Saving the House

[pdub]

During last week, we hired out a major job at Weeville.

The house was falling in. Ever so slowly, less than a half inch per year, enough to crack the sheetrock and the joints in the inside walls, all getting un-level. The foundation was giving way.

Unit was paranoid about it, the house is falling in. She worries about everything. She MAKES up things to worry about. I was casual about it, yeah, but it's slow. Finally, I "saw" it, yeah, we have to do something to save this house from the wrath of gravity and soil settlement.

Called in a crew, they destroyed the side yard and screwed the great big rods, like augers, down to bedrock 14 feet below. We're okay now.

[JOES66FURY]

Bet that was slight more than a 12 pack and a burger....damn..

[Barry Donovan]

quite an operation.

the place I am in now has this problem, but horsehair plaster still remains in some places .. tells me it settled a very long time ago.

better safe than sorry.

[Monk]

Mud jacking around here.........pretty common.

[pdub]

Bet that was slight more than a 12 pack and a burger....damn..

I sure was Joe. But save the house. It was a no-brainer, money-wise, as much as that hurt the wallet. We really didn't have any choice. It's okay now. Plus, we intend to live here forever. Not about the value of the house. About securing it.

[Monk]

Wise move.......gotta have the foundation secure and piece of mind.

[dieselgeek]

Good move! even if you're not concerned about the value, that's a heluva good upgrade considering the situation. Looks like an expert fix!

[oletrux4evr]

To quote a friend of mine...."dayum".

[Scott Liggett]

If you are going to bury construction workers in your yard, don't forget to get rid of their helmets too. All the evidence needs to go, my boy. All the evidence.

[NightShifter]

So what happens when the center of the floor caves in?

[Aircooled]

I don't see any cracks in those bricks... I bet you could have procrastinated another 4 or 5 years..
No bedrock around here. Procedure is to pound concrete cylinders (6" dia x 12" long) into the clay under the slab. Keep stacking and pounding until they stop sinking, then shim up the house slab. Repeat every 20 years or so. Runs about $250 - $300 a pier. Last house had 40+ of them, paid for by previous owners. Current house needs about 10 of 'em along one wall.

[oletrux4evr]

I think we're lucky....we used 40 hours of rock-hammering to dig out the hole for our basement. This house won't settle at all......seemed expensive at the time, but well worth it in the long run.

[pdub]

So what happens when the center of the floor caves in?

They had a fix for that, too. These are poured in at the bottom and screwed against the centermost joist of the house. They may settle over time (unlike the footing fix) but they're always adjustable for tight:





Whoever built this house was drunk. They just dry-stacked bricks and cinderblocks under the joists at haphazard locations, just wherever. Most of them just fell over, not holding a thing. They got a good bit of lift from the perimeter rods, and a LOT from the center supports. I had to re-level the pool table when they were done. By a lot. Case in point - one of the useless stacks under the house after the job was done:



The house still ain't level, but it ain't going anywhere anymore. Caught it in mid-collapse, sort of.

[phitter67]

So, Are you saying that before the fix you had to set your drink on the wall to not spill it?