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#1
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will I undermine my foundation?
The house I just bought is three stories tall, built into a moderate
hillside. The ground floor is not as large as the floor above it, and there's a 'workshop' in the crawlspace behind the ground floor, beneath the second floor. This workshop has a sloped dirt floor. It goes from about 7.5 ' tall to about 6' tall over the span of about 8'. What I'd like to do is dig this out so it's flat and pour a slab. But I'm worried that this dirt is supporting the foundation, and if I remove too much of it the pressure from the dirt on the other side would eventually do some harm. Needless to say, I know nothing about this stuff . Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Fork |
#2
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In article . com,
"fork" wrote: The house I just bought is three stories tall, built into a moderate hillside. The ground floor is not as large as the floor above it, and there's a 'workshop' in the crawlspace behind the ground floor, beneath the second floor. This workshop has a sloped dirt floor. It goes from about 7.5 ' tall to about 6' tall over the span of about 8'. What I'd like to do is dig this out so it's flat and pour a slab. But I'm worried that this dirt is supporting the foundation, and if I remove too much of it the pressure from the dirt on the other side would eventually do some harm. Needless to say, I know nothing about this stuff . Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Fork You might want to get a structural engineer out to take a look at this. Depending on the soil and how the foundation for the 2nd story is built, you might be OK. One thing you can do is dig a small hole along the 2nd story foundation and see how far down the foundation goes. If it goes more than a foot and a half below your dirt level, you are probably OK. If not, you might be able to do this in sections, one strip at a time, with the new concrete floor supporting the wall while you remove the dirt for the next stip. As a builder, realtor, or architect for advice on who to talk with to look this over. Or perhaps the concrete company has someone available to help you. -john- -- ================================================== ==================== John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com ================================================== ==================== |
#3
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On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:26:13 -0600, someone wrote:
As a builder, realtor, or architect for advice WTF, a REALTOR for cripes sake.... Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file. |
#4
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On 27 Feb 2005 17:27:08 -0800, someone wrote:
...Needless to say, I know nothing about this Then you shouldn't mess with it. Its the WEIGHT on the wall, and the support UNDER it, that's critical here. I actually saw the aftermath in NYC of a brick bldg where the owner dug down the basement all the way out to the perimeter, intending to make it deeper. Undermined the footings. Building became an empty lot. Not intentionally. Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file. |
#6
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"fork" wrote in message ups.com... The house I just bought is three stories tall, built into a moderate hillside. The ground floor is not as large as the floor above it, and there's a 'workshop' in the crawlspace behind the ground floor, beneath the second floor. This workshop has a sloped dirt floor. It goes from about 7.5 ' tall to about 6' tall over the span of about 8'. What I'd like to do is dig this out so it's flat and pour a slab. But I'm worried that this dirt is supporting the foundation, and if I remove too much of it the pressure from the dirt on the other side would eventually do some harm. Needless to say, I know nothing about this stuff . Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Fork I see this all the time in older houses around here, where they dig out the 'Michigan basement' (aka furnace pit) to a near-full basement. What they generally do if existing foundation is sound, is to hold back 18 inches or so from the old walls, dig down, pour new footers, and build a short wall that really isn't holding anything, then cover the dirt shelf between the two walls with concrete. You end up with a ledge around the perimeter of the basement. Now if the old foundation is crappy anyway (like an old rubble stone foundation with failing lime mortar), the correct solution is to have house moving company support the house (or that wing) on temporary piers and jacks, raise it maybe half an inch for clearance, and demo the old walls and footings, dig down, and build new walls and footings. Not Cheap, but may be worth it if house is otherwise in decent shape, or you need to correct a little old-age sagging anyway. Good time to add or upgrade support beams in the middle of the house. Note that none of the above is DIY-class work. You need an engineer to eyeball old foundation, design new stub wall or new foundation, etc, and permits will be required. aem sends... |
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