DIY garage foundation repair

Hello! Can you please tell me how you can replace the foundation under a brick garage? The problem is that the garage was built about 30 years ago. It was not me who built it. The pit was poured 6-10 cm with a concrete screed, and then, up to the roof, the walls were made of white bricks. At the moment, the brick in the ground collapsed and the walls began to burst. The walls in the basement "went belly" and are constantly damp. Is there a way to replace or grout a new (concrete) foundation without dismantling the garage?

Best regards, Sergei, Cherkessk.

Hello Sergey from Cherkessk!

If I understood correctly, then most likely the white brick of the walls of your garage built three decades ago is a silicate brick. And he really does not like water, both atmospheric in the form of rain, which, flowing down the walls, destroys the structure of the brick, and soil, coming from the soil located around the underground walls.

Therefore, the foundation, absorbing water, will continue to collapse, and the walls will deform until they finally collapse.

How to fix the situation? Moreover, without disassembling the garage. Very difficult. A priori, silicate brick cannot be used for laying foundations.

In my opinion, you can try to do the following.

Since the walls located above the surface of the earth are still bearable and do not collapse as well as those that are underground, then they must be tried to be preserved. Why grind a groove-groove from the outside along the entire perimeter of the garage to a depth of up to the middle of the width of the walls. Bring a metal corner into the strobe, the wider its shelf, the better. / It can be a corner with a shelf of 100/100 millimeters. /

Do the same on the inside of the walls along their bottom, on a par with the floor surface.

True, I do not know how this is possible, because the garage may not be a separate building from other buildings.

In short, the meaning of all these manipulations should be to separate the outer walls from the foundation walls and make a frame-edging to support the outer walls with metal. It can punch through holes in several places and install metal plates connecting the outer and inner corners and weld them with electric welding. It is not superfluous to bring the ends of the corner beyond the dimensions of the garage and support them on the placed concrete blocks.

After making sure that the walls will not crumble down their bottom, you can start repairing the foundation. It should be completely dismantled, in parts, and not all at once. And instead of it, either make reinforced concrete foundation walls using rubble. Or lay out the foundation with concrete blocks or red bricks. And to achieve in the future the support of the outer walls not only on the metal strapping from the corner, but also on the newly built foundation. Of course, through a layer of waterproofing between the foundation and the walls above it.

So there will be a lot of fiddling and the mindset will have to be turned on more than once during the repair. But this is quite doable, similar things, though not in the garage, but in the house of the Stalinist building, were led to do.

Of course, there may be other options, but they are more laborious in their implementation.

Otherwise, you really have to completely disassemble the garage and remove the white sand-lime brick of the foundation, with the installation of a new one, such as described above.

Other questions on the topic of repairing the foundations of houses:

Arrangement of the foundation is one of the most important stages in the construction of a structure of any size, weight, configuration and purpose.The supporting structure performs several main functions: it accepts and ensures an even distribution of the loads created by the structure erected on top of it, and also protects the building from forces and stresses arising in the soil.

The foundation perceives heavy loads, but sometimes it does not withstand them and collapses

Violation of the foundation construction technology in the future can turn into the most catastrophic consequences, up to the destruction of the building. Along with this, some problems that have arisen due to improper arrangement of the base can be corrected on their own, eliminating the risk of more serious damage. It is with information on repairing the foundation on your own that you are invited to familiarize yourself further.

DIY foundation repair

The list of reasons that can lead to deformation of the foundation is given in the table.

Table. Why is the foundation crumbling

Reducing the bearing capacity of the soil

The formation of voids in the soil

The presence of inclusions in the soil

Decrease in the bearing capacity of the support under the influence of groundwater

Violation of building technologies

Common foundation defects

The table provides a list of the most common defects in support foundations.

Table. Foundations defects

Destruction of the base of the log bath

Destruction of the foundation under atmospheric influences

Destruction of the foundation from FBS blocks

Cracks in a brick support

Pushing piles out of the ground

Deformations of the walls of the foundation

Layering of rubble masonry

Violation of the integrity of the side surfaces of the support base

Break of the supporting structure in height

Cracks in the slab part of the supporting structure

To determine the nature of damage, the causes of their occurrence, the possibility of self-elimination of defects and, in general, the need to perform any actions, it is necessary to perform a number of research activities.

