Author Topic: Foundation Repair Blog (Pics, Lots) (Read 13922 times)

The_Wippuh · « **on:** January 16, 2014, 11:23:06 AM »

Getting some major work done to our basement, where we have experienced some bowed walls and moisture build up.

We're 10 days in and work is going pretty well and I thought the pics were pretty interesting so here we go.

Work to be done:
- Dig out the basement room walls, pressure wash them, waterproof them, replace footer drain, fill in with gravel and properly grade afterwards
- Reinforce inside basement walls with 19 carbon fiber straps to stop the bowing of the walls
- Reinforce the one corner, where it's really bad, with a tie-back

The blue wall receives a lot of moisture and is the front wall of the house. The corner there has "failed" and need some serious work.

The bushes are right above the corner that needs work.

Back corner of the room. Nice butt shot!

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:23:31 AM »

Digging to find the footer.

Grinding down the stucco and block so the straps will have a smooth surface to bond to.

Nasty, dusty work.

:'( What kept me up at night. I knew it was there, seeing it SUCKED.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:24:03 AM »

Carbon fiber fortress straps in place. Lifetime warranty that the wall will never move again, transferable if we sell. Yes, I know that someone on here will probably tell me how awful they are.

Expoxy being put on the straps, it was nasty looking stuff.

Strap up close. The darker lines represent the threads of carbon fiber.

The straps in the garage.

The front corner dug out. Took them a long time to find the footer, much deeper than they thought.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:24:26 AM »

House was built back in the 60s, when tar was used for waterproofing. It's in BAD shape now, which along with some silly yard grading decisions by the prior owner, caused the water issue. The bowing was just time, it was going to happen, especially with the record rains we had a few years back.

The process around digging out a gas line is pretty involved. Took forever for the gas company to come out and locate, even with months prior notice.

puniraptor · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:26:30 AM »

osha and I are extremely worried about the guy in the hole with no shoring

WillieWatanabe · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:27:06 AM »

Quote from: The_Wippuh on January 16, 2014, 11:24:03 AM

Expoxy being put on the straps, it was nasty looking stuff.

I want that epoxy gun.

"oh, are your glasses a little loose? lemme fix that..."

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:27:43 AM »

You can see the old footer drain here. It's concrete with slits cut into it. They said it was full of dead organic crap and lizards, etc... It smelled like an open sewer for a day or so when they tore it out. AWFUL.

It only has about a foot of gravel above it. The entire area you see dug out, will be filled back in with gravel to about two feet from the surface, allowing for much better drainage.

The new footer drain ditch being dug out.

XocolateThundarr · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:27:56 AM »

Once you are done with the wall work, I would install some corrugated HDPE with a downspout adapter to route the water from your gutters far away from your house (down the hill). You can install a pop-up emitter at the end of the run to make it look nice and keep critters from nesting in your drainage pipe.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:28:23 AM »

The little red bottle you see is used to make sure they're going downhill enough with their ditch that water will flow out of the footer drain by gravity. The badass playhouse you see in the backyard is my 3 year old son's "pirate ship". He will mess you up if you're not part of his crew, yarrrrrr mateys!

The underground drainage for my downspouts that they took out, it will be put back in when they clean up. I've already paid to have all of the gutters and downspouts on the house replaced with covered ones. Very excited about not having to blow my roof off at the very, very edge anymore.

Yes, the patio is falling apart, it's the next BIG project we want to tackle.

More straps.

Even more straps.

Beginning to pressure wash the wall, need a smooth surface to attach the Bithume membrane.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:28:46 AM »

Up close with a piece of the carbon fiber strap and my lil' piggy hand (jeez, wtf). You can cut it with tin snips, which I found fascinating.

Nasty damn work, this labor is really what I'm paying for.

Drilling the hole for the tie-back. Interesting, if you look at the crack along the bottom of the wall, you will see the stucco rippling up. This is from the wall having all the pressure of that dirt taken off it and straightening out on it's own! They waited until the wall(s) were dug out before putting the straps up so that the walls had a chance to straighten out.

Tie-Back going in.

