Foundation help!

[jhb]

Love the BX, but sometimes it can do more than you want it to do! I was removing dirt against the house for a patio when I dug down under the "foundation".

Well, I thought it was poured concrete pinned to ledge, but this was part of the original house, and what I thought was a concrete wall was cement veneer over a rubble foundation. These "lose" rocks were only about a foot into the soil. Not sure how the house stayed still for so long (about 120 years!).

Anyway, I did not expose much, but it is a post and beam, and the part uncovered is the house corner.

Now, a french door near the corner won't close properly, I think some settling has occurred. The house is only a story and a half.

Question is, How can I get the corner back up and secure? The crawl space under the house is too small to get into, so I sort of need to do this from the outside. I am hesitant to remove more dirt around the foundation as I do not want it to settle more.

I can get a jack on it, but if the jack is there, then I can't get anything else in there.

I was thinking about getting a mecahnical jack, hoist the corner, then encase it in a 12" sono tube and bury it in cement. Do they make this type of jack?

What other solutions might be available to me.

Thanks much for the help!

 

[EddieWalker]

Not sure about this one. Deffiniately an interesting situation.

A Jack underneath might work, but unless you have allot of blocks to spread the weight where it contacts the foundation or sill plate, it might not work. If you have blocking to spread the weight, then that would be encased also.

Is there anything solid to tie into? Drill and expoxy some rebar into?

What type of siding do you have? Can you remove part of it to get a beam over the area and lift from above?

You said it's a corner wall, so I assume you can take out the door and then part of the wall on the other side.

Then I think you need to creat a footing for a new pour. Dig down and around enough to create a solid base. Maby a deep hole with a post hole digger just outside the corner, or several deep holes. Fill with rebar and tie into the foundation, then fill with concrete.

As for the door, I think it will need adjusting no matter what you do. Get the foundation stabalized, and then remount the door.

You could also go to This Old House's website and ask them for advice. I bet they've done this before.

Eddie

 

[jhb]

The house is built on ledge. It's every where, except under this part of the house /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. There is a more recent addition that is pinned to ledge, which is why I thought it was here too.

The siding is cedar, and brand new, and so is the French Door, we are just finishing a renovation, and I was doing the terrace.

I have a book about repairing old homes, and that is where the idea of burying a jack in concrete came from. At my other house I have a lolly column with threaded lift and a large "wing" nut. I Might try and find that. At some point under the corner there is ledge, I think no more than a foot down. But I have been hesitant to remove more dirt to find out.

I'll submit this to TOH, maybe i'll get on TV!

 

[jhb]

The jack I was thinking of is called a "screw jack", found it on google. The internet is great. Does anyone know if lowes or HD has these?


In any event. I think I will get a screw jack, hoist up the corner, put a 12" sono tube around it, and encase it. Does anyone know if lowes or HD has these?

Does anyone see an issue with this approach?

 

[Junkman]

I doubt that you will find a jack capable of lifting a corner of the house at HD. I had to lift the corner of my deck and tried a 5 ton bottle jack and it just sat there and grunted. Didn't have the power to lift the corner of the deck, which I am sure weighs less than the corner of the house. I borrowed a 30 ton jack from a local builder and that lifted without any problem. Just like the tractor, the tool has to be sized for the job.

 

[EddieWalker]

The Screw Jack might work, don't see why not. You might try a moble home supplier, or just buy a 20 ton bottle jack.

I wouldn't use a sono tube for this. I'd fill the entire hole. This way you spread the stress out of more surface area as opossed to the bottom of the tube.

I'd also dig a small test hole to see if that ledge is in fact down there. If it's there, that would be ideal to tie into.

Eddie

 

[jhb]

Bottle jacks are Hydraulic. I have a 50 ton one. But these are too pricey to encase in cement! Like I said, If I get the jack in there, there is no room for anything else. That is why the screw jack appeals. I can use it to support the house while the cement hardens and takes the stress

 

[woodlot]

I had never heard of burying the jack, that is a great idea. As far as the sonotube goes, you can brace the tube off the bottom of the hole, maybe 8 inches. Then the pour will create its own footing as it flows out the bottom of the tube.

 

[LarryD]

you might look here, Concrete Network, for some ideas.

Just google for foundation repair and you'll get lots of hits.

 

[JeffSpencer]

You can get screw jacks anywhere they sell scaffolding......