Exploring the nature of destruction

The item on the need to take actions is included in the list for a reason. It is possible that the reasons that led to the occurrence of certain deformations of the supporting structure were of a single nature and will never appear again. For example, once every 100 years there was a very snowy and frosty winter, during which even the soil under the foundation was frozen. If such weather conditions are not typical for the area in which the building is located, all repairs can be reduced to one only elimination of cosmetic defects. But the diagnosis is carried out under any circumstances, because an outwardly insignificant problem can in fact be very serious and dangerous.

Determine if cracks are growing

The challenge boils down to the following: you need to understand whether the cracks continue to grow. If so, the nature of the process and the rate of its development are additionally established.

The study is carried out using special markers (beacons).

The easiest way to make a lighthouse is plaster or cement mortar. It is most convenient to use a ready-made mixture for plaster. In general, you can use any material from this series that is not prone to plastic deformation after setting, i.e. the composition should be relatively fragile, but, at the same time, reliably adhere to the outside of the basement (aboveground part of the foundation).

We recommend using a plaster mixture. Prepare it according to the manufacturer's instructions and place it on the crack in a 0.3-0.5 cm layer. The length of the marker is about 100-120 mm. The composition is applied so that the crack is approximately in the middle of the strip.

We use plaster mix

Complete each crack with at least two markers. Make one near the beginning of the fault, the second - at its end. The principle is shown in the image.

Marking house cracks and possible reasons for their appearance

Apply the plaster mixture with a narrow trowel.First, it is necessary to clean the surface of the base from dirt in order to ensure the highest quality adhesion of the beacon to the base.

We clean the plinth from dirt

Without waiting for the marker to harden, print a thin horizontal line on it. To do this, it is enough to gently press the side edge of a spatula, metal ruler or other suitable device into the mixture.

Number the markers by embossing the numbers with a nail or toothpick. Record in a notebook the date of the study and the serial numbers of the beacons.

Then watch. If the marker cracks, the foundation crack continues to widen. Every few days (the main thing is that equal time intervals are maintained between observations), measure the width of the crack on a plaster marker and record the results in a notebook. Such observations will help you draw conclusions about the rate of development of the deformity and predict the possible outcome.

Monitor the status of the marker

Follow the strip left with a putty knife / ruler. If parts of this mark are displaced in relation to each other, there are not only cracks, but also settlement of the structure. Common sediment varieties and their relationship to fracture patterns are highlighted in the above image.

This event is characterized by more pronounced information content and increased labor intensity. The bottom line is to prepare several (at least two) pits near the foundation. The pit is a pit with a depth to the base of the support and a length of about 100 cm. Choose the width individually, so that in the future it will be convenient for you to work with the foundation. To prevent the earth from collapsing, you can support the walls of the pit with unedged boards.

The described pit looks like this.

Pit for inspection of a brick foundation

The dependence of the pit dimensions on the features of the foundation is presented in the table.

Table. Recommendations for the selection of pit sizes

As you know, the construction of any building or structure begins with laying a solid foundation - the foundation. It depends on the stability and quality of the foundation how reliable the structure itself will be. In this article, we will talk about the types of foundations, the device and the restoration of the foundation for the garage.

Most often in construction, a strip foundation is used, much less often slab and columnar. We will tell you in more detail about each of them.

Such foundations are erected under rather heavy walls (concrete, brick or stone).

They are designed in a monolithic or prefabricated way. Prefabricated foundations are usually made of concrete wall blocks or reinforced concrete cushion slabs. Sometimes strip foundations are made intermittent on dry and solid soils. Plates-cushions are laid in them with some breaks, which, as a result, are covered with sand.

When designing from wall blocks and foundation cushions, it is necessary to know their dimensions. Wall blocks are produced in height 600 mm, in width - 500, 600, 300,400, 800 mm, and in length - 2400, 1200 mm. The height and length of a solid block is about 300 mm and 400, 800 mm. Foundation pillows come in sizes - 300, 400 mm in height, 1400, 1600, 800, 1000, 1200, 2000, 2400, 2800 mm in width and 2400, 1200 mm in length.

Slab foundations are made in the form of ribbed or flat slabs. It is used for weak, loose, eroded soils, as well as for destroyed, unevenly compressed soils. They are used with a sufficient increase in the load under the weight of the house and for adequate protection from high ground waters.

