one of my mates has a problem.
he excavated around his house, by hand, looking for cracks in a 30 yr old, hollow core concrete block foundation. he wants to repair any cracks, and then install weepers.
but he’s running out of time, and asked me to ask you this question- can he leave the foundation, and footings exposed to the weather for the winter? and i’m talkin’ a good canadian winter.
short of refilling the ditch and finishing next year, is there anything he can do to protect the foundation, if required?
btw, he got halfway around the house, so two walls are exposed.
TIA
Replies
Get to work and finish the job. I don't think I would want to leave my footings exposed to a severe freeze/thaw cycle when obviously the foundation has had some issues to begin with. I think that is asking for trouble.
just my 2 cents worth.
like Kivi said, the frost will heave the foundation and crack the block even worse!
Line the excavation with plastic, fill with straw.
Plastic must keep straw dry.
Figger out how to keep trench from filling with snow/runoff/etc.
SamT
A Pragmatic Classical Liberal, aka Libertarian.
I'm always right!
Except when I'm not.
That was one thought I had as well ... fill w/ straw and cover to keep 'dry' and to limit air movement. Probably not good to leave open/as is. Otherwise, git er done ... now. What are weepers? Drain tile?
Another point of view ... why 'look for cracks' just 'repair the whole thing' ... water proof it. Membrane, coating, enka drain, or whatever the choice might be. Just do the whole thing. Repairing one crack ... you will have more, so just do the whole thing as if there were 'lots of cracks'. Do it and backfill. Consider 2" XPS insulation against the wall as long as you have it open ... assuming a conditioned space (or potentially so) on the other side.
thanks for the replies.as i said, its a friend who got a little carried away... and asking me for advice is just one small step away from asking me for help. lol.
Give any water an exit, put some sort of rigid insulation in the trench and on top of it. Reuse it when really waterproofing? Wet straw is a beech.http://www.tvwsolar.com
We'll have a kid
Or maybe we'll rent one
He's got to be straight
We don't want a bent one
He'll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up
plastic, then straw, then plastic
Of course, keeping that plastic in place while wind howls is the hard part.
And making sure that you don't end up with a damn that holds water instead of letting it run out on the down hill side
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Original poster doesnt say but... it is the norm in much of Canada to have full basements. If that is the case this guy may have an excavation 8ft deep or more on two sides of his house. It might be pretty impractical to fill that hole with enough hay to ensure water won't pool in the excavation.
To the OP : Geez.. it's only the 3rd week of September... tell your buddy to just finish whatever work he is doing on those two exposed walls. If needed just go to your local employment centre and hire a crew of the folks there for the day to help fill the excavation back in ( It is not expensive labour) . You'll be done with those two walls in no time. Yes he will end up doing 'some' extra digging when doing the other two walls next year, but you will be done with no worries from frost action.
I agree no reason he can't just getterdunBut I did not mean to fill the entire hole with hay, just to protect the footer from frost
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!