SLTA
Structural
- Aug 11, 2008
- 1,641
I looked at a house foundation, built in the 60s, where the front and side walls are retaining. The CMU is badly displaced: the typical horizontal center crack, but is also horizontally 2-3" out of alignment in a height of 4.5 feet. The corners of the walls are step-cracked and offset, and there are at least two locations of vertical cracking with horizontal displacement within the wall. It's non-reinforced, non-filled CMU.
I've been thinking about steel deadmen, but honestly I think the wall is in too bad of shape for that to be helpful. I've also thought about jacking the house and rebuilding the foundation wall (there's an oil tank that needs to come out, so there would be lots of digging anyway), or about possibly pouring a new concrete wall just inside the CMU and basically using it as a form.
Any thoughts on these ideas? Any other options?
I've been thinking about steel deadmen, but honestly I think the wall is in too bad of shape for that to be helpful. I've also thought about jacking the house and rebuilding the foundation wall (there's an oil tank that needs to come out, so there would be lots of digging anyway), or about possibly pouring a new concrete wall just inside the CMU and basically using it as a form.
Any thoughts on these ideas? Any other options?