There are such plates, ribbed and flat. The ribs on the slab are created to increase overall rigidity. The ribs can be directed downward or upward in relation to the base of the slab in a cross direction. A slab with downward ribs is considered less labor-intensive. The thickness of the solid slab is 1/6 - 1/8 of the span, and the ribbed one is 1/8 - 1/10 of the span.A prerequisite for a monolithic slab is reinforcement.

It is customary to use a columnar foundation for light loads (when there is no large weight from the walls and the entire building).

As a rule, these are low-rise buildings. They are installed in every corner of the house, as well as in those places where it is supposed to adjoin and intersect walls.

The main material that plays the role of fundamental beams are reinforced concrete load-bearing lintels. They are not installed only in houses made of timber or rounded logs. The pillars themselves are made of concrete, prefabricated reinforced concrete, rubble concrete, rubble. Carry out a rectangular or stepped shape. The construction technology is the same as in the strip foundation.

In theory, this is the same columnar foundation, but laid to a much greater depth. At great depths, it is necessary to drill, not to dig a hole under the foundation. The main goal is to pierce the entire thickness of fragile loose soils and rest against the mainland with the sole. A Yam-drill is used for drilling.

In order to choose the right type of foundation for the garage, you need to familiarize yourself with the type of soil in the area where the garage will be built up. Low-compressive soil is considered to be the best for the foundation. Such soil is not washed out by groundwater and does not contain quicksands.

Ideally, the soil should meet the following requirements: not swell, shrink or sag. However, not all soils can meet these characteristics.

All of the above conditions are met by rocky soil. But with all this, it is quite difficult to hammer it and all the work associated with this soil turns into colossal work. In rocky ground, the garage is most often installed directly on the surface, having previously leveled it.

Gravel soils also have good characteristics. They freeze to a shallow depth - 50 centimeters, do not blur or shrink. The depth of the garage foundation is made equal to the freezing depth - 50 centimeters.

Sandy soils have a sufficient number of good characteristics. Such soils have high porosity, so water passes through them without hindrance and does not linger, are incompressible under load and do not freeze too much.

Clay soils are more whimsical and do not fit well under the foundation. They have high humidity and swell when frozen. They can also periodically press on the sole, as they are able to compress. Such soil settles unevenly. As a result, the foundation itself is unevenly settling. It is customary to lay the foundation in clayey soils below the freezing mark.

Sandy loam is a soil made from a mixture of clay and sand. Or, the mixture is often called loam. This soil has the ability to freeze through to a fairly large depth, about 1.5-2 meters. Accordingly, the foundation is created at the same depth.

Above, we examined the main types of foundations. Next, we will consider in more detail the suitable types of foundation, as well as the device and technology for laying the strip foundation.

It is customary to arrange prefabricated strip foundations from reinforced concrete blocks. Such blocks are heavy, and their installation requires special equipment. If the walls in the garage are supposed to be quite heavy, then 60 centimeters wide under the blocks make a reinforced concrete pillow. The constituent parts of such a foundation: horizontal waterproofing (1), blind area (2), fundamental blocks (3), fundamental slab (4).

The foundation is tape made of rubble concrete. Installation is carried out under the bay with the main walls of the trench. On tamped and dry soil, the first row 25-30 centimeters thick is first made of rubble stones. Further, a layer of stone is compacted and all voids are filled with a liquid composition. Components of such a foundation: horizontal waterproofing (1), blind area (2), rubble stone (3).

Brick strip foundations, which are made in sandy or dry soils. The laying of the foundation walls is carried out in exactly the same way as the laying of ordinary brick walls. After laying, be sure to do waterproofing to prevent destruction. The constituent parts of such a foundation: horizontal waterproofing (1), blind area (2), brickwork (3), monolithic foundation slab (4).

For the construction of such a foundation, for a start, crushed stone is created, that is, crushed stone is laid. Crushed stone is poured on top with a cement solution. After all this, formwork is created from the board panels. In the trench, two shields are vertically installed with a size that is equal to the height of the foundation. So that the shields do not detach from each other during work, they are attached with strips. And from the outside, special stakes are driven into the ground, which are also attached to the shields with nails.

