ugh...foundation problem with the house.

[moonpie23]

well, it's for sure...both back corners of the house have sunk enough to create a staircase crack up the back brick walls....already had a couple guys come out and they tell me it's the clay in this area that wells up, then dries out year after year...


anyone out there have any company recommendations or horror stories they may want to share???

I live in cary NC

[weezie]

Oh lord help you moonie! All I've got is massive ceiling cracks that are about to be lime plastered but I quake at the thought of foundation issues.
Best of luck and patience my friend...

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I used this company while I lived in Durham. Their work was well done and reasonably priced.
http://www.ramjackusa.com/

[budwom]

it's a different issue, but there have been many recent articles (including the NY Times) about something like 20,000 crumbling foundations
in eastern Connecticut (that's a state in New England!)...general feeling is that the presence of the mineral pyrrhotite in the cement
has caused the cement to fall apart approx. 30 years after it was poured in the 1980s...

I've seen houses with similar problems around here (and all over the place) where houses have been jacked up, placed on huge
steel beams, while the foundation has been redone...not inexpensive.

[-jk]

We have some neighbors who added a fully finished basement to a hundred year old house. Steel stuff bracing under the house while they pulled the old cellar walls and foundation out entirely - around the plumbing and fireplaces. Dug several feet deeper, poured a new foundation, new walls, removed the steel stuff, dug the rest, and poured a new slab.

They lived there through the process - quite the feat! A corner should be easy!

[Indoor66]

it's a different issue, but there have been many recent articles (including the NY Times) about something like 20,000 crumbling foundations
in eastern Connecticut (that's a state in New England!)...general feeling is that the presence of the mineral pyrrhotite in the cement
has caused the cement to fall apart approx. 30 years after it was poured in the 1980s...

I've seen houses with similar problems around here (and all over the place) where houses have been jacked up, placed on huge
steel beams, while the foundation has been redone...not inexpensive.

I thought that was a state of mind in a Billy Joel song!

[devildeac]

I thought that was a state of mind in a Billy Joel song!

Close but no pastrami.

[budwom]

whenever Mrs Womble and I travel to distant U.S. spots (e.g. California, Alabama, even NC) we are often asked when dining where we're from.
It's not uncommon for people to say "Vermont...hmmm...is that part of New York? (or Virginia)... "

[jacone21]

whenever Mrs Womble and I travel to distant U.S. spots (e.g. California, Alabama, even NC) we are often asked when dining where we're from.
It's not uncommon for people to say "Vermont...hmmm...is that part of New York? (or Virginia)... "

And do you reply, "No. It's a next to New Hamster?"

[devildeac]

whenever Mrs Womble and I travel to distant U.S. spots (e.g. California, Alabama, even NC) we are often asked when dining where we're from.
It's not uncommon for people to say "Vermont...hmmm...is that part of New York? (or Virginia)... "

Wait, you're saying it's not part of New Yawk?

Or am I thinking New Hamster (though I see I was beaten to this reply )

[DU82]

it's a different issue, but there have been many recent articles (including the NY Times) about something like 20,000 crumbling foundations
in eastern Connecticut (that's a state in New England!)...general feeling is that the presence of the mineral pyrrhotite in the cement
has caused the cement to fall apart approx. 30 years after it was poured in the 1980s...

I've seen houses with similar problems around here (and all over the place) where houses have been jacked up, placed on huge
steel beams, while the foundation has been redone...not inexpensive.

It also affects roads. NCDOT is replacing the pavement on I-40 in Raleigh due to the same mineral. It was built in 1980-83, so the same age. (Concrete pavement here should last 40-50 years with proper maintenance.) We're replacing the pavement on I-85 between the Virginia border and Falls Lake north of Durham that was primarily built in the mid-'70s, but I don't believe it was caused by the same problem. (That work's been going on for years in segments. The last segment is north of Henderson.)

[Highlander]

A horror story...

We purchased a house in a development around 1999. Within a year we noticed a crack in the ceiling in our dining room. It was patched as part of the warranty, but came right back. It started to get bigger to the point that we could see the trusses in the ceiling and the floor molding was a quarter inch higher than the floor. Turns out our slab house was built on fill and settling caused it to sink. They took a core sample out of the floor slab and it immediately dropped a quarter of an inch down, signifying space between the foundation and the ground - not good.

Anyway, the builders hired someone to come back and power grout it - basically pump pressurized concrete under the foundation to force it back up. They had to tear up the flooring in 1/3 of the house to do it, then replace the laminate and tile. Was a big pain to live there while they did it. Once finished we got an extended warranty on the work. We stayed about another year before we sold the house. We made sure to disclose everything to the new owners and transfer the warranty to them. We were definitely glad to get out of there. Found out years later the company that built our house (Portrait Homes) went out of business due in part to the shoddy construction of their homes. Even more glad than we left.

[weezie]

It also affects roads. NCDOT is replacing the pavement on I-40 in Raleigh due to the same mineral. It was built in 1980-83, so the same age. (Concrete pavement here should last 40-50 years with proper maintenance.) We're replacing the pavement on I-85 between the Virginia border and Falls Lake north of Durham that was primarily built in the mid-'70s, but I don't believe it was caused by the same problem. (That work's been going on for years in segments. The last segment is north of Henderson.)

That's what it is! It's been an absolute joy to drive through that during hoops season.

[budwom]

And do you reply, "No. It's a next to New Hamster?"

A few years ago we took the Chicago Architectural Tour on the Chicago River, the best tour I've ever taken (though we're not typically tour people). Fascinating.

Great tour guide who, upon greeting us, said, "hmmm, Vermont, that's just like New Hampshire!" Detailed conversation ensued!

For grins, one can Google the Mike Barnicle article comparing Vermont with New Hamster (I'm not a particular fan of his, but he got this one right).

[moonpie23]

thanks, y'all...i've got the ramjack guy coming over friday for an inspection...