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I’ve been asked to work on a house with an +90 year old field stone foundation. By and large the foundation is sound except for one corner where the owner has had some significant water problems (principally from poor roof drainage). The owner wants the entire foundation drain tiled (I’m planning on doing it similarly to the example in FHB #140) and water proofed (another contractor will tackle that one). In addition, in the wet corner, we planning on pouring a sister wall outside the foundation.
Here’s my concern, when we do the excavation, and the pour, I am worried about the stability of the wet corner. My partner, who’ll be running the excavator and is extremely confident in his capabilities, thinks we can place, temporarily, a micro lam w/ jack studs in that corner to support the load of the house in case something happens. I am not sure a temporary beam will be enough given the significant changes that that corner is about to undergo (from having normal pressure, to no pressure to having concrete poured and cured alongside it). The local building inspector has been no help with this quandary and our friends in engineering circles have only come up with overly complicated (and expensive) solutions. The homeowner is open to just about any idea, although he really doesn’t want a sister wall inside the house (even though that was our original suggestion). I’d appreciate any thoughts or recommendations folks can provide.
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Ive been asked to work on a house with an +90 year old field stone foundation. By and large the foundation is sound except for one corner where the owner has had some significant water problems (principally from poor roof drainage). The owner wants the entire foundation drain tiled (Im planning on doing it similarly to the example in FHB #140) and water proofed (another contractor will tackle that one). In addition, in the wet corner, we planning on pouring a sister wall outside the foundation.
Heres my concern, when we do the excavation, and the pour, I am worried about the stability of the wet corner. My partner, wholl be running the excavator and is extremely confident in his capabilities, thinks we can place, temporarily, a micro lam w/ jack studs in that corner to support the load of the house in case something happens. I am not sure a temporary beam will be enough given the significant changes that that corner is about to undergo (from having normal pressure, to no pressure to having concrete poured and cured alongside it). The local building inspector has been no help with this quandary and our friends in engineering circles have only come up with overly complicated (and expensive) solutions. The homeowner is open to just about any idea, although he really doesnt want a sister wall inside the house (even though that was our original suggestion). Id appreciate any thoughts or recommendations folks can provide.