It is customary to attach roofing material or polyethylene to the inside of the formwork. This is necessary so that in the end the formwork is better separated from the hardened concrete, as well as to prevent concrete flowing out during work. For the preparation of concrete, cement grade 300 or 400 is used. And the aggregate is granite crushed stone or sand.

The ratio of cement, sand and crushed stone is: 1: 3: 4-5. Only small amounts of water are added to give the cement a certain elasticity. But the harder the concrete, the better. Since this makes it more durable.

The concreting process is carried out in layers, each of which is equal to 10-15 centimeters. It is important that each layer does not dry out completely. If this nevertheless happened, then the dried layer should be properly watered. As a result, the foundation width should be 10-15 centimeters wider than the overlying wall.

It is a kind of monolithic. The only difference is that the concreted mass in the formwork is sunk with rubble stones. In terms of strength, they do not differ at all from concrete stones. And meanwhile there is a significant saving in concrete.

A structure is erected from the material that is most suitable for a given soil. The choice is influenced by both the characteristics of the depth of groundwater and the soil itself. For example, when it is important to deepen below groundwater, then use a brick foundation with careful vertical and horizontal waterproofing. It is not recommended to use silicate brick for the foundation.

It is recommended to build a foundation after digging trenches in the shortest possible time. The sinuses are covered with soil between the walls of the pits and the foundation. Before the direct laying of the foundation, the bottom of the trench is cleaned, water is removed, and the soil is accordingly compacted with sand, crushed stone or slag.

After the foundation is built, a blind area is built. It is needed to protect against rainwater to prevent undermining of the foundation. A blind area is made to a depth of 15-20 centimeters, its width can be 60-80 centimeters.

Such a foundation is recommended to be made on not very good soil, where a strip foundation is not required at all. Where deep laying is required - a columnar foundation. They can be: reinforced concrete, concrete, brick, rubble concrete, stone, wood. Most often, reinforced concrete monolithic foundations or prefabricated ones are made.

The poles are installed at a certain distance from each other - about 1.5 - 2.5 meters. A prerequisite is their installation in the corners of the garage. Brick and stone pillars are made of high-quality red baked bricks or rubble stones. Then these pillars are reinforced every 20-30 centimeters with a 6-mm wire mesh.

Wooden pillars are made under the wooden walls. To do this, use wood with a thickness of more than 20 centimeters, which is pre-prepared. For example, they are covered with bitumen or 2-3 layers of roofing material.In general, the better the coating is made, the longer the wooden posts will serve. The pillars are buried at the corners by 1.5 meters, under the walls at the same depth or by 20-30 centimeters.

The installation of wooden beams is carried out directly into the ground in which wooden lining plates are preliminarily laid, having a thickness and width of 10 and 20 centimeters. They are made from beams. Or flat large stones can serve as lining. They will serve as a good compactor into the ground. Next, the pits with mounted pillars are filled up and thrombosed with soil tightly. Sometimes a little cement or crushed stone is added.

Prefabricated reinforced concrete foundations are usually made in swampy and damp areas. Such pipes can be made in two ways. The first is made of metal pipes, which are covered with bitumen mastic on the outside, and protected with cement mortar from the inside. The second one is made of asbestos-cement pipes, reinforced concrete, which are filled with concrete with internal reinforcement.

Materials used: reinforcement with a wire diameter of 0.6 - 0.12 centimeters, concrete grade 300, 400, crushed stone, sand.

Before the start of the concreting process, reinforcement is laid, creating a kind of frame. This is necessary to secure the base plate with the subsequent one. Then concrete is gradually laid in layers. The layer thickness is about 8-10 centimeters. It is important that the layers do not dry out prematurely, for this they put a damp cloth on them and cover them with roofing material. After about a week, they are removed from the formwork and the installation process is carried out for concreting the base plate.

All kinds of damage and deformation of the foundation often occur due to the seasonal forces of soil heaving, improper operation of the entire building, excessive moisture in the soil, or due to errors and improper foundation arrangement at the initial stage of construction work.

There are certain places where destruction occurs most often (based on operating experience). Often, these are: support nodes, high-rise fractures of stepped foundations, as well as the interface of the soil base with the structure. In these places, you can carry out repairs to the foundation with your own hands.

