When exposed to excessive load, groundwater or freezing, the foundation of any building can be damaged. But you can diagnose the damage yourself. There are various ways to repair a foundation yourself.
If you doubt the integrity of the foundation of the house you live in, you need to get it diagnosed.
Foundation survey
If during the inspection you find a crack, you need to determine whether it is progressing. To do this, it is convenient to use regular paper tape. Stick it on the damaged area so that it connects both parts of the crack. Check it once a day for 2 weeks.
If the paper is deformed or torn, then it is necessary to urgently repair or replace it if the damage cannot be repaired. If the crack does not grow, then the damaged foundation can be easily repaired; if the problem does not threaten the integrity of the house, then it can simply be filled with cement mortar.
A more informative way to determine the severity of the damage is by digging holes. A pit is a depression in the ground adjacent to the foundation. It must be the same depth as the foundation, at least a meter long, and there must be at least 2 of them. To avoid collapse, it is necessary to install wooden supports on the walls of the recess.
Digging pits is the most informative way to determine foundation damage. It is recommended to dig it in a possible place of damage. It makes it possible to determine the presence of groundwater, soil composition and immediately begin repairs.
Results
The reconstruction process is relevant only for the most common problems with the house and its foundation. But keep in mind that each situation requires certain measures related to repairs. And don’t forget that even two houses nearby can become deformed for completely different reasons.
So, to ensure that your home does not suffer another destruction after renovation, carefully conduct soil analysis and laboratory tests, as this is directly related to the strengthening and repair of the basement.
Common Causes of Damage
The most common reasons for foundation damage are:
- Human impact;
- Unscrupulous attitude towards the construction of the foundation, low-quality materials;
- External influence of natural factors.
The most dangerous thing is the presence of groundwater. In winter, when they freeze, they increase in volume and can damage the foundation. In summer, they can lead to subsidence.
Symptoms of damage
You are quite capable of identifying a violation of the integrity of the foundation in your home. The appearance of cracks and depressions are excellent markers of destruction. It must be remembered that some cracks do not pose a danger to the structure and can simply be filled with cement.
Main symptoms of damage
- The walls begin to crack;
- In the area of destruction, the finish begins to break;
- Obvious violations in the integrity of floor coverings;
- Partial building collapses;
- Damage to the integrity of the soil in areas of possible destruction of the foundation.
DIY foundation repair
Steps to restore the integrity of the foundation depend on the type and extent of damage. You can see photos of foundation repairs to better understand the process.
Cracks
First, you need to determine the cause of the crack and, based on this, a method to strengthen the foundation.
When destruction does not appear in a separate area, but affects the entire perimeter of the building and is associated with high soil moisture, you need to do the following:
- Dig a trench around the perimeter of the house;
- Remove dirt and old plaster from the foundation;
- Place a metal mesh in the trench and fill it with cement, compacting it well.
Foundation subsidence
First you need to find out how the destruction progresses. If active, how can the foundation be repaired? The procedure will be as follows:
First you need to install the jack. To do this, a strip of foundation up to a meter wide is removed with a hammer drill. A jack is installed in the resulting recess. It is safer to use several jacks and lift the building no more than 1-3 cm at a time, otherwise the building may be destroyed.
It is necessary to make supports. Reinforcing bars with a diameter of 2 cm are better suited for this. It is important that the supports are at least 0.25 m wide. They are installed on special substrates.
Installation of formwork. Concreting.
