Soil/Home Foundation Question

[serge944]

Previous home owner decided to dig himself a basement under a house on a sloping lot. The project was never finished. Based on the pictures - how serious is the problem? The only issue I see is having the sides where the dirt was excavated start caving in. I don't see where the $20-40k repair work, quoted by local contractors, is coming from.

Based on my intuition, some longitudinal bracing to keep the sides stable should do the trick. Thoughts?

[stomachmonkey]

All I can say is WTF!!!!

[Dave L]

I notice a for sale sign, Are you considering purchasing this house? or do you already own it??

[flatbutt]

Having considered this same project two years ago I can easily see that running $20K. But I'm no engineer.

Question, from the pic it looks like the existing block is sitting on the excavated dirt? So if that dirt continues to erode those blocks are going bye bye?

If you simply want to secure the dirt with a retaining wall that would be less expensive but I'd doubt that it would pass code. Would a block retaining wall provide enough support for the block on dirt to carry the weight of the house properly? Like I say, I'm no engineer.

[dad911]

I'd run away unless it is seriously discounted.

You need a structural engineer and a soils engineer & testing to determine a repair solution.

Where is this house?

[Dottore]

unbelievable!

[MatthewBrum]

I'd say that you wuld have to support the house with columns and make a new cinder block wall that extends down to the floor level of the foundation. Are you sure the cinder block does not extend down under the sloped dirt? I would thin that they would have dug a footing from the front side of the house to the same level all away around the perimeter.

[911Rob]

run, don't walk.

The foundation for that house is now almost non-existant.
You will need to shore the house up immediately, to support it.
Get a quote from a home moving company to shore/lift the house.
After that, remove all the existing "CRAP" foundation.
Then excavate down to level bearing soil. A soils engineer will have to verify the soil is adequate for bearing?
Then pour a new strip footing and foundation system under the lifted home.
Lower the home back onto the new foundation.
Aint gonna happen for $20G's; $40K would be more like it imo.

That home is a liability in its current condition.

[Seahawk]

Yeah, but the insulation is perfect

Originally Posted by 911Rob

run, don't walk.

The foundation for that house is now almost non-existant.
You will need to shore the house up immediately, to support it.
Get a quote from a home moving company to shore/lift the house.
After that, remove all the existing "CRAP" foundation.
Then excavate down to level bearing soil. A soils engineer will have to verify the soil is adequate for bearing?
Then pour a new strip footing and foundation system under the lifted home.
Lower the home back onto the new foundation.
Aint gonna happen for $20G's; $40K would be more like it imo.

That home is a liability in its current condition.

[Zeke]

I wouldn't get all that exited about this. Yes, it looks wrong. But what percentage of the total house foundation does this impact? And where under the house is this? Another question: what do you think was removed to require the posts that are sitting on dirt?

Not that I or anyone can properly engineer the solution on a forum, but please, this is fixable. Might just take a load of concrete and some forms. Maybe a new stem wall in one direction or another with a shear panel. Best case scenario would be that some of the excavated part could remain for storage.

The high prices you are seeing are because of the liability of producing corrective engineering. They will want to recalc the whole damn house and lot. With some qualified guidance, this could be a DIY job or at least an owner/builder job. I'd do this if it were local to me. I might over build the solution just to make sure, but I wouldn't run away just to be running.

However, as guys suggest, if you're buying this you should expect financial consideration. And, you should look at other houses as well, regardless.

[vash]

Originally Posted by milt

I
Not that I or anyone can properly engineer the solution on a forum, but please, this is fixable. Might just take a load of concrete and some forms. Maybe a new stem wall in one direction or another with a shear panel. Best case scenario would be that some of the excavated part could remain for storage.


.

again, i think milt is correct. people in the bay area do it all the time. get's tricky if there is a house next door to all of this free-form excavation. you dont want to buy into a situation where your property settles and damages someone else's home.

i have seen people excavate down, and pour an "L" shaped retaining wall. dowel into the existing foundation. then once that is done, you pour a slab and lock the entire foundation in, and end up with a dry floor in the process. (you box the foundation). the key is to mind the drainage. you will need careful drainage to prevent a huge storm from removing all the fines surrounding the structure.

20 to 30k? is there any language on the fix? curious about that.

[serge944]

Yes, the amount excavated is a small portion of the house area. The area is just to the left of the garage, looking at the house from the front.

Carefully look at the pictures - the volume of dirt removed is not that great! Also, the dirt removed never directly supported the house. The timber posts down the middle are temporary fixtures and it is my understanding that the house wasn't previously supported at those points.

I have submitted a heavily discounted offer on the house. Even if it costs me 40k to fix the foundation, I'm still walking away feeling good about the purchase.

I'm actually quite happy that this property has this issue as it has been deterring a lot of potential buyers who don't have the kind of expendable cash to take on such a project. The house is located in a very nice, developed area of Sacramento.