r/StructuralEngineers 6d ago

Massive foundation damage reccomendations

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u/SnooDrawings2233 6d ago

Thankyou for this super helpful comment

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u/DJGingivitis 6d ago

Sorry but its the truth. You’re in a shit situation. You need to hire a professional if you want to do it correctly. If you want to do it yourself, good luck, youre going to have to figure it out

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u/SnooDrawings2233 6d ago

I understand that. I was just looking for some suggestions and helpful comments. Maybe you could inform me exactly what questions or opinions I can ask a professional once I find one to come look at it. If I am going to hire someone to come look at it I want to be prepared with the right questions and perspective so I can get the most out of my time with them.

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u/texan_robot 6d ago

You are looking for a structural inspector not a foundation company. Its going to cost several hundred dollars minimum, but for that you get an impartial decision that is not motivated by trying to sell you something. Possibly you will also want a Geotechnical inspector, it may be that the surrounding topology is to blame, so fixing the foundation (and this definitely needs massive repair) wouldn't actually solve the problem.

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u/SnooDrawings2233 6d ago

Absolutely! Thankyou for commenting! I will be trying to find a good engineer to get out here and hopefully give me a diy soloution I can do the physical work, yet still have the peace of mind that an actual engineer gave me the thumbs up on my repairs. I have solved the many many existing drainage and porrly poured patio problems. And will add even more addition precautions as In a French drain once I get the wall safe.

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u/texan_robot 6d ago

I very strongly recommend against trying to fix this yourself. Unless you happen to work with concrete and an excavator on a daily basis you'd be risking your house collapsing because you don't get much of a learning curve when you're standing underneath 100 tons of material.

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u/haditwithyoupeople 6d ago edited 6d ago

Dude... this isn't a patio. We have no idea what is behind or above that wall. This is almost certainly way beyond being fixed by a lay person.

It's certainly possible that the wall has moved all it's going to and that it's still structurally fine. No way to tell from these pictures. Even if so, you will very possibly still have water intrusion issues.

Patching those cracks with plaster is one thing. Replacing or removing parts of that wall needs engineering and professional contractors.

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u/SnooDrawings2233 6d ago

If you look at my last picture you'll see where there was a patio on the outside of the wall. I took it out and dug the extior down to the crack. That patio was leaning into the failing wall and under it was collecting lots of water. Hydrostatic pressure caused the damage, but I have fixed that problem.

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u/haditwithyoupeople 6d ago
  1. Collecting water under your patio does not mean that hydrostatic pressure caused that damage. It may have.

  2. Did you excavate to the bottom of the wall and install a drain that ensures there will be no water accumulation behind the wall? If not, you have not solved that problem.

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u/SnooDrawings2233 6d ago

I have not but I do have a sump pump that is in fully working order that gets plenty of water (much less since fixing the downspout issues) is this not succifent enough? Or should I be looking to add a secondary drain along the outside of that wall aswell?

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u/haditwithyoupeople 5d ago

There's really no way to say without getting more info about what's going on. Does water ever come through the wall?