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

[MotorSeven]

Picked up the rebar today...$450. I decided to rebar every hole on the cut bank wall...about 40'. I used the Kioti to move 60 tons of removed backfill, then drove down into the basement and began to gingerly push the walls back out with the bucket. I re-braced and got the wall pretty close to straight.

Concrete truck arrives at 0800hrs........ tomorrow

 

[toy]

Picked up the rebar today...$450. I decided to rebar every hole on the cut bank wall...about 40'. I used the Kioti to move 60 tons of removed backfill, then drove down into the basement and began to gingerly push the walls back out with the bucket. I re-braced and got the wall pretty close to straight.

Concrete truck arrives at 0800hrs........ tomorrow

Glad you are getting it lined back out. The rebar down each of the holes in the blocks and then pouring cement down each of the holes will make the wall stronger, also along the wall having a stub block or cement wall coming out from the wall will also help. Hope everything works out for you. When I back filled our house basement we already had the house built on it. When the man that ran the end loader that back filled ours he was real careful and we was fortunate nothing gave way. Did you use the wire that goes between the rows to help hold it together.

A friend of mine did the same thing and his back fill went well but then he went back with a heavy end loader and that was what buckled his. I tried to get him to build a second wall up against the first wall and then just fill between the walls with cement or dirt for that matter but he didn't. The wall hasn't fell down yet and that has been 30 years ago but seeing that bow would bug the fire out of me if it was mine.

 

[Alien]

MotorSeven, why backfill it at all? There is going to be rain coming down that slope and it would be better dropping into that trench and running out the ends than building up against the wall and seeping through. That's what I would do.

Doug

 

[955Lincoln]

Looks good M7....the timing of the rain worked out in your favor in a best of bad sort of way. Drain tile down at the footer level is a must do. Maybe you did that already and didn't mention it. After your house is framed backfill with pea gravel, no more native fill in that hole. You haven't mentioned the retaining wall lately but I would do the same for that as well.

The backhoe guy did a nice job getting the fill out of that tight area. Was he able to come in from the sides for some of it or did he have to stay perpendicular to the wall?

It looks as though the elevation of the front yard is higher than the block. Will you be shaving that down? You will want a slight slope away from the house and at least 12" from wood contact to finished grade including any landscaping.

You are at a point in your build where it will be difficult or impossible to go back and correct things later. It's nice to see that you are taking the time to do it right.

 

[tnmike]

Looks like you have done a great job on the repair. If this had happened after you had it framed it would have been a mess. Don't forget to j hook your top cap for the sill plates. If I was over I'd give you enough to do it. I picked up two five gallon buckets of them at the junkyard about a year ago.

Did the crack close up when you jacked the walls? I agree with the other post about the grade in the backyard.

 

[MotorSeven]

Toy, no I didn't use the wire between the block. I was on another job site a few months ago and they were using blocks with "V's" in them that allowed rebar to run horizontally all the way around every few feet. I would have opted for that if i had known about it.

Alien, the pic's don't show it, but the area in front of the house is a strip of land like a shelf. It's maybe 50yds long and 10yds wide. From the front of the house(where the cut bank is) the shelf is level for 10yds than slopes back off and down 10-12'. Water coming off the ridge above me can't get to the house footer, so I only have to deal with water hitting the shelf & coming off the roof of the house. As for the backfill, I am only backfilling slightly on the East side, the front(South) that now has a gaping 40'x5' trench has to be filled or it would just be unsightly.

955, he had to work perpendicular..very carefully and slowly. I have never seen anybody run a 'hoe like this guy, I swear he could perform surgery with that thing. He is a local legend and I am fortunate to have him as a friend.
Yep, I initially did install a perimeter drain and cover with gravel & plastic so we stopped digging before ripping it all out. I also do plan on re-shaping the shelf in front of that wall to slope away and down into a lower spot that runs parallel to the shelf. We guestimated that I will need 60 tons of gravel to backfill trenchzilla when the time comes.
The rain, yes it might have been a blessing. I will always wonder if I had been able to get the wall filled and capped if it still would have moved. The engineer that I called said that his company had been very busy this year fixing basements that had either cracked or caved in...it's been a odd year of "rain that falls all at once". Last month, just 5 miles down our road they got 6" of rain in 8rs...we got 2"

 

[MotorSeven]

Can't sleep either Mike?

I bought 43 12" Jbolts at TK Hardware in Bean Station yesterday...they were .53 cents apeice if I remember correctly.

The right side closed up nice, the bigger left refused to go back further than a quater inch. The wall at that corner started to seperate, so I stopped trying to close the crack or it would have caused a bigger problem. What I have now I can live with...it really sounds worse than it looks.


Oh and after spinning the gears in my pea brain I finally came up with the perfect medium for stuffing the block for the holes I don't want to fill with 'crete: Hay...got a barn full of it!

 

[tnmike]

I dont know what your plans are for the basement but if you wanted to keep it open and still provide support why not place steel I beams vertically on opposing walls and then them tie them horizontally with the same size beam. It would provide the support your looking for and give you a place to put an electric lift on a trolley.:licking:

And yes the older I get the less sleep I get.

 

[scoutcub]

Moto -

Sorry I haven't been checkin in to TBN as of late, busy outside with 2 many "projects", workin sunup to sunrise and getting little done! I could've warned ya a bit sooner......

I just built a 30X32 garage next to my house, and it was basically built into a bank. ("breaking into the bank" was the thread) I also wanted solid walls but it was cost prohibitive. Went with block, loads of rebar and filled all the block with concrete. After setting a few days backfilled the entire (well, 3 walls) with # 57 gravel to allow drainage to the footer drains. I have seen too many examples of what dirt and water can do to a wall, the hydraulic forces are tremendous.
I think every concrete wall cracks. My garage already developed a hairline crack, but just from settling. I monitored it for several months before building stud walls against it. Also had a house in MI on flat ground with 12" poured walls.....it also had vertical cracks.
Glad you caught it when you did! Looking forward to the rest of the thread....now I just need time to log on!

 

[955Lincoln]

Oh and after spinning the gears in my pea brain I finally came up with the perfect medium for stuffing the block for the holes I don't want to fill with 'crete: Hay...got a barn full of it!

Not something organic I hope? Some heavy cardboard in a slight convex shape normally does the trick. Open screen fencing or concrete reinforcing wire with a piece of plastic is another option if you don't like having cardboard in the holes.

Oh duh...just caught the wording. Are you saying Hay or Hey? You're scaring me M7