I have a friend who has a leaning one car garage. He is considering fixing the garage with some help. I would like to run our plan by all of you to see what you think or if you have any suggestions.
First of lets assume the opening faces North. In that case the garage is leaning significantly to the East (about 12 inches out of plum) and slightly to the south (about 2 to 3 inches out of plum). The garage appears to be original to the house (approximately 1950) with studs 12 in o.c., hand built trusses, and no sheathing (just lap board siding). The real problem is the footing. The footings are a single row of cinder block laid on what appears to be gravel underneath with a slab poured for the garage floor. On the east side and most of the South side, the block has come away from the slab ( by 2-3 inches at points) and is leaning with the walls.
Our plan is to first remove a few lap boards on the high up on the West wall, place a beam high up on the same wall and with ropes attached to the beam, use a truck to pull the garage back into plumb. Then we would take the lap board off the south wall and sheath and cross-brace it once it is plum. Then with a 2×6 nailed to the inside of the East wall (approx. 10 inches above the slab), we plan to use jacks to lift the structure off of the footings, remove the existing East and North footings, re-level/tamp the gravel under the footings, and replace the cinder block. Once the mortar between the block is dry we would lower the structure and anchor it to the new block with anchor bolts (by filling some of the block cavities with hydraulic concrete. Once this is done, we thought we would remove the remaining lap board and plum the structure North to South, sheath it, and cross brace it. Finally the lap board would go back on.
My primary concern over our plan is with how we plan to replace the footings. I have no experience in this area and would appreciate any feed back you may be able to give. Otherwise, feel free to improve on our plan as you see fit. Thank you.
Replies
once it's jacked up... move it the hell outta the way... pour a new foundation (forget the cement blocks ) and put it back on the new foundation wityh anchor bolts..
then plumb it back to good...
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Hey ONTHEPEQUOD,
Where you from? You just described EXACTLY the garage I used to have...before I took a chainsaw to it and cut the whole damn thing down. I busted out the concrete slab ( didin't take much) threw out the cinder blocks ( jammed with mud and roots), and built me a brand new garage....measuring 24ft X 36 ft.
Best move I ever made.
Hope you do the same. Any other work other than tearing down will utimately be futile and frustrating to you. Your garage will continue to rack because your foundation is simply no good. Frost heaves will prove that. The cinder block will continue to be pushed around and your garage will continue to shift.
BTW...it took me appox. 10minutes to cut out the lap siding between the stud bays and then to proceed cutting through the studs. Roof collapsed on to itself and that was that. Took me another hour an half to scrap entire structure into my pickup.
My garage originally measured approx. 9 ft. X 12 ft and had a gable roof. Goodbye, and GOOD RIDDANCE!
Davo
Sure sounds like a lot of work. First of all I wouldnt use a truck to move it into place. Maybe a few come a longs to a tree or whatevers solid nearby. Second I'd dig below the blocks in sections and with rebar pour a concrete footing. I think you need a more controlled pulling system then a truck..kinda sounds like a three stooges routine..LOL
Good luck.....TAKE PICTURES!!!!
Be well
Namaste'
Andy
It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Couple of thoughts come to mind-
First, digging new footings under an existing building is a real pain. Look into moving it, as someone else suggested.
Second - I wouldn't pull it with a pickup. Hard to tell when to stop. Might end up with the whole thing in a heap if you go a few inches too far. Use come-alongs, as was also suggested. A bit slower, but a heck of a lot safer.
I know a guy who has a leaning garage, but refuses to straighten it. He says if he fixes it, they'll reasses his property and raise his taxes. He calls it "character". What the hell, it works in Italy, right ???
I have a nice body, and its in my trunk.
You got a lot of good suggestions already. This is just a modification. Do a good foundation first, then straighten it up. Other wise you are just applying a bandaid. Do not use the truck for anything other than hauling in some new gravel and hauling out the dirt.
1. Cross brace the bejesus out of the inside to make sure that the whole deal does not collapse when you start jacking.
2.You can jack the whole garage up by lag bolting some 2x12's horizontally along the interior bottom of the walls on the long sides with the bottoms about about 16" above the mud sill. Attach to all studs. Then remove the first couple courses of siding. Then run triple 2x12's perpendicular that go under the 2x12 attached to the studs and extend through the stud bays to stick out about 3-4' beyond the structure. You should have 2 or 3 of these cross beams at least. Now you can jack and crib one end at a time. If you try to move the structure it will probably collapse, so just take it up vertically.
3. Once the building is up about a foot, you can now fix the foundation. Leave the orig slab, but trench around it about 8" wide and a1' deep. Get rid of all the blocks. Put some gravel in the bottom of your trench, and form the outside edge only so that the top of the form is at least 3-4" above the exist slab. Make the form the same dimens as the structure. Now do a monolithic slab pour right over the exist slab and into the forms. Add anchors at about 4' ctrs.
