Replacing a Foundation Wall

WXlivinggreen

Alright, I have a few questions and I hope I can get some good feedback.

The back foundation wall of our home is caving in. The home was built prior to 1900 and the foundation walls are formed with sandstone. There are two walls to each side, I'm guessing that the front wall was just a retaining wall, as nothing sits on them.



The wall that we are having problems with is 13' wide x 6.5' height. The stone is supporting the load of a 2-story wall. Which is giving out from the center and knocked rows of block down from the front wall.



On the other side of this wall is a crawlspace (dirt floor with visqueen) for our Kitchen (1 Story).

I installed temporary floor jacks until I can correct the problem. The 3 on the right I have a 6x6 post above them. I know that they are not evenly spaced as I just wanted to get some extra support up.





The 6x6 post is 19.1/4" away from the sill plate, spanning across 5 floor joist (16" apart). I can't get the jacks or post any closer due to the front wall bowing.

Now my plans are to remove both sand stone walls and replace with concrete blocks. Question is, are the jacks to far away, or will it hold the load and for how long? Should I evenly space out the floor jacks? Before removal of the back wall, I should probably dig away from inside the crawlspace correct? If so, how far away? Any insight to my project would help greatly.

Canarywood1

For you and your familys safety and well being,get a structual engineer's advice on what should be done to correct the problem,before you do anything else,he will also tell you if the temporary support is adequate,or if more needs to be added.

jomama45

It's near impossible to give accurate advice on a situation like this over the web. What you're attempting to do is likely far more dangerous and complex than you can imagine, and I was involved in a number of complete under-pin's when I worked with my Dad. Not trying to scare you, but DO NOT underestimate the power of earth behind that wall, especially since it sounds like there's already a crawlspace foundation bearing on it. Also, I highly doubt the existign basement floor is up to task for the bearing you're going to introduce to it, especially when it looks like the one jackpost doesn't even have a plate under it...........................

WXlivinggreen

Before I even start the only thing I am thinking about is safety. Monday I am calling a local engineer, thanks Canary! jomama thank you for your input, no one should ever underestimate the power of the earth. Also, every jack has all plates, and required parts. I put them up to help give extra support until the problem is corrected.