skippyzz
Civil/Environmental
- May 8, 2003
- 2
My wife and I are building a new house with a local builder in Ohio. The concrete footer was poured before a very cold weather spell with only 3-5" of straw cover as protection. Vertical core samples in the exposed 4" of footer beside the basement wall after 35 days came back just below 1300 psi and code requires 2500 psi. However, this was discovered after the footer and foundation (poured concrete, horizontal rebar 2' from top & bottom) wall had passed inspection, thus the rest of the house continued construction. The basement floor has not yet been poured, the local inspectors are aware, had a meeting and it was decided that horizontal borings would test the concrete strength directly below the wall. Those borings (taken more than 60 days after placement) came back just below 1800 psi, now the builder wants a meeting with the head code compliance officer to discuss their position. I believe their position is that since other jurisdictions allow the foundation wall to be placed atop a crushed gravel base, the low compressive strength of the footer is still sufficient to handle the load of the house. The clay soil is rated at or above 2000 psf. My question is has this been encountered previously by anyone? Is the footer sufficient to withstand the load over time? What were/are the potential fixes to move forward (the house is under roof and mechanicals are nearly complete)? If this was your house what would you do?? Thanks,
Skippyzz
Skippyzz