Foundation for a garage - description of construction technology and selection of the optimal typeWhich foundation is better - how to make the right choice depending on the type of soil
Building a foundation - where to start building a foundation and a step-by-step description of the construction technology with your own hands
Destruction of the building's foundation
Root Causes
Foundation destruction can occur due to poor quality installation or under the influence of factors that have a negative impact.
| Root causes of foundation failure | |
| Risk factors | Description |
| Decrease in the quality of the bearing capacity of the earth | Reasons: erosion or flooding. The soil becomes oversaturated with moisture, and its characteristic abilities are reduced by an order of magnitude. |
| Formation of voids in the soil | The main reason is washing, but the process itself has a different order. The bearing capacity of the earth does not decrease, and over time a void appears under the structure, due to which the base collapses over time. |
| Presence of substances in the soil that destroy the foundation | The main destroyers of the foundation are found in the soil, usually limestones and marls, which act at the molecular level. |
| "part-time jobs" | A void underground that can form in areas nearby mines, water intake sites, and oil wells. |
| Groundwater and its negative impact | When interacting with water, the process of oxidation of metals occurs, so even if the load-bearing capacity indicator does not go negative, the base may collapse. Water with acidic and alkaline impurities deserves special attention. |
| Violation of installation technology | There are plenty of reasons in this case, but the main one among them is considered to be an error in determining the depth of installation, which is explained by the owner’s savings. Another popular reason may be pouring a strip foundation with your own hands, in which slag concrete or sand-lime brick, which are unsuitable for reinforcing the foundation of a house, are used together with a high-quality mixture. |
Types of deformation
Before thinking about the question of how to reconstruct the foundation of a wooden house, analyze what exactly could have caused the deformation and determine the nature of the defects.
There are many different deformation options that directly affect the lifespan of a building. The main ones are:
. This can happen on heaving, unsettled soils due to temperature changes.
Skewed pillar support- Violation of the integrity of a house made of timber . Since the upper element is exposed to harsh conditions, the timber rots and collapses in a short time.
- The foundation sank. Due to a violation of technology, the base begins to sag. This depends on the installation method.
- Destruction in the presence of FBS elements . Often the destruction of the foundation occurs due to improper installation - the blocks crack and fall out of the overall structure.
- Impact of external factors . It can be the sun, wind, rain/snow and temperature changes in the complex negatively affect the overall condition of the foundation.
- Extruding piles . This can happen due to improper installation if the characteristics of the soil, which is susceptible to heaving, were not taken into account in advance. Usually this phenomenon appears in the first winter after construction.
- Base deformation . The reason for this phenomenon may be a small area of the sole, high soil moisture, a huge load on the foundation or construction on compressible soil.
- Deformation of the base walls . May occur due to winter ground movement or high soil load around the structure.
- The rubble has delaminated . It may appear after an overload of the support system, a long period of use and a large amount of moisture in the ground, as well as due to improper installation.
- Cracks on the sides . They arise due to aggressive environmental influences or in case of improper installation.
- Horizontal cracking . Occurs due to strong soil heaving.
- Cracks in the slab part . Appears due to overloads or the use of low-quality metal reinforcement and inappropriate cross-section.
Attention: since there are many possible causes and they are similar to each other, you will have to carry out a number of research works to identify the main cause in order to eliminate it in the future.
Repairing the foundation of a wooden house with your own hands
If the old foundation can no longer perform its basic functions or it is necessary to extend the service life of the building, it is replaced.
What you will need to replace the foundation yourself:
- Hydraulic jacks;
- Steel wedges and crowbar;
- Jackhammers or sledgehammers;
- Logs or bricks for support;
- Support for the jack.
Video
Video about partial foundation replacement.
If the foundation of a wooden house is significantly damaged , that is, it requires a complete replacement, then you will have to not only raise the house, but also dismantle the old foundation structure and pour a new one in its place.
There is another option for repairing such a foundation. To do this, holes are made along the entire perimeter of the house, close to the old foundation, every 1 - 1.5 m. Essentially, these are columnar structures that will support the ribbon structure. In them, as in the construction of ordinary pillars, sand and gravel bedding is made. Next, steel reinforcement is inserted in the form of a frame and concrete mortar is poured.
After that, a beam or metal profiles (channel or I-beam) are mounted on every two oppositely installed supports. The wooden structure will mainly rest on them.