Torque head drives the tie-back into the dirt until their hydraulic guage comes back with the appropriate pressure (2,000+ psi I think), so that they know the wall cannot come in anymore due to pressure. This thing was a BEAST to watch.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #10 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:29:16 AM »

The tie-back in place, now they will do some plasma cutting and attach some other pieces, put the plate in, etc.. so my wall is secure.

Hell nah, it rained over the weekend and the water went 6 to 7" over my footer, some of the drain footer ditched caved in so the water had nowhere to go. The water didn't get into the basement though, which I guess is a good sign. I was a damn nervous wreck watching the downspouts pour water directly against my footer/wall. NASTY to work in.

Cleaning out the ditch. No thanks, again.

They said my yard might be damaged. Oh well, I can replace grass, I cannot replace my foundation wall.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #11 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:31:46 AM »

Quote from: puniraptor on January 16, 2014, 11:26:30 AM

osha and I are extremely worried about the guy in the hole with no shoring

I posted these on another forum and got the exact same response. Am I, any way whatsoever, responsible for my contractor in this area?

Quote from: cats2win on January 16, 2014, 11:27:56 AM

Once you are done with the wall work, I would install some corrugated HDPE with a downspout adapter to route the water from your gutters far away from your house (down the hill). You can install a pop-up emitter at the end of the run to make it look nice and keep critters from nesting in your drainage pipe.

Yeah, we have that, they just removed it all before they started digging.

OK_Cat · « **Reply #12 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:35:56 AM »

seems like it would have been better to just 'doze the entire house and start over

Tobias · « **Reply #13 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:37:05 AM »

Quote from: cats2win on January 16, 2014, 11:27:56 AM

Once you are done with the wall work, I would install some corrugated HDPE with a downspout adapter to route the water from your gutters far away from your house (down the hill). You can install a pop-up emitter at the end of the run to make it look nice and keep critters from nesting in your drainage pipe.

i've been meaning to do this

420seriouscat69 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:39:09 AM »

Looking at all of that stresses me out.

XocolateThundarr · « **Reply #15 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:41:13 AM »

Quote from: Tobias on January 16, 2014, 11:37:05 AM

Quote from: cats2win on January 16, 2014, 11:27:56 AM
Once you are done with the wall work, I would install some corrugated HDPE with a downspout adapter to route the water from your gutters far away from your house (down the hill). You can install a pop-up emitter at the end of the run to make it look nice and keep critters from nesting in your drainage pipe.

i've been meaning to do this

It is a nice Saturday project that is followed up nicely with grilled ribeyes and cold beer on your deck.

0.42 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:45:34 AM »

do you use your ancient nordic pickaxe to dig up stone and clay or do you have your housecarl gather supplies for you?

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:47:02 AM »

Quote from: 42 on January 16, 2014, 11:45:34 AM

do you use your ancient nordic pickaxe to dig up stone and clay or do you have your housecarl gather supplies for you?

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're asking. I don't speak Spanish.

0.42 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:47:46 AM »

definitely a housecarl kinda guy

thanks

AppleJack · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:49:14 AM »

Holy crap this brings back bad memories. Had to do this last summer, then turned around and sold my mansion 4 weeks later. I've never been so pissed having to write a check. eff NOW I'M IN A BAD MOOD. I WANT THAT MONEY BACK. SO EXPENSIVE AND THEY RUINED MY YARD. HOPE THAT BITCH WHO BOUGHT MY MANSION IS GRATEFUL. eff.

Boom Roasted · « **Reply #20 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:55:34 AM »

Damn that looks costly

mocat · « **Reply #21 on:** January 16, 2014, 11:56:09 AM »

absolute nightmare. thanks for posting all those photos of a nightmare

slobber · « **Reply #22 on:** January 16, 2014, 12:03:00 PM »

Quote from: OK Cat_24 on January 16, 2014, 11:35:56 AM

seems like it would have been better to just 'doze the entire house and start over

Move into the pirate house

Dugout DickStone · « **Reply #23 on:** January 16, 2014, 12:10:15 PM »

You will have to put that on your seller's disclosure.

The_Wippuh · « **Reply #24 on:** January 16, 2014, 12:12:05 PM »

I've been told that providing pics of the process and having all of the warranties, will actually be beneficial if I want to sell the house in the future.