foundation problems: The 1850 Structure Of A House Resting On A Single Point
- 04/24/14 07:21 PM
It is always interesting to see how things are done in former times and I found the 1850 structure of a house resting on a single point. The house was built in a way I have never seen. Literally the foundation and supportive locations were carved out of rock! A cellar revealed that around the original structure, which had been added to many times over the years, has its exterior structure resting on rock. The wood joists were made to fit an area cut out of and rimmed by rock. Rock should be very permanent and strong. However, from inside this … (14 comments)
foundation problems: Water Pressure - If What's Below Moves, What's Above Usually Follows!
- 03/18/14 07:32 PM
It should be an old adage - water pressure - if what's below moves, what's above usually follows! That's why when something utilizes something else as a foundation, the foundation should be strong! Hence the word ... foundation. This is a 40 year old house, with a 15 year old addition. The addition is a large family room. It has a brick foundation, with a continuous-wall crawl space underneath. The basement door of the original house used to exit to a stairwell. They decided to enlarge that space with a retaining wall that extends to the foundation wall of the newer addition, … (34 comments)
foundation problems: Floating Foundation
- 04/15/12 08:26 PM
Every now and then I run into something I have never seen before, like a floating foundation! Brick facade house, nice addition on the side, masonry block foundation connected to the main house with a right angle. Plenty of crawl space vents. So far so good. But when I got into the house, and looked into the crawl space I noticed that the last 5 concrete blocks of support are literally floating in the air! Interestingly the other side was the same way! Having never seen it before I shot off an email to an engineer friend of mine, with photos. … (23 comments)
In 2004 someone decided to put in a new oil-burning heating system. They selected a nice new system, very efficient. Very nice! They also selected a big tank. No running out of oil just when you don't want to run out of oil! And this tank was big, and a beaut! Unfortunately, the only place they could put it was between the rear screened porch and the rear stairs. No where … (11 comments)
foundation problems: When Plumbing Holds Up A Foundation
- 01/13/10 08:53 PM
Could PVC be the other white meat, I mean foundation support? Remember the 100+ year old property with the stone foundation? Poly-foam had been used in many areas to "repair" mortar gaps in the foundation. Here's the problem with that. In Virginia, a stone foundation dates a house before 1915 or so. Other things come into play. If you research the history of cement used to build foundations, soft mortars were used. A "soft mortar" was one that used a primarily lime-based mixture. It was softer than today's mortars which use Portland cement ingredients. The old, soft, lime-based mortars were perfect … (10 comments)
foundation problems: Creativity Is The Mother Of Invention
- 01/11/10 01:49 AM
Some jurisdictions go to great lengths to preserve the original architecture and appearances in older homes. Alexandria, Virginia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania are two towns that come to mind based on my experience. Manassas, Virginia is one as well. For years they fought the idea of replacing older wooden siding with a newer product like aluminum, vinyl or fiber cement. Since I have seen all of those recently on so many homes, apparently the city fathers have relented on that proscription. It could be that on stone foundations, repairs with the original material or appearance is no longer an issue either.
… (54 comments)
foundation problems: It's Not If, It's When
- 01/08/10 10:29 AM
Last fall I did an inspection on a house with the potential for foundation problems. It's topography has it in a bowl beneath the house beside and behind. There is a hill between it and drainage to the street to the other side. One rear gutter connected to a meandering plastic drain which emptied kind of in the middle of the house, but couldn't go anywhere anyway because of the hill. The rear yard and patio on that yard inclined toward the house. There was evidence of moisture in a visible portion of the foundation wall. There were many signs that … (9 comments)
foundation problems: How To Eat An Elephant
- 02/04/09 08:32 PM
Sometimes when I am outside the house with a client we see indicators of what may be a problem once we get inside. Such was the case on this particular house. Outside along the rear of the house, a driveway had been added years after the house was constructed. The bricks at that location were disturbed, sagging, the mortar had been patched, apparently more than once, and water was pooling next to the foundation. Once we got inside, and after moving some artfully arranged (hiding a problem?) boxes, this is what I found! Yes, that is poly-foam! And only a portion … (17 comments)
It is always interesting to see how things are done in former times and I found the 1850 structure of a house resting on a single point.
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