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rotten foundation form ties = crawlspace leaks?

4K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Gary in WA 
#1 ·
Our house was built in the 70's. Last winter there was some water in the crawlspace, a problem we've been trying to correct. (We live in the Northwest, so lots of rain & ground water.)

We had a contractor do a bid, and in addition to rerouting roof drainage, he said that we had wood form ties that were left in place when the foundation was poured, and that these have started to rot out, and that water could leak in there. He bid around $350 to remove the wood and reseal.

We've had a few people look at it, and this guy is the only one that's mentioned this issue. Another guy we asked had never heard of such a thing.

Have any of you observed this kind of problem? I'll get him to show me the rotten wood, but does it make sense that this would be a way for water to leak into the crawlspace?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
makes sense to me that it might happen.

Form ties would generally be a bolt or something similar to keep them from sreading under load and another tube to keep them at the correct spacing before the concrete was poured. the only ones I've seen have been plastic, but it makes sense that they might have been dowells with a hole in the middle for the tie before plastic use was widespread.

$350 sounds like more than I'd pay for someone to drill them out and shove in some concrete (or whatever) into the hole.
 
#3 ·
wood form ties ? ? ? :huh: suppose its possible whoever blt the foundation wall used 2 x 4's as stiffeners for plywood forms but, other'n that, i'm on the bench w/' another guy ',,, never heard of 'em either,,, form ties are steel:huh: &, usually, just snapped off when the forms're removed,,, some foundation contractors coat w/cement paste of hydraulic - most don't bother.

its possible the water's even coming in under the footer,,, install a sump & pump in the low spot OR hire the 1st to remove the wood & seal w/roofing cement - its more than a fair price for crawl space work if the situation's as you post,,, contrary to the 1st response, conc is NOT the correct mtl.

once wtr starts, its very unlikely anything else will be a permanent repair,,, re-routing of downspouts always helps.
 
#4 ·
wood form ties ? ? ? :huh: suppose its possible whoever blt the foundation wall used 2 x 4's as stiffeners for plywood forms but, other'n that, i'm on the bench w/' another guy ',,, never heard of 'em either,,, form ties are steel:huh: &, usually, just snapped off when the forms're removed,,, some foundation contractors coat w/cement paste of hydraulic - most don't bother.

its possible the water's even coming in under the footer,,, install a sump & pump in the low spot OR hire the 1st to remove the wood & seal w/roofing cement - its more than a fair price for crawl space work if the situation's as you post,,, contrary to the 1st response, conc is NOT the correct mtl.

once wtr starts, its very unlikely anything else will be a permanent repair,,, re-routing of downspouts always helps.
I built our house in the 70's and we used wood for the foundation and footing forms. It sounds as it the contractor who noticed the potential wood problem deserves a follow-up phone call for more information.
 
#5 ·
fireguy read it correctly,,, we always use 2x4 stakes to hold forms in place,,, while i agree on the reason, we differ on the 2nd step,,, i'd call your sharp contractor who correctly diagnosed the problem & let him do the work,,, you could continue getting other estimates but how much is YOUR time worth ?

we will not give out estimates any more UNLESS both husband/wife are home for residential work,,, h/o's-diy'ers seem to think we've got little else to do than run around like we're playing parts on t v wanna-be contractor home shows.
 
#6 ·
I agree, use the guy in the know. I started in early '73 and we used wooden spreaders with tie wire in walls before the metal snap ties hit the residential market. The upper ones we pulled out as the concrete poured in spreading the forms, left all the bottom ones in though. We also used 1x4 cleats on top of the footings and left them in the pour while monolithic (walls on top), must be a lot of leaks from those.....

Gary
 
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