? Maybe a bathroom with the drain pipes?

 

[larry4406]

Wow Bert!

 

[billconner]

I see rebar by one of your pipe "jacks". Did you/will you form and pour to encase all this?

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Nice project I was told always to protect it from water.

 

[Bert_]

We did get some forms up a couple days ago before the weather got bad and the guys went home. Will finish forming today but have to wait till till Monday before I can get concrete.

 

[Bert_]

What are your future plan for the “new” room? Is the room above it colder than the rest of the house? Maybe a bathroom with the drain pipes?

I think I will put some plumbing in before I pour a floor and plan for a bathroom. The only other bathroom in the house is above it and is fairly small. The space above is an entryway and bathroom. It might be slightly cooler than the rest of the house but I did put a heat run into the crawl space before I moved in.

What fun! A friend of ours bought a house with a shallow minimal basement, and he's a tall guy. He ended up digging out the floor a couple of feet and deepening the foundation all the way around, a little at a time, and then pouring a proper slab. He worked on it for years, hauling dirt out in buckets.

I don't know if I could have done a large are this way. I dug out about a 8x16 area. Took a couple months working about one hour most evenings.

 

[Bert_]

It's a little bit of a weird feeling digging out all the dirt under the existing footing. A section of my house is being held up by 7 sticks of pipe.

The pipe and bolts worked extremely well. In the corner that had settled about 3/4" over time, I was able to push it back up 1/2".

 

[larry4406]

It's a little bit of a weird feeling digging out all the dirt under the existing footing. A section of my house is being held up by 7 sticks of pipe.

The pipe and bolts worked extremely well. In the corner that had settled about 3/4" over time, I was able to push it back up 1/2".

What are the pipes resting on? Hard to tell in the pictures.

I don't think I have ever seen it done this way. At the commercial project I was on where we rennovated an 1870's building, we underpinned every other 2 foot section then after the underpin set up, came back and did the infills.

 

[captain14]

Here’s a thread I found while searching for previous members that have done the same project.

Putting Concrete Floor in Crawl Space

I'm wanting to put a concrete floor in a portion of my crawl space. I've already cut out a bigger opening and put in a door. I've also started digging out the dirt floor in order to give me more head room and a level floor. Here is a picture of how it looked before I started digging. As I've...

www.garagejournal.com

I know Eric from his NUTTSGT thread showed his project as he worked through the digging, dirt removal and pouring new concrete. I think it’s in his thread 3/4 years ago.

 

[Bert_]

What are the pipes resting on? Hard to tell in the pictures.

I don't think I have ever seen it done this way. At the commercial project I was on where we rennovated an 1870's building, we underpinned every other 2 foot section then after the underpin set up, came back and did the infills.

Bag of sackcrete and a scrap of metal under each post.

Doing the wall in section is what I heard about the most. I wanted to order concrete one time and be done since it is such a small area. Only about 3 yards of concrete. I wanted to try and fix the settling and it made it easier to form also.

Doing it in sections would be more desirable in a bigger area I think. Wouldn't be dealing with short load charges, or mixing it myself.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've been there with the bucket brigade. When doing so, I highly suggest modifying the bucket handle with either a piece of 1/2" copper pipe or 3/4" PVC pipe about 3.5-4" long, slipped over the original handle. Your hand will thank you later in the evening.

Doing the entire project at one time rather than sections, must be smaller than in the pics.

Definitely hard work and will be worth it when it's done. IMHO, anyone who thinks this is a simple and easy project because they saw it on TV, is well,. I'll just leave it at that.

I just bought a cube of block yesterday. They got cut long ways and hauled down in the basement so I can get back on doing some block veneer and core filling.

 

[Pen & Wrench]

Wow that looks like a lot of hard work! Nice job!

 

[ConCretin]

That's quite a project you've undertaken. Not sure I'd have the ambition to tackle it. It looks like a solid job but if the existing soils are settling, I'd be concerned about lateral loads on your underpinning. I assume you'll be placing a slab when you are done. That should help alleviate that concern. Nice work!