There are many known cases when a house that stood for 5-10 years suddenly collapsed. The reason for this was a cracked and deformed foundation. It collapsed due to emergency flooding of the water supply foundation with water. As a result, the soil got wet and freezing in the following years. Therefore, the state of the foundation is influenced not only by natural factors, but also by the human factor.

It is possible to track the state of the foundation according to certain criteria. To further make repairs to the foundation with your own hands. This is the destruction of floors and walls, as well as detectable during periodic inspection of the foundation.

It is impossible to repair the foundation with your own hands with reinforced concrete or concrete structures. This process is carried out by a special organization. You can only strengthen these structures on your own. This is done using reinforced concrete overlays. Steel reinforcement is connected through the holes punched in the reinforced structure. Further, the entire structure is sheathed with formwork, and the made overlay is concreted.

Cracks often occur as well. You can easily check whether a crack is dangerous for the whole structure or not. A paper tape is glued to the crack or a plaster strip is applied. When the strip breaks, it means that the crack begins to expand in size. In this case, specialized specialists are invited to inspect the house.

If the strip does not break for a long time, then we can say that the masonry has stabilized. Then these cracks are repaired in their own way. It is cleaned, moistened and filled with a lime-cement mortar. And in the cracks and cracks, brick fragments are laid in larger ones.

If the foundation laying itself is broken, then it is necessary to expand it.In this case, do-it-yourself foundation repairs are carried out as follows. Expand it with reinforced concrete or concrete from one or both sides. It is not advisable to use a brick.

P before deciding on the choice DIY garage foundation it is necessary to study in detail what type of soil lies on the site and the level of soil freezing. It should be borne in mind that the foundation is the basis of the future structure, of course, the stronger it is, the more durable the structure.

1. Construction of a strip foundation.

Basically, garages are erecting a strip-type foundation based on concrete, precast concrete or brick. The main advantage of a strip foundation for a garage is reliability and lightness, as well as due to its simplicity in design. Therefore, the construction time is significantly reduced. This type of base is in most cases used under structures with heavy load-bearing walls or when there is a risk of uneven deformation of the base.

Prefabricated strip foundations are made of reinforced concrete blocks; to install the blocks, a truck crane is required. Reinforced concrete strip foundation is made of cement, crushed stone and sand, which is further reinforced with a metal mesh or reinforcement rods. Brick-based strip foundations must be constructed in dry soils. In addition, special attention must be paid to the implementation of waterproofing, thanks to which it will further prevent the destruction of the foundation.

2. Construction of a slab foundation.

If the construction site has a weak soil, then it is possible to widen the lower part of the foundation from a monolithic block, which are practically suitable for all types of soil.
Before proceeding with the process of erecting the foundation, it is necessary to clearly delineate the area for construction, then start digging trenches. After that, it is necessary to pour the crushed stone mixture at the bottom and tamp it tightly. Next, you should install the formwork equal to the height of the foundation. The formwork should be connected from above so that they do not disperse during the process of pouring with cement mortar.

3. Construction of the pile foundation.

If the construction of the garage foundation is planned on an unstable type of soil or a high level of groundwater, then a pile foundation should be erected. At the heart of the structure, pillars are used, which are driven into the ground to the level of a harder soil layer, which contributes to the reliability and strength of the base for the garage. The length of the pile must be certain in order to pass through all the moving soil layers and strengthen, therefore the size of the pile is selected strictly individually and only after a detailed analysis of the soil. Subsequently, the load of the constructed garage is carried out on these solid layers of soil. Piles must be erected in places where loads are concentrated and connected with a grillage. By the type of material, tables can be wooden, reinforced concrete, steel, concrete and combined. The main advantage is efficiency, it can be erected on soils that have a low level of bearing capacity. In addition, screw piles, due to their corrosion resistance to the metal from which they are made, are perfect for building a foundation in any soil. When using screw piles, the stability of the base is guaranteed, even with significant subsidence of the soil.

Do-it-yourself repair and cracks in the foundation of an old wooden country or private house: step-by-step instructions + Video

It is not uncommon for the owners of private houses and cottages to encounter the problem of cracks in the foundation. Cracks can appear for several reasons. Let's take a closer look at them and how to repair the foundation of a private house.

They can be conditionally divided into two: deterioration in the bearing capacity of the soil and deterioration in the bearing capacity of the foundation itself.