4. You can now lower the building and attach it to the anchors.
5. Now you can straighten it up with a COME ALONG. Once braced and the siding applied, it should be good as new.
Good Luck, Steve
Steve's post made me think -
I've helped move a couple of garages and sheds with trucks. The buildings were jacked up, and 2X lumber was laid across the bed of a truck that was backed into the building. The 2X lumber was then bolted to posts or studs, much like Steve described. Then the whole thing was let down until it was resting on the truck bed.
Looks pretty funny to see a garage headed down the road with the cab of a truck sticking out the front of it. But it might be the easiest way for you to move the building, fix the footings, then move it back. (Depending on the size of the building)
Non-conformists of the world unite
How'd you get the building up high enough to place it over a truck? How'd you move it horizontally forward to get it over a truck bed? Are you talking cranes or some other method? I'd think raising it on jacks more than 10-12" could make it unstable or top-heavy.
I have a similar problem with a 10x18 garden shed. Dummies who built it did so on the ground - wood on earth - no foundation - not even pt lumber. Everything from the bottom sill up seems solid but the wooden "foundation" underneath the plywood floor is rotting to hell. Two new holes in the floor from where I parked a garden tractor I just bought.
I was thinking of bracing it, cutting all ties from the bottom sill to the floor/foundation, and then jacking it up. I'd like to have a concrete foundation poured, but I'd also like to move the building away sideways to give me room to work. But short of a crane, I don't see how to do this.
Any thoughts?
"How'd you get the building up high enough to place it over a truck? How'd you move it horizontally forward to get it over a truck bed?"
The building didn't need to be over a foot off the ground. The old style screw jacks are probably the best. One building I was involved in was lifted with the loader on the front of a tractor. (Which probably wasn't a good idea)
You don't have to move the buildings horizontally - Just back the truck into the garage door and let the building down on the bed.
Works slicker 'n snot on a doorknob..............(-:
Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you can sell him fishing equipment.
ewwwwwwwwwIt's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
That's right, Boss, I forgot it was a garage and you could drive into it. Duh.
Thanks for the reply.
We moved 22 hooches in Thailand which were built of light TEAK!! framing, plywood sheathing and corrugated metal. Buildings were about 18' by 22'. Ripped of the lower sheathing up about 18". Lagbolted 2x12 to the studs, Crossbraced the hell out of them, slid two steel beams crosswise, lifted with a rough terrain crane and set them on a lowboy with cribbing. moved them five miles then set the back down. Would of been cheaper to rebuild them but that would of been new construction. Two or three years later the Thais got them back when we moved out of U-Tapao. Any old Red Horse people out there?
I'm amazed this thread has gone on for so long! I looked at it after Mike posted three simple lines and figured he had already said all that needed to be said.
The expense comment was right on though. We did one like it in '96 (?)
Jacked it up with a couple timbers sticking through the walls and ran an equiptment trailer in under to move it, poured a real foundation slab, and set it back in on PT soles, then straightened it and roofed it again. It ended up costing more than a new one would've but the owners wanted the classical style.Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for the advice guys. We ended up scrapping the plans soon to be followed by the garage.
Before you demolish it, and if you are going to rebuild it, I'd strongly advise you talk to your zoning board or building department. You may not be able to rebuild in the same spot/size/height/style if you demo' it. Get every permit, and variance if needed, before you do what you can't undo (or undo what you can't redo, as it were).
Be seeing you...
Good advice. When I tore down my old garage, I had to apply for a variance because the new garage dimensions were different and it affected the "set-back" zoning ordinances. I did get my variance, but it took several months due to bureaucratic red tape.
Davo
It sounds like the garage is in pretty bad shape. Why do you want to save it, rather than demo and rebuild? Is it a zoning problem (grandfathered) or something like that? Cost? You'd be trading your substantial labor rebuilding the thing for cost savings over building new. Just wondering.
Be seeing you...
I'm for the demo option. If this was a historic building or loaded with character, I'd say repair, but it sounds like a simple case of poor construction. Tear it down, save what you can, dump the rest, and start over clean.
Faster, less hair pulling, better finished product.
It's hard to give good sound advice with out seeing it up close and personal.
I think the truck Idea is too much of a risk. You might go to far. You don't want to be moving things any more than you have too to get it plumb. You definitly don't want to do it fast. I would use a come a long. maybe you could anchor it to your truck if you must.
Also, I would be ready with some type of temporary, bracing system to take the pressure off the pulling point. i am concerned about how the sill and wall area, under the damaged foundation, will hold up under this yanking , can't say without seeing it. I hope the wood is still good.
Why did the foundation fail in the first place? I don't know much about concrete and foundations. It would all be easier if your sill plates are good and solid.
Plywood provides the best cross bracing. 3/4" Plywood in all the corners, when it is plumb and square, when everything is sured up. Plywood Inside, if not outside too, or both. I am sure you want to take the door down. If there is one. Then jack the whole thing up. If it wasn't for the foundation being whacked , I would not have any problems with your plan. That is where your head aches start.
Edited 7/23/2002 7:43:51 PM ET by Edgar76b
Edited 7/23/2002 7:45:08 PM ET by Edgar76b
Edited 7/23/2002 7:47:48 PM ET by Edgar76b
I agree with Davo. Find a match and start over. It's not worth the aggravation and you'll be done twice as fast.