I have one of those houses with a bed room above the car port, and the car port supperted by a single post and beam (four 2×10’s together). My bed room is now sloping towards the post inboth directions. I live in Maple Ridge, BC, Canada and the area is known for its clay (Maple Ridge Clay). Should I redisign the single footing and jack the room back up to level or should i build a wall across the front and side and close it in.
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Replies
Unless there's a footing under that wall you want to build, the same thing will probably happen. No matter which route you take, it sounds like you're gonna have to rework those footings.
you're about 25 minutes from me here in Mission. I can guess exactly what your house looks like and it's probably about 30 years old.
Like Diesel said your gonna have footing work either way. To me it sounds like you should get a soil engineer involved. at least then you don't have to rely on guesswork.
do you know if that post has a proper footing or just a pier. people have built things crazier ways. I'm thinking you need to get down to some hard pan, but like I said, soil engineer will tell you whats what.
Edited 4/4/2006 2:23 am ET by alrightythen
What kind of cost is associated with a soil engineer or other pro and are there any readily available. I suspect that that there is no footing just a pier but can a "properly" designed footing do the job being asked of it in this application? I must also be able to find the required data in regards to the soil's abillity to support weight from the city as they are developing all around me. gotta go oh ya thanx
hard for me to give you an exact cost. as I have never had to deal directly with one. As a framer, that was all dealt with by the GC. I recently built my 1st house and all the soil testing was already done by the developer.
I can tell you that my structural engineer charges $75 /hour and $200 for a site visit. it sounds like you gonna need some soil testing anyways. ( not sure I follow what the city and their developments has to do with your property)
>>>>>>"but can a "properly" designed footing do the job being asked of it in this application?"
yes ...if an engineer says it can. hows that for an answer lol. really no way for me or anyone online to give you that kind of answer. maybe it can, maybe it can't.
I would try looking up fraser valley engineering ( I think thats their name) If I got it right, they specialize in soil engineering. If that doesn't work, then phone Fraser Valley Building here in Mission. (some of them including one of the owners live in Maple Ridge)They are the local lumber yard and are very good at pointing one in the right direction, I'm sure they could hook you up with a soil engineer.
In my experience with footings that fail generally are the result of underground water
streams or a large load over a small area. I would call an engineer and arrange to dig a test hole near by. You will save money if you have everything ready and the engineer can view what he needs. If the footing was just a poured concrete pier then you will simple have to support the upper structure and rebuild the footing as per engineers specs. It would be a good idea to solve this problem as foundation problems can really reduce the selling price of any structure.
George