crazy foundation system - residence
crazy foundation system - residence
(OP)
I was called to a residence to look at reasons for water pouring into the basement. Got that solved, but in that process, we discovered that the foundation was like nothing I'd seen before. The original home was built in the 1960s and the room I was looking at was added somewhere in the 70s, we think. From the outside in, there's a CMU wall that goes about 5' below grade, then stops on a small concrete footing; then about 1' wide of dirt topped with gravel, just to the top of the small footing; then there's an interior CMU wall about 3' tall that makes the total room height about 8'. This condition exists on all three exterior sides of the addition - both on the high retaining side and the low walkout basement side. The exterior and interior walls were definitely built by different masons; the exterior is a bit haphazardly mortared with no joint tooling and the interior is gorgeous. The floor level of the addition matches the level in the original.
See attached sketch.
So why on earth was this built like this? Has anyone seen this before?
cheers!
See attached sketch.
So why on earth was this built like this? Has anyone seen this before?
cheers!






RE: crazy foundation system - residence
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
maybe "if it looks crazy, then it probably is"
or "just 'cause it hasn't fallen down, doesn't mean it's a fit structure"
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
Michael.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
Crap like this is nothing to mess with. It should be reported to the local jurisdiction and brought up to code at the very least - if for no other reason than public safety. Frankly, if a contractor was involved, he should lose his license. It's called "practicing engineering" without a license. I guess the contractor thought his lice3nse was good enough.
OK. I'll step down now. whew!
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: crazy foundation system - residence
BA