Need help with basement support - DIY Chatroom

jaw522 · 10-24-2006, 04:53 PM

Hello everyone, and thank you in advance for any help or advice you can share. We moved into our house 5 years ago and it is an old home. The original structure was a log cabin built in 1841 and has been added on to and improved thru the years. We got it at auction and knew going in that the house was ancient and the floors are all uneven. The basement is only a half basement : roughly 30' x 30' . It is very well built though, with 2' thick huge sandstone block walls, and 12" x 12" hand hewn support beams for the first floor and walls. In the very center of my basement is a single 10" x 10" oak support post that is supporting the criss crossed support beams and basically the rest of that part of the house. For peace of mind i want to add additional support posts , but need to know how deep to go down and what is the best procedure to pouring for a footer to put these posts on? Is it something a home owner can tackle or am I in over my head? I am fairly handy , as i have done most of the repair and improvements to the home, but have never delved into pouring footers. Thanks again for any advice......James

Bonus · 10-24-2006, 08:34 PM

Jaw, what is the existing 8x8 post sitting on? Is it moving? If there's no movement, why mess with it? It's been there for 165 years already. Having done hewing I'd love to see some pics if you have them, Rich.

**joasis** · 10-25-2006, 07:46 AM

As Bonus said, why mess with it if there isn't a problem? Unless you can actually detect settling or cracks indicating something going down, I would not advise just installing lally columns for a feel good feeling. If you actually need to add support, the size of a footer (pier) is determined by load and soil type and compaction. This could be a DIY project, but you need local advice from an eperience contractor or building inspector.

wolffhomerepair · 10-25-2006, 10:55 AM

I have to agree if the beam is not sagging leave it. The uneven floors may be due to foundation shift also. Something to think about before you add columns for no reason.