Foundation issue


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Old 07-23-13, 08:13 AM
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Foundation issue

I have a house built in 1920 it has a basement under the majority of the house and there is a kitchen off the back with a crawl space underneath. The cinder blocks on the side underneath the kitchen has a small area of blocks that seem to be pushing out of the foundation. I have no idea how long this has been like this as I have only been here for 1 year in which there hasnt been any movement. I had a foundation/mold remediation company come out and they decided to carbon fiber strap this problem. Is there anything else that can be done? I will post pictures later when I get home.
 
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Old 07-23-13, 08:48 AM
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Pictures would be very helpful. I doubt a mold remediation company is doing anything structural. I assume their "carbon fiber strap" is a moisture barrier to separate the living space of the home from the basement & crawl space?
 
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Old 07-23-13, 04:55 PM
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Alot of these companies have masonry and contracting divisions and do indeed offer services to do foundation stabilization and repair.
 
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Old 07-23-13, 07:02 PM
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Dane -

The carbon fiber strip is usually vertical strips of carbon fiber adhered to the inside of the wall. Does nothing for water proofing/control or restoring the contour of the walls, so it is just a high priced, high tech "band-aid" to keep things reasonably close together.

Dick
 
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Old 07-23-13, 08:30 PM
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Sorry im replying so late but I just got out of work. Here is a photo.

 
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Old 07-26-13, 01:16 AM
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Looks like your concrete block has a few debonded joints (easily corrected), and a bunch of surface mortar that's also debonding. Also an easy fix.

Not sure the carbon fiber strips were $$$ well-spent.
 
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Old 07-31-13, 05:58 AM
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I had some mold issues in the basement that I had to take care of and they also put in the carbon fiber straps in a few places that the foundation had cracks. How do I redo the joints while placing the blocks back into there place, since they have pulled out.
 
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Old 07-31-13, 09:08 AM
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You need to carefully remove any/all hardened mortar on both the loose and parent blocks (along their common faces), to make room for new mortar. Easy does it on the latter, as you don't want to loosen any more of them by breaking their bond lines; I prefer lightly tapping the hardened mortar with the chisel point of a mason's hammer. Mix up a small batch of mortar, butter up all of the abutting faces, not too thick (which would prevent the blocks from properly fitting into their openings), and slide the loose blocks into place. Trim away any mortar that oozes out of the joint lines, using it to infill any visible voids. A (pointy) mason's trowel is handy for doing so. Keep the new joints moist for a day or two, and you're done.
 
 

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