 

[larry4406]

With this type of work, how would one water proof this? Surface treat the interior side and hope for the best?

 

[Bert_]

With this type of work, how would one water proof this? Surface treat the interior side and hope for the best?

Maybe not the best but I don't plan to do anything. I'll paint it eventually just for looks.

The rest of the basement is dry and I doubt it has any waterproofing. I think it was dug when the house was built back in the 1920's. The worst I've seen is a couple damp spots on the floor only after a hard rain. No sump pump either.

That's quite a project you've undertaken. Not sure I'd have the ambition to tackle it. It looks like a solid job but if the existing soils are settling, I'd be concerned about lateral loads on your underpinning. I assume you'll be placing a slab when you are done. That should help alleviate that concern. Nice work!

The long wall is only 16' and yes it will get a floor so I'm not expecting an issue. Seems like usually when you see this issue it's the 50-70's ranch style houses. Those always have long basement walls built with block and no rebar or core filling

 

[Bert_]

Need a way to get concrete in the house but I hadn't knocked out the hole since it was cold last week. I will put a window here but will have to wait a while. I need above freezing temperatures for mortar. For now we have some shipping crate scraps on both sides of the wall.

 

[Bert_]

Was planning on pouring a week ago Monday but the weather was warm and it didn't freeze overnight. That would usually be a good thing but I need the yard frozen to get the truck to the back of the house. Waited and poured on Thursday and got forms stripped this Monday morning.

 

[larry4406]

Nice job Bert.

How does that one side form system work?

 

[dfiler2]

Great job, good to see people still tackling jobs like this on their own.

 

[Bert_]

Nice job Bert.

How does that one side form system work?

It worked fine. When you think you braced enough, go back and add more. I had a couple spots that bowed the forms an 1 1/2" or so. Overall turned out good.

 

[Bert_]

Took a little break and worked on some other things for a few weeks. I did spend a little time last Saturday getting plumbing into the new room. Was warm enough I could pull some air through the basement when I was cutting the floor

 

[Bert_]

The concrete crew is doing a driveway in town tomorrow. They were willing to order an extra yard of concrete and get my floor poured also. I was going to try and get this done last spring but there was about 4" of water in that room that wouldn't dry out! Still lots better than others had to deal with.

I put down some insulation since I plumbed it to be a bathroom. We will see if it makes the floor warmer. Rest of the basement doesn't get too bad so idk.

 

[larry4406]

The concrete crew is doing a driveway in town tomorrow. They were willing to order an extra yard of concrete and get my floor poured also. I was going to try and get this done last spring but there was about 4" of water in that room that wouldn't dry out! Still lots better than others had to deal with.

I put down some insulation since I plumbed it to be a bathroom. We will see if it makes the floor warmer. Rest of the basement doesn't get too bad so idk.

Did you install drain tile, a sump crock, and sump pump?

 

[Bert_]

Did you install drain tile, a sump crock, and sump pump?

I didn't

The rest of the basement almost never gets water. This spring we had record high water levels. There is a lot of people that lost their houses. I had some water but it just trickled over to the floor drain. Not really a big deal.

The new room had 4" because with no concrete it's lower than everything else.

 

[Bert_]

Well the concrete did get poured early last week. Should have stuck around to supervise because it ended up 3/4" high in the middle of the room. Rented a grinder and at least it's decent now.

 

[Bert_]

Anyone have thoughts on what I should put on the floor? It's been ground so it's rough and porus. I'm thinking I'll just paint it.

I want a shower stall. I'm thinking 4" concrete block like used to be common.

 

[chris142]

Great job, good to see people still tackling jobs like this on their own.

Assuming a guy knows how to do this kind of work. I am house stupid and leave stuff like this to a pro as I have no clue how to do this kind of repairs.

My house knowledge stops at taking a trap off a sink to unclog it.

 

[Bert_]

Assuming a guy knows how to do this kind of work. I am house stupid and leave stuff like this to a pro as I have no clue how to do this kind of repairs.

My house knowledge stops at taking a trap off a sink to unclog it.

I'm not sure if this project means I'm smart, but I know which end of the shovel to hold!