[ranteso]

I pass by this construction site everyday.


About a week after the forms are removed I noticed two large cracks, both starting at the very top of the foundation wall (approx. 15ft apart) and ending diagonally away from each other down to the top of the footing.

Turns out the excavator caused the damage by compacting the earth into the side of the foundation wall as it drove by. The bulge in the last picture is after they pulled it back some. I heard it was a lot worse then what is shown in the picture.

They started framing other day.

 

[CConcreteEx]

Yeah, they pushed dirt and im assuming compacted it too soon it looks like. That or structurally they didnt build it to withstand the weight. Thats doubtful though.

I doubt the loader hit it though to cause that though. A long time ago I was backing up a truck, new driver and probably my fault I trusted him but when his second tire got on top of the curb he backed up too fast. It was a 10' high wall and his metal bumper hit the wall since we were on the top high side of the wall. Didn't damage it nor did it crack it but it scared the living, you know what, out of me.
Thats the reason why I think they just rushed it. If they wanted to be crazy and push it they should've kept the inside of the forms on and braces.
Hopefully they can hide that from the inside! Ha

 

[jaydee]

are you sure it was straight before backfill ???

I've done some quick backfilling and never have I pushed a poured wall 3" or 4 "

 

[Chris Johnson]

That 3rd picture shows a nice now in the wall!!

Subdivision house I take it?

Why is the floor not installed yet? What's holding the diaphragm of the house while being backfilled?

Is the house going to fall down? No.

Is it going to leak? Most likely at some point.

Cause of problem, no floor, backfill to soon, someone added lots of water to concrete to make it flow, forms pulled too soon, the list goes on and on.

Have them epoxy inject the cracks to help seal it back up. Waterproof the exterior, not damp proofing, add a protection board

 

[CConcreteEx]

are you sure it was straight before backfill ???

I've done some quick backfilling and never have I pushed a poured wall 3" or 4 "

Look at the cracks and the anchor bolts look like they run with the curve too. Sure they couldve measured off the form but im guessing it got pushed.

 

[CConcreteEx]

That 3rd picture shows a nice now in the wall!!

Subdivision house I take it?

Why is the floor not installed yet? What's holding the diaphragm of the house while being backfilled?

Is the house going to fall down? No.

Is it going to leak? Most likely at some point.

Cause of problem, no floor, backfill to soon, someone added lots of water to concrete to make it flow, forms pulled too soon, the list goes on and on.

Have them epoxy inject the cracks to help seal it back up. Waterproof the exterior, not damp proofing, add a protection board

How can you tell they put too much water and I dont see how a 4" slab 8' below would keep the wall from moving?

 

[jaydee]

Look at the cracks and the anchor bolts look like they run with the curve too. Sure they couldve measured off the form but im guessing it got pushed.

was thinking along the lines of bad bracing or broken tie brace.

 

[jaydee]

looking at the photos. It looks like the wall starts to curve right out of the corner.

The cracks don't start near there do they ?

just and a option about the future "bowed wall house "

 

[tgeb]

How can you tell they put too much water and I dont see how a 4" slab 8' below would keep the wall from moving?

The slab should be in and the first floor framing/deck should be completed prior to backfill.

I'm not saying that we have never backfilled a foundation under the same conditions as shown, it's just not a very good idea.

And I agree it looks like a pretty wet pour to me.

 

[Chris Johnson]

How can you tell they put too much water and I dont see how a 4" slab 8' below would keep the wall from moving?

Generally subdivision wall guys love adding water, I was pointing it out as a possible cause

Floor as in wood subfloor, basement slab helps too locking the bottom of the wall

 

[FramingPro]

Radius wall

 

[ranteso]

There's another house to the left of the bulged wall picture. Just enough room for the excavator to get between. Look at the excavator tracks, they are close to the foundation wall. The foundation is at the bare minimum of 8" thick. Keep in mind the bulge was much worse. They pulled it back to the point in the picture. I would have loved to seen it before.



Chris K, good points and I concur but no way would I except this foundation, especially when the house will sell for 850K.

Wouldn't it be required/necessary to have an engineer evaluate the condition before building on that foundation? What's going on at the footing?

 

[FramingPro]

Had a bozo last year push a 4' ICF frost wall. fortunately we were able to salvage it, engineer said fine since it was help by backfill both sides. I chipped the top block where it steps in to create a brick ledge and then i was able to square it up, dowel rebar and continue building.

 

[QCCI]

How can you tell they put too much water and I dont see how a 4" slab 8' below would keep the wall from moving?

He'a talking about the subfloor. You shouldn't backfill until the subfloor is installed, basement floor doesn't matter. What dummy's...

 

[jaydee]

Well,

Should someone be held responsible for that ?
what eer the fix will be.
lot of liability for leaks a future problems.

What happens at home inspection and homeowner wants 10k off the price,

I'd make someone cut it out and pin and re-pour..

 

[ranteso]

Well,

Should someone be held responsible for that ?
what eer the fix will be.
lot of liability for leaks a future problems.

What happens at home inspection and homeowner wants 10k off the price,

I'd make someone cut it out and pin and re-pour..

That's the first thing that came to mind. How much will the price be reduced due to the flaw and why not cut the entire section out and re-pour.

 

[owattabuilder]

the building code requires a bracing or the floor system to be installed on all foundation walls prior to backfill unless the backfill is less that 4' high.

We brace all of our walls with the footlock system http://footlock.com/ they are fast and easy to install and provide a solid brace in less space that lumber.

The floor slab will keep walls from pushing in at the bottom. I have seen walls slide off of footings in presentations or the whole footing slide horizontally. while it is not common, it does happen.

 

[greg24k]

Who back-filled that wall is a moron, I hope he has good insurance, because that wall lost its structural integrity and need to be demoed and re-poured.

They should have braced is and put a deck on top before they back-filled.

 

[soxsider]

If you arent gonna cut it out I'd say epoxy inject and waterproof. Just my opinion

 

[owattabuilder]

excavator should be replacing the wall.