I have a renovation/repair project that no contractor or Architect has wanted to tackle because of the uncertainties and liabilities involved. This has forced me to do the design work myself. Unfortunately I am not an Architect and do not have a "network" of suppliers and friends with knowledge in the area. Finding materials and hardware has been difficult. Understanding and applying building codes is also a problem. Researching construction techniques and processes has been "educational". I am trying to come up with a set of plans that can at least be used for a building permit and as a start when talking to subcontractors. I have purchased a few books but they have been of limited help. I have recently come across a few sites that have been of help. Has anyone here found similar sites or other helpful sites?

General sites:
http://www.ebuild.com/
http://www.mikeholt.com/index.php?id=homegeneral
http://www.portcement.org/index.asp

Individual components:
http://www.bilco.com/
http://www.clopaydoor.com/

 

just a thought, If a profesional architect do0es not want to draw up a set of plans, do you think there might be a problem with want you want to accomplish?

 

None of the professionals want to touch it without doing about $20K worth of soil studies etc. Even then they are not sure they want to tackle it. No guarantee on that kind of money spent is worthless to me.

The soil shifted under my house about 10 years ago which literally shattered the basement. When it shattered I had it "repaired" but it has continued to move and crack. The floor slab broke 4 years ago. I also found out that the original contractor did not put any steel in the basement walls or floor. Some inspector probably went home with $100 in his pocket. When I bought the house 25 years ago the basement only had two small vertical cracks and they have not moved. All I can do is make repairs that far exceed code to ram it thru the city and then hope for the best. Architects and PE's are held liable if it does not work if they sign off on it so they will not touch it.

There are some "quack" basement repair specialists out there that have favorite repair systems for high $$ that would "fix" it temporarily but would still leave me with an unusable basement with broken unstable floors. None of the methods used that I have investigated will keep it from moving more.

The repair I want to use is similar to what my brother in law had done on his house a number of years ago but nobody does that around here. It is a proven method that works. I just want to take it a step better.

 

The following may offer some help. I assume that the Plasticity Index in your area is high and that is your problem. The first link to ICCSAFE will get you on the code inspectors forum. These are the guys that write code mostly for the IRC (International Residential Code). I'm sure they would be glad to assist. The second is the most recognized building guru in the USA. I have been to several of Joes seminars and he is a little whacko but certainly knows what he is talking about and backs it up with proof.

www.iccsafe.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

www.buildingscience.com

Hope this helps

 

Thanks! the home sat from 1962 until 1993 with no problems. In 1993 we had floods here but I am on the top of a hill. I think the hill "slumped" tho. Bedrock is a LONG ways down also. I need to check the surveys when the sewer line was put thru. It is 20+ feet deep and it ends on my property. I don't think they would have put it in that deep if they had to go thru bedrock. When the foundation was "fixed" the first time they found no trace of any water problems in the soil. It was bone dry even with the heavy rains and floods. I have had my sewer line checked for leaks and the main "camera'd" (however you say/spell that). I have had the water dept check for leaks also. Both houses on either side of me have cracked also but not as bad as mine. They both sit a few feet lower than my house. Even with the cracks my basement is absolutely dry.

 

Eric, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you trying to stabilize the basement walls/floor? Our shop is located off of I-35 and Front Street and I know after the floods hit there were numerous "sink holes" that developed as a result of the water table rising so high. Are you trying to prevent any more sinking???

 

I worked for a hydraulic equipment distributor off Front street.

I don't think it is a sinkhole. The hill "slumped" due to the weight of the soil. Part of the natural slope of the hill was excavated away to provide fill for I-35 when it was built. This left a slightly unstable slope in the property behind my lot. I think it slid a few inches based on the positions of a few landmarks. I don't know if another stake survey could detect the change. Why it slid is the reason the professionals want to do all kinds of test borings and studies. I am not sure it would provide any useful information beside satisfying their curiosity.

To keep it simple I would like to underpin the existing walls by digging down 3 more feet and placing "bridge beam" footings in an "#" pattern (the house is "T" shaped") then placing 12" x 48" high walls inside the existing walls. The rear house section will have to have a 4' + 5' wall since that section is crawlspace. Digging down 3' and coming in thru one end of the house should provide access for smaller heavy machinery like bobcats, and trenchers, etc. At the end of it all the access ramp & hole would be expanded to place a basement under a 2-car garage. It can be done but it is not a "normal" project that everyone wants. I am sure some head scratching will be involved. I think I have most of the details figured out to minimize that.

