Hi,
I just bought a new house. But the inspection took me one whole day to
finish with about 34 complaints need to be repair by the developer.
I'm very concern on 2 things: Crack and Settlement.
I found serious crack at the centre of the wall from the most top ceiling
vertically down and the crack length are 75% height of the wall.
At bedroom there are horizontal crack line.
Thus, I found the car porch area in front of my house near the pillar at
left and right hand side, the floor settlement found around the pillar.
The developer dig a hole at the settlement area and connect a pipe for
water flow. I'm sure now the land have settlement happen until the water
get stuck.
My neighbour on right hand side do not have this problem so that the
developer didn't dig a hole for water flow.
Please comment what can I do to convince the developer to re-construct my
car porch?
TQ.
House Foundation Repair
Summary: A house foundation repair can be accomplished. Before house foundation repairs are attempted, the soil around the foundation must be solid. Once the soil is good, you can plan how to the repair house foundation.
DEAR
TIM: We live in a ranch-style house on a crawl on a very
sandy lot.
Some of our older neighbors have told us it used to be a garbage
dumping ground, which is evident by the chunks of glass that get pushed
up by moles and such.
When we bought the house about 12 years ago, the owner pointed out that the dining room in the middle of the house sloped slightly. My husband put some jacks under the center foundation walls to attempt to stabilize it and avoid further sloping.
In the last year or so, the problem has gotten significantly worse. The door frames are cracking, one corner of our brick front has a large crack, the floors are separating from the trim at the base of the walls, and there are several cracks in the corners of some of our ceilings. From the road, it looks as if our house will split in two at some point.
When my husband went in the crawl to investigate his options, he discovered that the foundation walls he had previously jacked up, in the center of the house, were still holding, but that the foundation walls that go around the perimeter of the house and are dug down into the ground to basically hold the weight of the house are what seem to be sinking.
We still owe a lot on our 30-year mortgage, and live check-to-check on one income to allow me to be home with our young children. We are looking for the most effective, economical way to fix our problem. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Misty Mulligan, Shelbyville, IN
DEAR MISTY: I'm sorry to hear about this unfortunate situation concerning your house foundation. The foundation of a house needs to sit on strong soil. If your suspicions are confirmed, that the lot was a former dump, you may have some work ahead of you. I'm convinced you can stabilize the foundation, but until you determine what the subsoil conditions are, you're wasting time and resources.
I suggest that you talk to your local government officials to see if there are records of the lot being a dump. You can also get old topographic maps that may show your lot was a ravine that has been filled in. You can often get these topographic maps from local soil engineers or universities that have a geology department.
You need to discover what the subsoil conditions are. I would also dig a test pit outdoors about 10 feet away from the foundation. This can be done by hand, but if the pit gets deeper than 4 feet, make sure you install shoring in the pit so the weak soil doesn't cave in on whomever is digging. You can also rent a very small backhoe that can dig a 10-foot-deep trench in less than 20 minutes. Be sure you have all underground utilities marked if you dig. You don't want to sever electric, gas, water or sewer lines.
When we bought the house about 12 years ago, the owner pointed out that the dining room in the middle of the house sloped slightly. My husband put some jacks under the center foundation walls to attempt to stabilize it and avoid further sloping.
In the last year or so, the problem has gotten significantly worse. The door frames are cracking, one corner of our brick front has a large crack, the floors are separating from the trim at the base of the walls, and there are several cracks in the corners of some of our ceilings. From the road, it looks as if our house will split in two at some point.
When my husband went in the crawl to investigate his options, he discovered that the foundation walls he had previously jacked up, in the center of the house, were still holding, but that the foundation walls that go around the perimeter of the house and are dug down into the ground to basically hold the weight of the house are what seem to be sinking.
We still owe a lot on our 30-year mortgage, and live check-to-check on one income to allow me to be home with our young children. We are looking for the most effective, economical way to fix our problem. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Misty Mulligan, Shelbyville, IN
DEAR MISTY: I'm sorry to hear about this unfortunate situation concerning your house foundation. The foundation of a house needs to sit on strong soil. If your suspicions are confirmed, that the lot was a former dump, you may have some work ahead of you. I'm convinced you can stabilize the foundation, but until you determine what the subsoil conditions are, you're wasting time and resources.
