Hello everyone! I'm coming here today to get some advice on a major issue with a foundation wall in a house I am buying. It's an old flatstone/sandstone wall (whatever you want to call it), and a gutter has been draining directly onto it for several years while the property was unoccupied. I fixed the gutter, but at some point before that, the wall finally went, in two sections. the right section with the small concrete chunk still attached on top is directly around where the gutter was draining. That portion isn't as bad, considering a only a small deck is above it. The middle portion of the wall is where a window used to be, and it is pretty bowed. It will need replaced too, I am sure.
Now, the left section of the wall is the big issue. This is right under a main living section of the house, and it is currently burying the water meter. I've slowly been digging this out, and moving stones. The house does not appear to be sagging, and seems to have a fairly solid header under it. This is not a load-bearing wall, considering that the floor beams are running parallel to the damaged wall. It doesn't appear that any water was directly draining onto the left section of the wall, so that is a bit of a mystery to me. However, the concrete walk slants inward to that side of the house. But, this may have happened when the wall collapsed and the cellar filled with dirt.
Point is, this wall needs to be repaired, and it is on the top of my priority list. Now, it will still have to wait until spring. I am not currently living in the house, and no utilities are connected. My question is, how should it be rebuilt? My initial thinking was having cinder block and mortar delivered, and jacking up the side of the house enough to build a new wall along this aprox. 20 ft. long, maybe 7 ft. high stretch. After thinking about it, I decided it may be easier to put up a metal mesh/forum and have a cement truck pour a concrete wall and a new sidewalk in place. But, I don't know what the thickness would need to be, if there needs to be a footer, etc...
Budget will determin ALOT. I am on a very tight budget, considering I am buying a thousand dollar house. The second factor, which relates to the first, is the fact that I can't afford to have someone else build a new wall. I need to do it myself, likely with help of friends. My goal is to clear all of the stones and dirt out of the cellar myself. It seems like a bit of an extreme DIY project, but it needs to be done. I have a place to dump the stones as well. So, I am wondering what it would cost to do either of the above methods, which is more feasable, or if there is a better method I am not aware of.
Thank you so much guys for your help and advice! I have some pictures posted below. Please let me know if more are necessary -- I can get more daylight pictures today.
Now, the left section of the wall is the big issue. This is right under a main living section of the house, and it is currently burying the water meter. I've slowly been digging this out, and moving stones. The house does not appear to be sagging, and seems to have a fairly solid header under it. This is not a load-bearing wall, considering that the floor beams are running parallel to the damaged wall. It doesn't appear that any water was directly draining onto the left section of the wall, so that is a bit of a mystery to me. However, the concrete walk slants inward to that side of the house. But, this may have happened when the wall collapsed and the cellar filled with dirt.
Point is, this wall needs to be repaired, and it is on the top of my priority list. Now, it will still have to wait until spring. I am not currently living in the house, and no utilities are connected. My question is, how should it be rebuilt? My initial thinking was having cinder block and mortar delivered, and jacking up the side of the house enough to build a new wall along this aprox. 20 ft. long, maybe 7 ft. high stretch. After thinking about it, I decided it may be easier to put up a metal mesh/forum and have a cement truck pour a concrete wall and a new sidewalk in place. But, I don't know what the thickness would need to be, if there needs to be a footer, etc...
Budget will determin ALOT. I am on a very tight budget, considering I am buying a thousand dollar house. The second factor, which relates to the first, is the fact that I can't afford to have someone else build a new wall. I need to do it myself, likely with help of friends. My goal is to clear all of the stones and dirt out of the cellar myself. It seems like a bit of an extreme DIY project, but it needs to be done. I have a place to dump the stones as well. So, I am wondering what it would cost to do either of the above methods, which is more feasable, or if there is a better method I am not aware of.
Thank you so much guys for your help and advice! I have some pictures posted below. Please let me know if more are necessary -- I can get more daylight pictures today.