 

Here's a link that has some good info on unusual foundation problems:
http://www.donpearman.com/subcategory/1.html

Look around Dons site a bit. He has some good pics and describes things well.

I've got a job coming up were we have to build a tower on the steep lip of an old volcano. Engineering study with core samples ran $20K and after I read the final report, it looks like the engineer used 12 pages to say, "it might work." They charge a lot of money for that stamp, but sometimes that's all the permit folks look at.

 

That $20K price seems like a bargain for that location, but just like you said they sum it all up with "it might work".

The permit folks look for that stamp so they don't have to look the plans over and use their brains. If something is not right they can lay it on someone else. I will be paying good money for a permit so I expect them to use their brains. They have been generally helpful in the past. They just try to avoid work if they can just like anyone else.

That site is a good one, It was worth a few laughs also!

 

it sounds like you know your problem, however here's the bad news, the only real way to fix the basement is to lift the whole house and redo the whole fonundation, the reason it sounds like most PE's wont touch your job is because your problem is cause mainly by the hill that you are on, and if/when another flood happens you'll have the same troubles that's why the can't help you, plus which unless the tests are ran on the soil, it will be impossible to tell weather it's the hill your on and the flood that caused the shift, or the saturation of the soil.

 

Torque1st, I would look into info about underground houses. Many of the builders of these homes are Architects/Engineers and they have a wealth of info. This may apply to you and your needs.

I know several that have built them and they talked about the problems and ideas.

 

The house can't be lifted, that has been discussed with contractors. That is the reason for digging down inside the existing foundation a few more feet across the entire area. The additional depth would allow heavy equipment access and provide room for jacking under the existing footings. Then we can excavate as required to place thick footings with lots of steel then jack and support the existing foundation at points around the perimeter. The new floor would be a nominal 3' below the existing floor. The 4' stub-wall height inside is to provide easy concrete form application and to provide the proper height for the egress windows required by code.

I doubt that any soil study will give any useful information except to say "there is dirt under there...it's been there awhile." The dirt under and immediately surrounding the foundation was dry. Whatever happened was deep under the hill. In any case there is nothing I can do about deep subsoil conditions. I just have to treat it as soil that has been there for a millennium and build on it. If my lot was empty today they would treat it as undisturbed soil, no different from any other building lot.

My lot slopes about 4'/50' to the rear and 1'/50' to the front, about 2'/50' to one side and 3'/50' to the other side, so it is actually fairly level but provides great run off for water. The lot behind me has a 45° slope from my back fence for about 30' that is the result of the excavation that was made over 40 years ago for construction fill dirt. The house behind me has a full basement also. The soil is deep here and rock far underground. I am far from any area that floods. The floods we had in the area hit us several times 93-97 with what were considered in the trade as "100-year" floods. We just had about 300 years pass very quickly.

I will check with some of the underground house contractors. The work to be done is fairly simple but there is no "guarantee" that it would repair the house for another 40 years. I think our litigious society is what is scaring PE's off.

 

you'll be suprised at the information the soil study can come up with, this includes optimal moisture content for max stregnth, the max strength of the soil, aproximate amount of compaction of the soil, if there is a slope - the stability of the soil, the rate of settlement, the drainage rate, and other useful stuff like that, and by using that information recemendations can be made, yes it may come back the soil is fine for the house, but it might come back witht the recommendation of replace some of the soil to, although the price while is a good price seems like it is more than you are willing to spend by the sounds of it

 

Replacing the soil would not be an option in this case. I kind of have to work with what is there. The soil under the footings was so hard and compacted that the foundation repair contractor had to dig it out with a spade bit in an electric drill.

Pilings driven to bedrock 20, 30, 40+ feet are not an option either because there is no way to get machinery all the way around the house. Then I would have to attach them to the foundation, but since the foundation is not continuous anymore that would not do anything either. Wrapping the foundation with cable will not provide the needed support because of the shape of the house and the type and position of the cracks. I have even thought about running some cable inside the house but if one broke due to stress someone could be killed.

 

Anybody else have any resources they use for parts, materials, or techniques? There have to be a number of contractors, builders, architects, and draftsmen on here.

I have discussed many options with architects and PE's but my options are limited. Maybe someone can come up with something we haven't looked at tho.