The Log house Project begins........

[MotorSeven]

Eddie, it is not the footer or soil. This stood for 2 years with zero cracks. Less than two weeks ago I backfilled and after the first rain the bow and cracks appeared. The bow is centered on the wall, with a set of matching cracks 1/4 way in from each corner traveling from the top down about 5' where they stop. I am 100%sure it was my mistake of backfilling that caused this.
I am dumbfounded because the cut bank has not caved in and I used my bucket to fill the 2.5' space between the bank & wall. This means a 2.5' thick stack of dirt 7' tall & 36' long put enough pressure on the 12" block to bow it in...I just never would have guessd that in a million years.
Some lessons are easy, others sting for a while. Looking back, I wish I had just coughed up the $ & solid poured walls but unfortunatly $ is an issue which is why I opted for the block. I am not impressed with block at all.

The pour is scheduled for Thur AM. I am pouring the entire back wall, all corners, around the two openings and every 4'. Rebar in each poured hole and a double rebar band around the 4x12" cap tied to the wall rebar. My thinking is if I do not pour the bowed wall and cap it I will have to tear it out and re-do it because it will definatly fail if left as-is.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Eddie, it is not the footer or soil. This stood for 2 years with zero cracks. Less than two weeks ago I backfilled and after the first rain the bow and cracks appeared. The bow is centered on the wall, with a set of matching cracks 1/4 way in from each corner traveling from the top down about 5' where they stop. I am 100%sure it was my mistake of backfilling that caused this.
I am dumbfounded because the cut bank has not caved in and I used my bucket to fill the 2.5' space between the bank & wall. This means a 2.5' thick stack of dirt 7' tall & 36' long put enough pressure on the 12" block to bow it in...I just never would have guessd that in a million years.
Some lessons are easy, others sting for a while. Looking back, I wish I had just coughed up the $ & solid poured walls but unfortunatly $ is an issue which is why I opted for the block. I am not impressed with block at all.

The pour is scheduled for Thur AM. I am pouring the entire back wall, all corners, around the two openings and every 4'. Rebar in each poured hole and a double rebar band around the 4x12" cap tied to the wall rebar. My thinking is if I do not pour the bowed wall and cap it I will have to tear it out and re-do it because it will definatly fail if left as-is.

It doesn't make it any better but poured walls crack as well. Its tough though doing a project like this without having someone there to help guide you. You will learn a lot of lessons but hopefully TBN can help keep them to a minimum.

 

[MotorSeven]

Robert, the Platon membrane is has not been affected, so it should still be waterproof. My wife is in real estate and I have seen a bunch of basements in the area with cracks, mostly hairline stuff. In talking to the builders here most do not bother to fill block with crete, nor do they pour a cap. My initial intention was to fill this wall and a entire perimeter cap to contain any cracks & tie the wall together between the cap & footer. I knew it would crack someday I was ok with it as long as the block could not shift. Well now I have an "operator error" crack and shift and I am playing catch-up.

 

[MotorSeven]

It doesn't make it any better but poured walls crack as well. Its tough though doing a project like this without having someone there to help guide you. You will learn a lot of lessons but hopefully TBN can help keep them to a minimum.

Poured walls contain wire mesh...no? If not then your right, they would be no better than block.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Poured walls contain wire mesh...no? If not then your right, they would be no better than block.

Even with the mesh and rebar I have still seen them crack. Some just minor, others pretty major.

If you have the membrane on it then you should be fine. Most people around here are just learning about it and for a while it was popular for people to just thin down the foundation coating and spray it on. It did no good as they thinned it too much and it all ran down to the ground and didn't stick to the wall. That was their only source of water barrier and it ran down to the ground which did no good.

 

[Molerj]

after the first rain the bow and cracks appeared
This means a 2.5' thick stack of dirt 7' tall & 36' long put enough pressure on the 12" block to bow it in..

It's all about when the loose dirt got wet and it created enough pressure to push in the wall that didn't have weight on top of it. I would be tempted to dig out the dirt against the wall and straighten it out before I filled in the blocks. I know that is a lot of work, but I think you will feel better about a straight wall in the end.

 

[MotorSeven]

It's all about when the loose dirt got wet and it created enough pressure to push in the wall that didn't have weight on top of it. I would be tempted to dig out the dirt against the wall and straighten it out before I filled in the blocks. I know that is a lot of work, but I think you will feel better about a straight wall in the end.

Ron, I was thinking about that, but that area is where the belt truck has to park to get the boom out over the block. So I would have to dig it out, then move it out of the way. It's not a bad idea and I do have a couple of days to get it done. The bow(if it does not increase before the pour) is not that bad & I can live with it. But if it is creeping I am going to dig....so I guess I am in hesitation mode. Based on my personal experince...hesitation usually kills:confused3:

 

[955Lincoln]

It sure would be nice to remove the fill and straighten the wall like Eddie and Ron mentioned. It may not move enough to cause you any structural problems but being the foundation it sure would bug the heck out of me. I would feel rushed to get the house framed because I think that is the only way to stop the movement.

Would you have to shovel it by hand? It looks pretty difficult to remove without disturbing a lot more ground. I'm curious if it was tightly or loosely compacted when you were filling. That could give you a clue as to how much more pushing it wants to do.

 

[bindian]

Ron, I was thinking about that, but that area is where the belt truck has to park to get the boom out over the block. So I would have to dig it out, then move it out of the way. It's not a bad idea and I do have a couple of days to get it done. The bow(if it does not increase before the pour) is not that bad & I can live with it. But if it is creeping I am going to dig....so I guess I am in hesitation mode. Based on my personal experince...hesitation usually kills:confused3:

Rick,
What is a belt truck?
hugs, Brandi

 

[MotorSeven]

955 it was loose, I just bucketed it in there - no compaction. Since it was so close to the wall I didn't even drive on it. I know, disturbing the soil directly in front of the house front door is also something I do not want to do....a double edged sword thing.......


Brandi, for some reason the local concrete place does not have a pumper truck, only a conveyor belt truck. It's like a regular concrete truck, but it has a huge conveyor boom that can extend out to 30 some odd feet. The wet crete travels out onto the boom on a belt, then drops into a funnel with a 4" or so tube on it to direct where it gets poured. It costs $18 more bucks a yard for the belt truck...I think the total for delivered yard will be $146ish including the fuel surcharge and tax.

I got in touch with my concrete guy(also a neighbor) who is going to finish the slab in the basement floor. He has been in the industry all his life and his specialty is finishing but I'll bet he has seen this before. He is stopping by this morning and we are going to discuss options.