I’ve been visiting BT for a while and now I finally have my own question for you guys. I’m kind of dreading the answer, though.
My 3 1/2 yr old house, in Iowa, has some settling of the front concrete porch. The porch is about 18′ Wide x 14′ Deep. It is settling where it meets the house. Under the front door threshold it has dropped about 1/2 inch. It’s also dropped between 1/8 and 1/2 inch pretty much the entire area where the porch meets the brick. Kind of hard to tell exactly with the caulk there, but it’s starting to pull away, again. It’s a little hard to see in pics since the caulk is concrete colored.
The builder came back a year and a half ago and recaulked. He said the porch couldn’t be settling because a footing was poured under the perimeter. Sure, a footing was poured under the railing area, but against the house(?)
One of my concerns is that it looks like the brick siding was set right on top of the concrete porch. Since the porch is settling the brick is too. There’s a pretty good crack to the left of the big window at sill height. The brick under the front door looks like it’s going down with the porch, too.
If the porch keeps settling, what’s holding the brick to the wall? Some brick ties?
The porch still drains away from the house, but for how long? Something else that kind of bothers me, there aren’t any weep holes in the brick on the porch area. The builder said his mason told him you only needed them on brick that was exposed to the elements. From reading here and in FHB, etc. I think all brick walls need them.
Any ideas on what I need to do next? (The builder retired and hit the road in his RV).
Pictures are of the front door, lower right front door, left of the window, and the entire porch view.
thanks, Steve
Replies
Somebody framed the wall out all the way flush with the outside of the poured wall instead of leaving a ledge for the back of the porch pour.
Mason said it wasn't his problem............
The fix ? It is gonna run into money for sure. You need some concrete experts, one of em will be along shortly.
Naive but refreshing !
Do you have a new home warranty?
Am I gonna need a warranty on this one? Around here it's the standard 1 year warranty. I'm sure there are exceptions, though.
Any suggestions on who I should get to take a look at it?
Does anyone know how this type of problem would need to be fixed?
thanks
Steve
As a carpenter/cabinetmaker in the Iowa City area I'm curious who built the house? You mentioned that he's hit the road in his RV so I assume that he's no longer building in IC.
I didn't see it, have to go back and look at your original post, but how old is the house?
Doug
Doug, I'm actually in North Liberty, Fox Run. Mark Menefee, who used to own Menefee Drywall in CR, built it. I think he only built a few houses. It's been a year and a half since I've talked to him but he was headed back to somewhere in FL.
Doug, I'm actually in North Liberty
And so is our shop, its on the west side of 380.
I wasn't aware that Menefee built any houses, I knew that they were a pretty good drywall company at one time.
I don't have any idea about your problem but at least this acts as a bump and keeps it near the top.
Doug
PS, with the most recent arrests of the two fball players you may want to change your name!
Edited 2/26/2008 9:05 pm ET by DougU
PS, with the most recent arrests of the two fball players you may want to change your name!
No kidding, it's been a tough year. Just over 6 months till the season starts again!
Here in NJ the builder has to purchase a 10 year Home Owners Warranty on new construction.
Check around for a good mason, most likely the slab will have to come out. There is something called mud jacking, although I'm not sure if it would work for this application. Holes get drilled in the slab and a mortar gets pumped into the holes to raise the slab. Trouble is it is likely to settle again.
If the slab is taken out, rebar can be epoxied into the foundation to support the new slab.
Rich
That's what I was afraid of, it looks like there's no easy fix.
Tear it out and do it correctly.
I don't want to even think about what this could cost. Of course, the wife needs a new(er) car and we have a new baby, too, cr#p.