In the first case, this can happen due to flooding. When saturated with water, some soils lose their bearing capacity. Also, during flooding, soil erosion can occur. This happens in areas where the soil consists of sandy and sandy loam layers.

Also, subsidence of soil consisting of limestones and marls is possible, if for some reason the groundwater has acquired acidic properties, which destroys calcites.

Soil subsidence as a result of mine workings, pumping out of artesian waters, oil and gas production have become very frequent occurrences.

The second reason is the deterioration of the bearing capacity of the foundation itself as a result of factors affecting it, leading to its destruction.

Ground water is one of the factors; ordinary water can cause corrosion of the metal and destruction of the base. Nowadays, acidic and alkaline groundwater is not uncommon, which can destroy the foundation of a house in a few years.

A frequent violation is not observing the depth of the foundation. The foundation laid to a shallower depth than the freezing of the soil is affected by frost heaving of the soil - this is a force that can break the foundation monolith and lead it to cracking.

Also, the reason for the destruction of the foundation is often the use of poor quality materials and savings on them.

To determine the causes of the destruction of the foundation, specialized firms can be attracted, but the cost of such work will be very high.

Do not despair, there are many ways that will allow you to determine the causes of the destruction of the foundation inexpensively and with acceptable accuracy.

This study is carried out in order to determine whether the crack continues to grow, the rate of increase, the nature of the process.

For this, the so-called beacon markers are used. They are made of gypsum or cement mortar with the addition of gypsum. It is very important that after drying it does not stretch and be brittle enough. It is also important that the mortar is firmly attached to the surface of the foundation, without peeling from it. For this, the base is pre-cleaned.

Having prepared a little composition, it is applied to the crack, the layer thickness is made 3-5 millimeters, ten fifteen centimeters long and three five centimeters high.

Place at least two markers per crack. One marker is placed near the beginning of the opening, the second near the end.

After applying a marker, a thin longitudinal line is made on it; it can be made either with a metal ruler or with a spatula. Markers are numbered. The number and date are recorded in the measurement log.

If the process of opening cracks continues, then the beacon also gets a crack. Making measurements of the crack width at certain intervals and making entries in the measurement log, they make a conclusion about the deformation rate of the foundation, about the part of the house that shrinks. They also make a forecast about further destruction of the foundation.

The second method of work on the study of the foundation is the method of digging pits.

Next to the foundation, a hole is dug one meter long and deep to the base of the foundation (pit), the width is determined by the convenience of digging, taking into account the conditions for the production of slopes to prevent soil collapse, or strengthen the walls with boards.

At least two pits are dug in the most problematic places. The method of digging pits is the most informative. Using this method, it is possible to determine the depth of the foundation, the presence and condition of waterproofing, the material from which the foundation is made, as well as the presence of groundwater.

If there is a presence of groundwater, then it is possible to determine what properties they have. To do this, use ordinary litmus tests, which can be purchased at garden stores.

After determining the research and determining the causes of the destruction of the foundation, they begin to repair the foundation with their own hands.

The cause of the deformation can be eliminated, and the destruction is not significant and only cosmetic repairs may be required.

Also, sometimes the deformation of the foundation is so serious that it will not be possible to repair it with your own hands. Or it will be necessary to repair the foundation, the price of which will be comparable to new construction.

There are two types of flooding: the first is caused by the influx of rain or melt water. The second is the rise in the level of groundwater.

In the first case, it is enough to create a shock barrier directing water past the house, and the construction of a blind area at least 80 centimeters wide.

In the event of a rise in groundwater, it is necessary to carry out dewatering. For this, drainage is done. Drainage is a drainage system made in the form of a circuit with pipes laid in a trench and covered with gravel around the house. Drainage of excess water leads to the storm sewer.

• Deformation caused by frost heaving.

This type of deformation occurs when the foundation is laid above the level of soil freezing. The amount of deformation depends on the degree of heaving of the soil. Both significant and small deformations are possible.

To eliminate freezing, it is necessary to insulate the foundation. Insulation is carried out to the bottom of the foundation sole. To do this, a trench is dug around the perimeter of the house, then the foundation is waterproofed, the side wall of the foundation is insulated and covered with screenings or small rubble. A layer of insulation is laid on top of the backfill and the blind area is poured.