I suggest that you talk to your local government officials to see if there are records of the lot being a dump. You can also get old topographic maps that may show your lot was a ravine that has been filled in. You can often get these topographic maps from local soil engineers or universities that have a geology department.
You need to discover what the subsoil conditions are. I would also dig a test pit outdoors about 10 feet away from the foundation. This can be done by hand, but if the pit gets deeper than 4 feet, make sure you install shoring in the pit so the weak soil doesn't cave in on whomever is digging. You can also rent a very small backhoe that can dig a 10-foot-deep trench in less than 20 minutes. Be sure you have all underground utilities marked if you dig. You don't want to sever electric, gas, water or sewer lines.
Once you determine where the good soil is, you can then plan to install piers that will support your house foundation. It's hard work installing piers, but it is sometimes a do-it-yourself job. But if you discover you have to go deep to get to good soil, you will need a professional to do this.
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Comments:
Garry Khoo 27 Dec 2008, 13:53
Bryan 17 Mar 2009, 15:24
We just bought a home by a well known builder. After a year and a half we
are noticing huge settlement cracks in the doors joints, flooring, etc.
They have had an engineer come out to look at it and it looks like the soil
was tested before, but now is not stable enough to support the house. My
main question is if they fix it will it shift again and is this something I
should have a lawyer in on?
Carlos Rivera 10 Jul 2009, 02:44
me and my wife are looking into buying an 80yr old home. it has a small
basement and crawlspace. we had an inspector go through the house and he
pointed out the cracks along the foundation outside. What should I look for
in a contractor? what should raise a red flag? and is it possible to make
the basement bigger since we will be lifting the house? any advise is
appreciated and of course like everyone right now money is tight. Is there
anythng I can do myself?
Thanks!
Sandi Liles 13 Aug 2009, 20:03
There is a gap between the foundation and inside walls of our bedroom.
There are plants growing into the bedroom from the outside. Can I fix this
or do I need to call a professional?
gail 04 Sep 2009, 17:57
Hi Tim,
I read your comments on foundtion and soil,I have really bad cracks dew to the foundtions dropping, because of the drought.how does one start to repairand who do I contact about this promblem as I'm on my own?
Maria 16 Oct 2009, 08:17
11 years ago , I bought the house(built in 83) AS_IS, knowing there was a
hortizontal crack in the foundation. The crack is where the mortar goes so
it was on the "seam". A builder advised me to put a vinyl sealant in there,
which I did, so it would expand and contract. I have had NO settling
issues, at all. What kind of problems can I expect if I want to sell the
house?
How much would it really cost for a professional - should i want to sell the house now?
Ezra Fowler 26 Oct 2009, 17:19
Hi Tim,
I wanted to ask your advice on repairing mid century modern concrete foundation cracks. We are buying a 1955 single level home in Las Vegas. It has an indoor pool, and is very nice. There is, however, a crack on the side wall that zigs at a right angle from the window. Additionally, the front left side of the house sank an inch or so. There are also 1/4 to 1/2" cracks throughout the house that range in length from a few inches to several feel in length. We had a structural engineer tell us that what's done is done, and that if we redo the floors to level them again, we will need to expect fractures again every 5-6 years. We know water got under the house and plan to remove vegetation next to the foundation. The engineer said that if we remove the vegetation, the sulfate will stop coming through the floor and the house will not move much anymore. The structural engineers said it was a solid, older home and that it was fine to live in. Obviously, we would like to fix it with a long term solution. Do you think that this is repairable, and would you suggest anything in particular? We need to redo the floors but weren't sure if we should spot repair cracks every few years, or do a long term fix. Thanks! Great site. Ezra Fowler
Linda 18 Nov 2009, 23:31
I am considering buying a house build in 1912 in Portland, OR. However,
the corner of the foundation (in the crawl space) is broken into pieces
(chunks ranging from about 6-inches across to 18- inches across), perhaps
due to something impacting the foundation. I can see through the
foundation here to the brick facade on the outside of the house. It looks
like someone just picked up the chunks and piled them up, as one would do
with a stone wall without mortar. Can this be repaired? Will the house be
more prone to collapse during an earthquake? Should I avoid buying this
house?
Thanks for your advice! View all comments |
