Replacing a foundation -- some questions

strategery · 11-22-2012, 02:10 AM

Without jacking up the house, is it possible to replace the foundation with CMU and pouring the footings a little lower for a taller basement?

If the house is a one story built a hundred years ago, there wouldn't have been any footings as i understand it. I would like to replace the foundation and the floor. It's currently a little over 6 feet, but the basement floor is THIN. I would like it if I could get a ceiling height closer to 7 feet, but with a thicker floor over insulation and gravel. That would call I'm guessing for footing about 10 inches or 1 foot deeper than the bottom of the foundation walls are now.

I've been told that picking up the house is a huge expense (obviously) though it makes the work a lot easier especially if using a poured concrete foundation. In my case, I'd like to do CMU with a couple inches of foamboard on the outside.

Thoughts on this? Have you done it, had it done, or SEEN it done?

**oh'mike** · 11-22-2012, 06:01 AM

I'm not a concrete guy--what is CMU?

itsreallyconc · 11-22-2012, 06:24 AM

concrete masonry unit, mike. by the way, happy Gobble-Gobble, too ! properly used, 'masonry' is the world's oldest fraternity however 'masonary' has largely been discarded as a word so, in today's wikipedia vernacular, i guess 'masonry' is now all 'mortar inclusive' work.

yes, grasshopper - all things are possible depending on the depth of your purse

but, unless you have clark kent eyes, dig before deciding there's no footer,,, i did this to our home ( blt in 1856 ) but we used concrete,,, all you need to is rent some beams & raise the house 1/2",,, most utilities into your house have some flexibility BUT ask the utility safety people for their seal of approval ANY time you mess w/their stuff,,, you probably need to involve your local bldg dept (permits, inspections, approvals) even tho all you're actually doing is giving them a reason to justify their paychecks since, imho, most are wanna-be contractors & worthless as balls on a ******,,, but i digress

the right jacking contractor will have lots of insurance, hydraulic jacks, a manifold, & experienced operators to man the system,,, after its up in the air, the rest is easy.

rent a bobcat, dig it out, pour the steel-reinforced footers, have your block guys build the walls, place the bsmt floor, lower the house, call utility guys AGAIN

strategery · 11-26-2012, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsreallyconc

concrete masonry unit, mike. by the way, happy Gobble-Gobble, too ! properly used, 'masonry' is the world's oldest fraternity however 'masonary' has largely been discarded as a word so, in today's wikipedia vernacular, i guess 'masonry' is now all 'mortar inclusive' work.

yes, grasshopper - all things are possible depending on the depth of your purse

but, unless you have clark kent eyes, dig before deciding there's no footer,,, i did this to our home ( blt in 1856 ) but we used concrete,,, all you need to is rent some beams & raise the house 1/2",,, most utilities into your house have some flexibility BUT ask the utility safety people for their seal of approval ANY time you mess w/their stuff,,, you probably need to involve your local bldg dept (permits, inspections, approvals) even tho all you're actually doing is giving them a reason to justify their paychecks since, imho, most are wanna-be contractors & worthless as balls on a ******,,, but i digress

the right jacking contractor will have lots of insurance, hydraulic jacks, a manifold, & experienced operators to man the system,,, after its up in the air, the rest is easy.

rent a bobcat, dig it out, pour the steel-reinforced footers, have your block guys build the walls, place the bsmt floor, lower the house, call utility guys AGAIN

So when you did this you used poured concrete? You only needed to raise the house 1/2"? I'm told by many that poured foundations are impossible without lifting the house up significantly. Maybe I have some bad info.

itsreallyconc · 11-27-2012, 12:38 AM

we did - talk to a house mover or a specialist in house jacking,,, i had 2 fellow Shriners helping,,, we also had 4 fireplaces to shore & jack

strategery · 11-27-2012, 09:01 AM

Good money spent too I bet.

I could pick the house up and replace the foundation and dig out a deeper basement for a ton of money or I could spend a lot of money and just shore up the house on beams while replacing with blocks. The latter option costs half as much.