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I have been renovating a 100 year old cape in RI. I just removed an enclosed farmers porch on one side that was rotting and had no foundation. When I did this I opened pandora’s box. The foundation for the house falling apart. The length of the side is 30 feet. On both ends there were 8″ by 8″ posts that went below grade and upon digging down about 1 foot started to disappear into rot. There were other posts at 10′ and 20′ on the wall with the same results. Somebody at sometiime filled in the spaces between the posts with bricks which were falling apart. The sills are in good shape, they are old 3×8 t&g mill deck boards. The house is ballon framed from this sill with all the weight on the outside 3″ of the sill with the floor joists sitting on them. My solution was to take out the rotted wooden collums and dig down 40″ and pour a footing and install Lallycollumns. After these were installed I removed the brick and dug down 40″ between the posts and poured footings. I then built block walls up to 3″ below the sill and Installed 2x8PT on top.
Is this going to hold my house up for the next 100 years or am I just kidding myself.
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Time to turn the computer off, pick up the phone, and call the best contractor you can find. This problem will not be solved on the internet.
*john... sounds more like you want a pat on the back... here's one for ya...if everything is level and true.. then no one could have done better... the foundation is good to go.. what about moisture from below ?
*Isn't RI pretty close to the ocean, with not a lot of difference between sea level and your house? If so and if the news about the melting ice cap is right you don't have to worry about a 100 years. So, take your pat on the back, sit back with a cool one and enjoy.