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Home Repair Exterior

Foundation support advice needed

Carrie at GenZHouse

5 years ago

We need some advice on the best way to move forward with repairing the rotten wood in a crawl space and under the front porch of our home. I have attached pictures for reference and will describe the situation below.

The home was built in 2008. The majority of the house sits on a basement with poured concrete walls that extend up about 1' above the soil. However, the front room that you see in the photo below is a crawl space. The builder used plywood as the backer under all of the stone veneer (which also has direct contact to the ground). Of course all of the plywood is completely rotten at this point.

See crawl space photo below.

There is a small concrete slab poured that the front joist and studs are sitting on, but the ground level in the front of the house is higher. We know that we need to replace all of this, but are unsure if we need to pour a footer, lay cinder blocks first, or something different before we rebuild it.

Also, what is the best way to support the load bearing exterior wall while we replace all of the wood?

I have seen recommendations from building a temporary similar wall inside and working from the outside to using jacks.

At this point, we have decided to remove the stone veneer from 3 sides of the home and just go back with hardieboard siding. If anyone has any advice or recommendations regarding that, we welcome that as well.

Comments (4)

PRO
PPF.
5 years ago
Not the type of project that works well with crowd sourced DIY instructions.
klem1
5 years ago
What he ^^^^ said. I suggest hiring a pro then cut your own hair to recoup expenses.
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The post above carlos229 is not the OP. One thing I was going to point out about the difference in cost: If you divide the total cost by the proposed # of piers, you get $1600/pier for one contractor and $1700 for the other. So their rate per pier is not far off at all. I did the same thing with foam jacking my sinking driveway. Had estimates from $980 all the way to $2200. Each estimated an amount of foam plus a per-pound price if they went over. I calculated the cost if everyone used the same amount as the highest estimate, and the estimates came out within a couple hundred bucks of each other at that point. So I picked the guy I liked best. He wasn't the cheapest one but it didn't make that much difference. Question is how many piers you need, and I can't help with that. I liked the idea of hiring someone who has no stake in the game to tell you want you need.
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Before I respond back to each of you personally I just wanted to say wow. All of you seemed to say the same thing. lol Go with the brown. Alright then problem solved! Brown it is . Thank you all so much! ❤️ It def needs landscaping for sure! I havent done the front yet because I wanted to get the foundation done first so I wouldnt be fighting against plants and shrubs. My yard/house are very deceiving and have a lot to offer (at least I think so 🥴.) We have a good size yard (little over a half an acre of land. You wouldn’t know that from the front though. Our house is deceiving also because its not a 1 floor ranch. It looks like it though from the front. Unfortunately our home sits right along our road and I would like to plant a ton of things to block it all in. I planted these green giant trees when we first moved in to make our yard more private on the left side. That structure in the pic is my sons playhouse being built. Since everyone seems to agree on the brown does anyone have any suggestions on the names of any plants and/or shrubs to plant for privacy in front of my house?( Besides the green giants.) I love them but I’m not sure I want a continous row of them in front of my house. I have a river birch tree planted in back and thought of planting more, but besides those and the green giants I havent found anything to plant for privacy that I’m able to keep to a height that I’d like. I love the pics you guys have sent btw, thank you so much. They give me a lot of inspiration! Heres a few more pics that give a better idea of the lay out. Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply and for your help and suggestions!
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Comments (16)
That basement looks to be dry. Concrete block foundations can cause all kinds of problems. But, you pictures look pretty good. Strapping along with proper gutters and drainage sloping away from the house and foundation are the appropriate fixes. You may want to paint the foundation with a specialized concrete sealant paint. It will prevent pinhole leaks through the concrete block. Also, at some point you should address that screw jack on the telephone pole. You need install a concrete footing and a metal pole or screw jack to properly take the load. You may also want to install heavy plastic sheeting on the floor to reduce the amount of moisture in the basement. None of these fixes are high dollar fixes. Our home inspector in our first home was also a structural engineer. He was great because he cared enough to educate a first time home buyer. He inspected our house when we sold it, too. He was dumbfounded when he discovered that we had completed all of his suggestions. Cute house. The items on the report would not concern me. But, I would address them and not blow it off. I hope your mom enjoys her new home.
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DavidR
5 years ago
I could be wrong, but to me it looks like some previous owner enclosed a nice generous front porch and made it into a mud room or foyer, but didn't quite know what he was doing. You might find that the easiest and most practical (if not economical) fix is to demolish it and replace it with a new deck or porch.

I agree with the others. This isn't something I'd tackle myself. It's one of those cases where you need a really experienced and capable contractor (and probably a structural engineer). And, unfortunately, a sizable savings account. :(
Mule Meat
5 years ago
It can be done.

Looks like a reworked/re-purposed porch that used 4x4 treated post for the foundation.

It appears as if the 2x4's were just used to hold the plywood skirting.

If this is the case. A steel I beam or 4x4 post could be slid under the joist behind the wall (back about 24" from the outside wall. Cribbing and jacks then used to raise the room slightly (enough to remove all of the wood) and support the room.

Now it gets expensive..

Trench it for a concrete footer to be poured.

Lay block, cap block and Ground contact treated 2x8 on top of it for the wall to be lowered onto.

Remove the beam and cribbing.

It takes a person in the know, some careful planning and measuring in order to get the room to sit level on top of the new foundation once lowered onto it.

Only people that should tackle such a project are ones that work in the concrete and block laying industry with experience in constructing block foundations.

====

And to add>> >> If you jack a room or house up enough to remove the old foundation and install new. Some sheetrock damage on the inside walls may occur and should be expected..

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