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Foundation advice (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Bitswap@lemmy.world to c/homeimprovement@lemmy.world

Drawing

Red is a concrete foundation. Black is rotting wood foundation that needs to be replaced.

Foundation issues suck. House has foundation issues. Most of the foundation will need to be replaced. Part of the house currently has a wood foundation which is rotting. There is an addition which has a concrete foundation. (See image above).

I know that the wood foundation can be replaced with a pier and post foundation. They can stabilize the house, dig and pour piers, then use metal posts to brace the house at the right height.

Is a pier and post foundation the only option? Is there a way to do a concrete foundation?

Edit: The image is a top down look at the perimeter of the house. The red part is a ~600 sqft addition. The black part is the main house.

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[-] archomrade@midwest.social 5 points 10 months ago

Preface: I am an architect based out of the midwest, so I don't have much direct experience with crawlspace rennovations or construction specifically, but I have worked with lots of wood construction and delt with water infiltration regularly.

Absent more detailed information (i see your other comment describing the wood piers and wood rot, but there's still some ambiguity), I think it's worth pointing out that concrete foundations are not the only way to prevent future wood rot.

Typically you see rot in conditions where:

  • There has been flooding under the house
  • there is moisture seeping up through the ground underneath the crawlspace
  • there is humidity in the air that is saturating the wood

The reason you're seeing wood rot under your house is not because you have wood foundations, it's because moister is not being properly controlled. Having not had experience on this particular situation before, I couldn't tell you how you could approach replacing a wood foundation with a concrete one without demolishing the existing structure. It's possible it could be done, but it's almost certainly more expensive and won't solve the water infiltration issue anyway.

I would reccomend determining the source of the water first.

  • If there's flooding, install a drainage system (or repair/upgrade the existing one)
  • If there's water seeping in from the ground, replace/install a vapor barrier
  • If it's a humid environment and it's not being controlled, mitigate the humidity by insulating, sealing, and ventilating/dehumidifying the space

You should not have problems with wood piers/posts if properly done. If you're still determined not to use wood piers, I would ask your contractor about using CMU instead of the wood posts. keep in mind, though, that this won't solve the issue of water presence and you would still likely have problems in the future if you don't mitigate it.

this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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