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settling foundation, many issues...including patio

2K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  1stimehomeowner 
#1 · (Edited)
My neighborhood was built in 1978 (Park City, KS) on a slope of buried rubble, and consequently my home's foundation has been shifting. Due to the unusually dry weather my area has experienced this year and last, we have experienced a lot of shifting and cracking lately. The most obvious is in our back concrete patio. Last year it sunk to the point that the support beam was no longer touching the patio, but hanging from the overhang. In recent weeks, the cracking in the porch has gotten noticeably worse. We think this could also be in part due to water runoff that we noticed from the small crawlspace underneath our kitchen, which is adjacent to the back porch (the crawlspace is accessible from our basement). The previous owner added earth to make the back yard flat instead of sloped like the rest of the neighborhood, which seems to have altered the drainage pattern of the property.

Here's what I'm thinking...
It seems that the porch is too far gone to do an easy fix (it would have to be replaced), and that we need to fix drainage problems underneath it. At this point I envision tearing up the patio fix the drainage issue, and then after that I might as well go ahead and put in a deck.

The patio is about 12' wide X 9' long and sunken down nearly 5 1/2" at the end. I would like to put a 12' X 12' deck there, or maybe even 12' X 18'.

I wanted to ask for advice before diving into any projects, especially since it involves issues that may go to the foundation of the home. I don't think building a deck or even fixing the patio would be wise before addressing the cause of the sinking/cracking.

What do you say?

thanks,
Mike
 

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